HISTORY

Legacy ofJapan’s Keynes
Korekiyo Takahashi’s fiscal
plans were similar to Abenomics

By Chieko River Furuta• Held many high-level ministry posts• Renowned for English-speaking ability• Helped contain cholera epidemic

On a very cold snowy
morning, about 100 armed
soldiers barged into
my great-grandfather’s
residence in Akasaka andruthlessly murdered him.
This assassination, known as Ni Ten NiRoku Jiken (26 February incident of 1936),
is very significant, because his death
empowered the Japanese military andspurred the nation towards World War II.
My great-grandfather was born on 27
July 1854, the illegitimate son of an Edo
Castle landscape painter and a maid.
He was named Korekiyo Takahashi atfour days old, when he was adopted by
Koretada Takahashi, a member of thelowest echelon of the samurai class who
worked for the Date family.
During his lifetime, Korekiyo Takahashi
served Japan in various capacities. He
was minister of finance for seven terms,
the 20th prime minister, the first ministerof agriculture, forestry and fisheries, thefirst minister of commerce and industry,
and the seventh governor of the Bankof Japan. Takahashi also establishedthe Japan Patent Office, acting as thefirst director general of both the Trade
Mark Office and the Patent Office—justto mention a few of the distinguishedpositions he held.
While to some people he is known
for selling bonds abroad and funding
almost half of Japan’s expenses to fightthe Russo–Japanese War, he is perhaps
most famous for the financial policies
he implemented during his fifth term as
minister of finance. This term coincidedwith a time of huge suffering, when Japanwas in the depths of the Great Depression.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Abenomics
strategy is, in many ways, a take on
Takahashi’s plans, which dramaticallyreversed deflationary policies and had
fully restored Japan’s economy by 1935,
five years before the financial recovery inthe US.
Takahashi’s unusual upbringing andcomplete mastery of the English language
were fundamental in his numerous
contributions to society. At the age of 10,
he began studying English in Yokohama
under Clarissa Hepburn, the wife of
medical missionary James Hepburn, whoromanised the Japanese language.
During the 1860s, most Japanesestudied English at a Dutch school
in Nagasaki, where they learned bytranslating books and newspapers.
As a result, the students there could
barely speak English. However, several
students besides Takahashi studied
under Mrs Hepburn and developed oral
fluency. Tadasu Hayashi, who later
became ambassador to Great Britain
and foreign minister, was another ofHepburn’s pupils.
Following his studies, Takahashi began
working as a gofer for one of the Britishbanks in Yokohama. Later, he gained
passage to the US, where he stayed fora couple years to perfect his English

language ability. When he returned toJapan at the age of 14, he embarked on acareer in government and taught English
to many historical figures.
His English skills led him to berepeatedly chosen to translate several
foreign regulations that became thefoundation for many Japanese laws. At
18, he entered the postal service, in which
capacity he translated British and US
postal regulations for use in Japan.
In 1877, when the cholera epidemic
was wreaking havoc on the nation,
the interior ministry formed a group ofJapanese and foreign experts to tackle
the problem. Takahashi took charge,
gathering all documents from Europe andthe US concerning the disease. He andhis team worked tirelessly to translate
the paperwork, creating a manual on
how to contain and prevent a pandemic.
Thousands of lives were saved as a result.
A few decades ago, the Japanese
education system stopped including
lessons about Takahashi in school
curricula. So, as part of the effort tokeep his legacy alive, we established acompany named after him. My greatgrandfather’s nickname was Daruma
Saishou (Daruma Minister) and, inmemory of this, Daruma Energy waslaunched in July 2013. It is currently theonly energy firm that is a member of theBritish Chamber of Commerce in Japan.
As a further homage, our office islocated on the first floor of Place Canadain Akasaka, Tokyo, which is adjacent toTakahashi Korekiyo Memorial Park, thevery place where my great-grandfather
was assassinated that snowy morningon 26 February. A part of Place Canada isbuilt on what used to be Takahashi’s land,so I believe it is with divine guidance that
we have come to operate here.
If you’d like to read more about thisgreat man and his accomplishments,
I recommend Richard J. Smethurst’s
From Foot Soldier to Finance Minister:Takahashi Korekiyo, Japan’s Keynes.

FEBRUARY 2014 | BCCJ ACUMEN | 31