Godai Tomoatsu

Godai Tomoatsu

Godai Tomoatsu ( Japanese 五代 友 厚 ; born February 12, 1836 in Satsuma Province ; died September 25, 1886 ) was a Japanese entrepreneur during the late Edo and early Meiji periods .

life and work

Godai Tomoatsu was born in the Satsuma domain and studied from 1857 to 1859 in Nagasaki at the "Kaigun denshūjo" (海軍 伝 習 所) naval affairs. After a secret visit to Shanghai, he began to campaign for the opening of the country. In 1863 he was involved in the bombing of Kagoshima by English warships as a result of the Namamugi incident , was arrested but was able to escape. In 1865 Godai was sent to Europe by his Han , where he contacted Count Charles Descantons de Montblanc , a Belgian expert on Japan, in order to establish business relationships.

Back in Japan, Godai suggested to the Prince of Satsuma that they build steamships, set up weaving mills and send suitable students to Europe. At the same time Godai used his contacts to Europe to get weapons and other supplies for the fight against the Tokugawa shogunate. Soon after the Meiji Restoration in 1868, Godai used his diplomatic skills as a junior advisor (参与, San'yo) and a member of the State Department to bring to an end xenophobic actions by disappointed samurai.

In 1868 Godai left the government and devoted himself with full commitment to the economic development of Japan, becoming famous as "Seishō" (政商), ie as a "political entrepreneur". But he also got into the "investment scandal Hokkaidō".

Godai also took care of the development of the city of Osaka as the center of rice distribution, advocated the establishment of a stock exchange and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry. - From his headquarters in Osaka he organized and operated no less than ten larger companies himself, with his main interest apart from urban development being international trade.

An important source of contemporary history is Godai's diary on visiting foreign countries, the Kaikoku nikki (廻 国 日記).

Remarks

1. ↑ The capital investment scandal in the context of the development of Hokkaidō (北海道 開 使 官 有 物 払 下 事件, Hokkaidō kaitakushikan yūbutsu haraisage jiken) concerned the extremely cheap sale of Hokkaidō development systems to a group of business people in Osaka, who were represented by Godai.

literature

• S. Noma (Ed.): Godai Tomoatsu . In: Japan. An Illustrated Encyclopedia. Kodansha, 1993, ISBN 4-06-205938-X
• Hunter, Janet: Godai Tomoatsu . In: Concise Dictionary of Modern Japanese History. Kodansha International, 1984. ISBN 4-7700-1193-8 .

Web links

Commons : Godai Tomoatsu  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . So Godai is the family name, Tomoatsu the first name.