Kuhara Fusanosuke

Kuhara Fusanosuke ( Japanese 久原房之助 ; born 12. July 1868 in Hagi ( Yamaguchi Prefecture ); died 29. January 1965 in Tokyo ) was a Japanese businessman and politician.

Live and act

As an entrepreneur

Liao Chengzhi (2nd from left) with Mao Zedong , Zhou Enlai and Kuhara in Zhongnanhai , 1955

Kuhara Fusanosuke graduated from Keiō Gijuku (now Keiō University ) and he joined the company Morimura-gumi (森村組). In 1891 he joined the mining company Fujita-Gumi (藤田組). In 1903 Kuhara left the company, bought the Akazawa copper mine (赤沢鉱山) in 1905 and thus founded the mining company Hitachi Kōzan (日立鉱山). He then acquired more copper mines, founded the Kuhara Mining Company in 1912, and benefited greatly from the copper boom of World War I. So he invested in a variety of businesses including oil, fertilizer production, sea transportation and shipbuilding. His Kuhara Mining Company eventually became the largest of the newer " zaibatsu " (financial combines ) established in the 1920s and 1930s.

However, the financial crisis of the 1920s slowed corporate growth. Kuhara fell ill and after recovery in 1928 transferred the management of the company to his brother-in-law Aikawa Yoshizuke (鮎川義介; 1880-1967). This reorganized the group as "Nihon Sangyō" (日本産業), or "Nissan" for short. Even today, the automobile brand Nissan points to this past.

As a politician

Kuhara turned now to politics. He was instrumental in the further development of the Rikken Seiyūkai party . From 1928 to 1936 he was elected to the lower house of the Reichstag four times in succession - there were short periods of government. In 1928 he was appointed communications minister in the Tanaka Giichi cabinet. Kuhara strongly supported the 1931 movement to form a coalition government with the rival Rikken Minseito party. At the Extraordinary General Meeting of the Seiyukai, he was named 8th President, took office and announced six important guidelines. Political friendships were broken up and he was now the spokesman for the party's orthodox branch. He again advocated the dissolution theory of political parties and the National Assembly and announced on July 2, 1940 his idea of "one country-one party" (一国一党論; Ikkoku ittō-ron).

Later Kuhara founded the "League of the Honorable Holy War" (聖戦貫徹議員連盟, Seisen kantetsu giin remmei). Behind the government he worked as the "Eminence Gray".

After the end of the Pacific War , Kuhara was excluded from political activities by the occupation authorities. From 1952 he was able to work freely again and was re-elected to the lower house in the same year. In 1955 he took part in negotiations to resume relations with China.

Kuhara died at the age of almost 97 in his villa in Tokyo, which later became the center of the elegant restaurant "Happōen" (八芳園).

Remarks

↑ Later renamed Nippon Mining, now JXTG Holdings.
↑ The Japanese name “Kuromaku” (黒幕), for example “black curtains”, refers to the people in the Japanese puppet theater Bunraku who lead the characters, who are “invisible” dressed in black.

Web links

Commons : Kuhara Fusanosuke - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Short biography in the NDL

literature

S. Noma (Ed.): Kuhara Fusanosuke . In: Japan. An Illustrated Encyclopedia. Kodansha, 1993, ISBN 4-06-205938-X , p. 838.

personal data
SURNAME	Kuhara, Fusanosuke
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	久原房之助 (Japanese)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Japanese entrepreneur and politician
DATE OF BIRTH	July 12, 1868
PLACE OF BIRTH	Hagi , Yamaguchi Prefecture
DATE OF DEATH	January 29, 1965
Place of death	Tokyo

[1] Later renamed Nippon Mining, now JXTG Holdings.

[2] The Japanese name “Kuromaku” (黒幕), for example “black curtains”, refers to the people in the Japanese puppet theater Bunraku who lead the characters, who are “invisible” dressed in black.