Keiei Shigaku (Japan Business History Review)
Online ISSN : 1883-8995
Print ISSN : 0386-9113
ISSN-L : 0386-9113
Volume 15, Issue 1
Displaying 1-6 of 6 articles from this issue
  • Yasuo Mishima
    1980 Volume 15 Issue 1 Pages 1-27,i
    Published: April 30, 1980
    Released on J-STAGE: November 06, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Syozo Kawasaki, the founder of Kawasaki Shipyard, died in 1912. Kawasaki Sohonten (limited partnership), the holding company of Kawasaki family, was founded by his daughter and grandsons in 1920. While Kojiro Matsukata, the president of Kawasaki Shipyard since 1896, founded Matsushokai in 1920, his own holding company. And Matsushokai held increasingly more stocks of Kawasaki Shipyard than Kawasaki Sohonten. Matsukata brothers operated many companies of shipbuilding, iron manufacturing, sugar refining and machine manufacturing. These companies borrowed much funds from Jugo-Ginko, whose president was Iwao Matsukata, their eldest brother.
    Both of Kawasaki and Matsukata family came from Kagoshima prefecture, so this group of businesses was called Sasshu (old name of Kagoshima) Zaibatsu. All of these companies overborrowed and overinvested at the period of financial panic in 1927, so they were on the brink of ruin. The family of Kawasaki and Matsukata retired from their companies and thus Sasshu Zaibatsu collapsed at that time.
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  • Takao Shiba
    1980 Volume 15 Issue 1 Pages 28-53,ii
    Published: April 30, 1980
    Released on J-STAGE: November 06, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    From the second half of Taisho Era to the beginning of Showa Era, many firms loosely carried out strategies for expansion and for that reason they collapsed. Kawasaki Dockyard Co., Ltd. was a typical case of them.
    The company had acquired huge profit during the First World War. But its management became worse in the second half of Taisho Era, because the company excessively carried out strategies for expansion in the depression. Moreover, in the process, the company excessively depended on its main bank. This bank was Jugo Bank. Therefore, when Jugo Bank had collapsed in the Monetary Crisis in 1927, Kawasaki Shipkyard Co., Ltd. collapsed too. The process of this collapse of the company was a typical case of many management collapses in this age. However, the process of settlement of the company differed from those of other collapsed firms. Because the company had an important position in the Japanese national defense program, and Jugo Bank, the main bank of the company, too had special position in the Japanese financial circles.
    This article traces this process of the collapse and settlement in Kawasaki Shipyard Co., Ltd..
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  • Matao Miyamoto, Kensuke Hiroyama
    1980 Volume 15 Issue 1 Pages 54-80,iii
    Published: April 30, 1980
    Released on J-STAGE: November 06, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    The House of Konoike is known as one of the most powerful merchant houses of Tokugawa Japan. The history of the Konoike in the course of Japan's industrialization has been often compared with that of the Mitsui : the former as an unsuccessful case, and the latter as a successful one.
    This paper is an attempt to shed more light on the modern history of the Konoike, with special reference to the following questions. In what branch of economic activity was the accumlated capital of the Konoike invested, in response to changing scene of national economy during the Meiji-Showa Eras? What kinds of business policy were pursued during the period? What kinds of result did the investment and the policy bring on the Konoike and the Konoike Bank? How were the traditional House system and the managerial organization altered to adjust new environment? What kinds of role did the employed manager, such as Michio Doi, Hisashi Shimamura and Jiro Harada, play in the modernization of the Konoike? By examining these questions, the writers intend to make clear the causes of the Konoike's failure to be brought up as a first class zaibatsu.
    In conclusion, the business activities of the Konoike since the beginning of Meiji era can be divided into three phases. The first phase (1868-1896) can be explained as the periodd of diversification. The second (1897-1919) can be characterized as the period of specialization in banking. During this period, the Konoike Bank, which was established in 1900 in the form of unlimited parthership and wad reorganized in the form of corporation in 1919, became the only enterprise that the Konoike controlled directly. Conservative behavior under the leadership of Jiro Harada, an employed manager, was another characteristic feature in this period. In the third phase (1920-1933), a holding company, the Konoike Gomei, was established in 1921 and the Konoike Bank was separated from the Konoike family. The Konoike Gomei was more eager about diversification and about holding stocks of various companies in this period than in the preceding period. In this sense, one might reckon the establishment of the Konoike Gomei as an indicator which shows the formation of the Konoike zaibatsu. This is, however, an outward look. The timing of the shift from specialization policy to diversification one was too late and each share of stock held by the Konoike Gomei was generally too small to control the management of each company. Consequently, the Konoike failed to grow up as a first class zaibatsu and remained to be a mere wealthy family.
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  • ON THE CASE OF THE OSADAS
    Minoru Senda
    1980 Volume 15 Issue 1 Pages 81-110,iv
    Published: April 30, 1980
    Released on J-STAGE: November 06, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
  • [in Japanese]
    1980 Volume 15 Issue 1 Pages 111-120
    Published: April 30, 1980
    Released on J-STAGE: November 06, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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  • [in Japanese], [in Japanese]
    1980 Volume 15 Issue 1 Pages 121-130
    Published: April 30, 1980
    Released on J-STAGE: November 06, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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