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Research Trends on Shibusawa Eiichi
KIMURA Masato*

1. Globalization of Research on Shibusawa Eiichi

This paper introduces trends of recently rapidly advancing research into
Shibusawa Eiichi as a historical figure from a global perspective and clarifies
characteristics of such research. For the purpose of this paper, globalization
has two meanings. First, it refers to the global positioning of the ideas andactivities of Shibusawa Eiichi (1840-1931) through comparison with businessleaders from other countries of the same era. Second, it refers to the “globalization” of researchers of Shibusawa Eiichi.
The ideas and activities of Shibusawa Eiichi are extremely wide-ranging,and it is amazing that one person could have been involved in such a wide
range of activities. Accordingly, research on Shibusawa Eiichi spans many
disciplines and discussing all the research trends is no easy feat. On the other
hand, mutual intelligibility between and among the academic disciplines—
and transcending the boundaries of the individual academic disciplines of
economics, management, philosophy, politics, diplomacy, sociology, welfare
and education—is also essential to understand the ideas and activities of
Shibusawa Eiichi. To address this mutually exclusive dichotomy, this paper
will trace research trends from as wide a perspective as possible, while at thesame time discussing possible themes for future research themes, focusing on
research trends that get to the core of the ideas and activities of Shibusawa,
namely, Gapponshugi [Ethical Capitalism], Rongo to Soroban [The Analects
and the Abacus], and the nature of Japan within the global community at thestart of the twenty-first century.

2. Publication of Shibusawa Eiichi Denki Shiryo [Shibusawa Eiichi
Biographical Materials]

This first section gives an overview of the flow of research into Shibusawa
	  * KIMURA Masato is Visiting Professor at Kansai University and former Chief
Researcher at the Shibusawa Eiichi Memorial Foundation.

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Eiichi. While Shibusawa Eiichi was still alive, his ideas and deeds generated
a great deal of interest both in Japan and overseas and were the subject ofmuch discussion, with Yamaji Aizan writing a critique1 and Kōda Rohan
writing Shibusawa Eiichi’s biography2. However, it was not until after the
publication of Shibusawa Eiichi Denki Shiryo [Shibusawa Eiichi Biographical
Materials]3 (hereafter the “Denki Shiryo”), which were completed over several
decades straddling World War II primarily by Tsuchiya Takao at the requestof Shibusawa Keizō, Eiichi’s successor, that research at an academic level
began in earnest. Tsuchiya published Shibusawa Eiichi Den [A Biography of
Shibusawa Eiichi] in 1931, the year Eiichi died. This book was written by
Tsuchiya based on Uyatan-kai Giroku [Minutes of Rainy Night Tales Society],
which was unpublished at the time, with Shibusawa Keizō’s permission and,already, Tsuchiya rated Shibusawa as the “Supreme Leader of Japanese
capitalism.”
The publication of the Denki Shiryo gave rise to two important works
reassessing the life of Eiichi as the creator of modern Japanese society. The
first is Kindai no sōzō: Shibusawa Eiichi no shisō to kōdō [Creation of Modern
Society: Shibusawa Eiichi’s Thoughts and Activities] written by Yamamoto
Shichihei (PHP Kenkyūjo, 1987). Yamamoto read the Denki Shiryo andidentified in Shibusawa Eiichi, who lived through the Tokugawa Era and the
Meiji Era, the continuity and discontinuity of early modern and modern Japan.
Armed with his knowledge of Japanese philosophy and classical Chinese
texts, especially the Analects of Confucius, which were widely studied bysamurai in the Edo Period and at traditional private schools, plus his financial
knowledge and business sense developed through the sale of indigo as part of
the family business, Eiichi had the basic skills required to sufficiently understand European civilization and economic knowledge. Yamamoto showed that
Shibusawa’s actions and deeds, which were said to be miracles or coincidences, were not coincidences but rather natural consequences that grew outof the seed of modern Japan, which had germinated within Eiichi. Yamamoto
also mentioned Gapponshugi, which he perceived as central to Shibusawa’s
activities, but he considered a gappon-kaisha to be similar to a kabushiki
gaisha (joint stock company) and its independence was not made clear.
1 Yamaji Aizan, Gendai Kinkenshi [History of Modern Business Circles], (Shakaishiso
Sha, 1990).
2 Kōda Rohan, Shibusawa Eiichi den (The Biography of Shibusawa Eiichi), (Shibusawa
Seien ou kinennkai, 1939).
3 All 68 volumes of Shibusawa Eiichi Denki Shiryo (Shibusawa Eiichi Biographical
Materials) (Volumes 1-58 by Shibusawa Eiichi Denki Shiryo Kankokai,
Supplementary Volumes 1-10 by Shibusawa Seien Kinen Zaidan Ryumonsha, 19551971).

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81

Following Yamamoto’s research, Sakamoto Shinichi analyzed in detail
Shibusawa’s Confucian politicoeconomic thought, which was heavily influenced by the later phase of the Mitogaku (Mito School); he also mentions
Gapponshugi and Soroban (the Abacus).4
Although going back in time, another work published earlier is Shibusawa
Masahide’s Taiheiyo ni kakeru hashi: Shibusawa Eiichi no Shogai [Bridge overthe Pacific: The life of Shibusawa Eiichi] (Yomiuri Shimbunsha, 1970),5
which documents Eiichi’s life from the viewpoint of his efforts to improve
international relations in the Pacific Region, especially between Japan, theUnited States and China, in his capacity as a private diplomat. This bookaroused interest among researchers of economics (history of economics),
business (business history) and of Japanese diplomatic history and the history
of international relations (particularly the history of Japan-US relations).6
The work showed that Shibusawa Eiichi, twice nominated by the Japanese
Government as a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize, was a globally prominent figure who was much more than the financial magnate he was previously
considered to be. It suggested that Shibusawa’s actions such as his
campaigning to solve the problem of Japanese immigration into the UnitedStates (despite the passive attitude of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs), an
effort out of his concern that the problem would harm Japan-US relations
from a long-term and psychological perspective, and his visit to China in
1914 (Taisho 3) to meet with leaders in China’s political and financial circles
and propose specific measures to develop China’s economic infrastructure andstrengthen economic ties between Japan and China, had the transnationalflavor of “private diplomacy” that transcended the framework of diplomacy
between nation states. Kōda Rohan commented that Shibusawa’s greatest
accomplishment was that “he advanced the nature of a citizen in a developed
4 Sakamoto Shinichi. Shibusawa Eiichi no Keisei Saimin Shiso [Confucian politicoeconomic thought of Shibusawa Eiichi] Nihon Keizai Hyoronsha, 2002. Sakamoto
Shinichi. Somo no koki Mitogaku toshite no Shibusawa Eiichi shiso in Nihon no
keizai shiso sekai [The world of economic thought in Japan] edited by Hiroshi
Kawaguchi, Nihon Keizai Hyoronsha, 2004.
5 Shibusawa Masahide is the great grandson of Shibusawa Eiichi and the son of
Shibusawa Keizō. A replica version was published in 2017 by Fuji Shuppan. The
impact this book has had on researchers of the history of international politics andforeign relations has been enormous, leading to the inclusion of Shibusawa Eiichi in
the Nihon Gaikōshi Jiten [Encyclopedia of Japanese Diplomatic History]. The bookalso prompted works on Shibusawa Eiichi’s international exchanges by the likes of
Katagiri Nobuo, Oshiro George and Kimura Masato mentioned later.
6 For example, Kimura Masato, Shibusawa Eiichi: Minkan Gaikō no Sōshisha[Shibusawa Eiichi: The Founder of Private Economic Diplomacy] (Chuko Shinshi,
Chuokoron-shinsha, 1991).

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society”7 and Shibusawa Masahide’s book can certainly be said to haveevidenced such an evaluation.
Meanwhile, overseas, American management scholar Peter Drucker was,as everybody knows, quick to give the most accurate evaluation of
Shibusawa. In a series of works, Drucker argued that Shibusawa’s real worth
is that he was the person who best understood that the most important thing
for a manager is to take responsibility.8 However, it is not necessarily clear
whether Drucker’s assertion is an evaluation based on empirical analysis.

3. Impacts of the End of the Cold War and the Collapse of the Bubble
EconomyIt was not until the 1990s, after the end of the Cold War, that research
into Shibusawa became a more global phenomenon. The bubble economy of
the late 1980s peaked in 1989 and, by the 1990s when the bubble had burst,
Japan’s economy was stagnating and had entered the period of slowdown
known as the Lost Decade. During this period, there was a string of scandals
at banks and securities firms, which can be described as after-effects of theeconomic bubble. Against this background, Shibusawa Eiichi began to attract
attention and the doctrine of the Inseparability of Morality and Economy
expounded in the Rongo to Soroban [The Analects and the Abacus] evenbecame a sort of boom among researchers and business circles. Meanwhile,the end of the Cold War, symbolized by the fall of the Berlin Wall (inNovember 1989 (Heisei 1), opened the way for the global expansion ofcapitalism fueled by disillusionment with Marxism and faith in the market
economy but, at the same time, it also prompted Russia and former Eastern
Bloc nations that had been socialist countries to strongly reject the rapid
spread of market economies and capitalism. Against this background, theideas and actions of Shibusawa Eiichi, who, in the nineteenth century, playeda key role in modernizing Japanese economy and society by taking on board
Western capitalism in the form of Gapponshugi [Ethical Capitalism] andutilizing the traditions, customs and culture of his own country, began toattract attention. Shibusawa Eiichi’s autography Uyatan9 was translated into
7 Kōda Rohan, Seien Sensei no Kohan Sei [Later Life of Master Seien] (January 1940
Issue (Issue No. 616) of Ryumon Zasshi [Dragon Gate Magazine]).
8 Drucker, Peter, Management Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices. Harper & Row
Publishers Inc., 1974 (Management was translated under the supervision of Noda
Kazuo and Murakami Tsuneo, Diamond, 1974) Vol. 1, p. 6. According to Peter
Drucker, the business leaders who most contributed to Japan’s modernization were
Iwasaki Yatarō and Shibusawa Eiichi.
9 Translated by Teruko Craig with an Introduction and Notes, The Autography of
Shibusawa Eiichi: From Peasant to Entrepreneur, University of Tokyo Press, 1994.

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83

English in 1994 and into Russian in 2002. Additionally, in 1997, Rongo to
Soroban [The Analects and the Abacus] was also translated into Chinese.10
However, these discussions merely took place among researchers and did not
develop into major discussions at an academic or society level. In former
socialist countries that were suddenly incorporated into the global economy
through the adoption of a market economy system, managers and businessleaders emerged one after another and became the driving force behind theeconomy and, as a result, from the nineteenth century through the twentiethcentury, changes in the evaluation of business leaders became apparent andthe obstacles to research into business leaders were gradually removed.
Meanwhile, in Korea, research analyzing the role played by Japanese business leaders in the development of capitalism under Japanese colonial rulealso began. Lee Pei-Yung’s Shibusawa Eiichi to Taikan Keizai Shinryaku[Shibusawa Eiichi and Economic Aggressiveness Against Korea] published in
1989 can be described as the start of research on Shibusawa Eiichi in
Korea.11 In this way, new perspectives on research into Shibusawa Eiichi,
including research by Chinese and Korean economic historians into businessleaders in their own countries, have been produced.
Amid the changes in the environment surrounding Shibusawa research,
researchers and business leaders from across many academic disciplines andbusiness fields have joined Shibusawa Kenkyukai, which was formed in
1989.12 Shibusawa Kenkyukai promotes the discovery of new materials about
Shibusawa Eiichi besides the Denki Shiryo and has also introduced many new
analytical perspectives. Koeki no Tsuikyusha: Shibusawa Eiichi [Pursuer of
10 For more details of trends of research into Shibusawa Eiichi, please refer to Shimada
Masakazu, Shibusawa Eiichi no Kigyōsha Katsudō no Kenkyū [Research into theEntrepreneurial Activities of Shibusawa Eiichi] (Nihon Keizai Hyōronsha, 2007,
Chapter 1).
11 Lee Pei-Yung, Shibusawa Eiichi to Taikan Keizai Shinryaku [Shibusawa Eiichi and
Economic Aggressiveness Against Korea] (in Academia Historica Review, National
Institute of Korean History, 1989). For further details of the evaluation of Lee’spaper and the status of research on Shibusawa Eiichi in Korea, please refer to Kim
Myung Soo’s Kankoku ni okeru Shibusawa Eiichi Kenkyu no Genjo to Kadai: Nijuichi Seiki no Kankoku Shihonshugi ni taisuru Shisa wo Kangaeru [Current Status
and Issues of Research into Shibusawa Eiichi in Korea: Study of Implications for
Korean Capitalism in the Twenty-First Century] (in Central China Normal
University November 24, 2014 pamphlet as part of Shibusawa Eiichi’s 1914 China
Trip Centennial Conference Atarashii Shihonshugi towa Nani ka: Dōtoku to Keizai[What is New Style Capitalism? Morality and Economy]).
12 The Shibusawa Kenkyukai published the founding edition of Shibusawa Kenkyu in
March 1990, which corresponds to the 150th anniversary of Shibusawa Eiichi’sbirth, and has, to the present day, continued to publish empirical research about
Shibusawa Eiichi and other research papers covering the whole gamut of
Shibusawa’s activities.

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Public Good: Shibusawa Eiichi], edited by Shibusawa Kenkyukai (Yamakawa
Shuppansha, 1997) announced the current status and issues of research on
Shibusawa Eiichi, encompassing not only business and economics but also
philosophy, diplomacy (national diplomacy and private diplomacy), international exchange, education and welfare.

4. “Globalization” of Researchers

Concurrent with these developments, research also began to take placeworldwide. In the early 1990s, researchers analyzing and comparing
Shibusawa Eiichi in empirical studies appeared overseas. These include Zhou
Jian (Shū Ken) (Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academyof Social Sciences), a researcher of Zhang Jian (1853-1926), and Oshiro
George (J. F. Oberlin University), who was a member of Shibusawa
Kenkyukai and conducted research into Nitobe Inazō. Zhang Jian, a presence
who could be described as “China’s Shibusawa Eiichi,” attached importanceto morality in economic activities in accordance with Confucian thought.
After studying hard, he passed the Chinese civil service examinations andbecame the Advanced Scholar, but he abandoned his candidaty for grandchancellor in the future and returned to his hometown of Nantong, where hepromoted modern industries such as textiles and shipbuilding, established ateachers’ school and worked to develop human resources to promote modernization. Although he died facing debts and management difficulties in the
1920s, Zhang Jian is revered as one of the pioneers of Chinese modernization. Zhou Jian compared Shibusawa with Zhang Jian and clarified theirsimilarities and differences. This research set a precedent for international
comparative research, transcending the framework of comparison with abusiness leader or financier in Japan.13
While focusing on the life of Nitobe Inazō, Oshiro included in his research
the relationship between Nitobe and Shibusawa Eiichi in areas such as theJapanese-American Relations Committee, the Institute of Pacific Relations andthe Hepburn Lectureship established at the Law school of the University ofTokyo, thereby revealing the existence of relationships with educators andeconomists worldwide and an international intellectual and human exchange
network in the interwar period.14
The “globalization” of researchers and the international comparative
13 Zhou Jian, Zhang Jian to Shibusawa Eiichi: Kindai Chunichi Kigyoka no Hikaku
Kenkyu [Zhang Jian and Shibusawa Eiichi: Comparative Study of a Modern-day
Chinese Entrepreneur and a Japanese Enterpreneur] (Nihon Keizai Hyoronsha,
2010).
14 Oshiro George, Nitobe Inazo: Kokusaishugi no Kaitakusha [Nitobe Inazo: A pioneer
in internationalism] (Chūō Daigaku Shuppanbu, 1992).

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85

research into Shibusawa Eiichi resulting from this became even more widespread in the 21st Century, with Zhang Kaiyuan and Ma Min, researchers ofmodern history at Central China Normal University, comparing Shibusawa
with Zhang Jian; Kim Myung Soo, a researcher of Korean economic history,comparing Shibusawa with the Korean banker Han Sangnyong; and Phillip
Amon comparing Shibusawa with the French Jewish banker Albert Kahn
(1860-1940).15 In Korea, Shin Chokun concluded that Shibusawa Eiichi’s GiriGōitsu ron [Theory that Morality and Profit are One] is the reason why
economic models in East Asia today are different from Western models in thesense that the theory deems merchants to be modern day citizens and it sees
the goal of economic activity as the creation of national wealth rather than
individual happiness.16 Around the same time, Rongo To Soroban [TheAnalects and the Abacus] was published in Korean. After that, in Japan,
research in a wide range of academic disciplines, including economics andbusiness, international exchange, welfare, education and philosophy,
increased, leading to a greater understanding of the big picture of Shibusawa.
However, although Shibusawa’s reputation as “the supreme leader ofJapanese style capitalism”—indeed, he had been involved in the establishment and management of 500 companies—became firmly established, manyquestions, such as why he was involved in so many companies and why hislevel of involvement in these companies varied, remained unsolved.
Surprisingly, advances in the empirical analysis of Shibusawa’s activities as
an entrepreneur were not necessarily made.
The work that filled this research gap was Shimada Masakazu’s Shibusawa
Eiichi no kigyosha katsudo no kenkyu [A study on entrepreneurial activities of
Shibusawa Eiichi] (Nihon Keizai Hyoronsha, 2007). In addition to the Denki
Shiryo, Shimada used internal materials that had never been used before suchas Shibusawa Family Association materials and Shibasaki documents.17
15 In 2005, a Shibusawa International Seminar was held at the Center for the Study ofZhang Jian, and researchers of modern Japanese, American and Chinese history helda symposium comparing Zhang Jian and Shibusawa Eiichi. For further details,
please refer to Kindai Higashi Ajia no Keizai Rinri to sono Jissen [Business Ethics
and Business Practice in Modern East Asia] and Higashi Ajia ni okeru Koeki Shisono Henyo – Kinsei kara Kindai e [Changes of Charitable Thought in East Asia From
the Early Modern to the Modern Ages], edited by Tao Demin, Jiang Keshi, Kenjo
Teiji, Kirihara Kenshin (Nihon Keizai Hyoronsha, 2009).
16 Shin Chokun, Rongo ni okeru Keizaigakuteki-na Kaishaku:Shibusawa Eiichi no
Rongo to Soroban wo Chushin toshite [Business Administration Interpretations of theAnalects: Focusing on The Analects and the Abacus of Shibusawa Eiichi] (61stvolume of The Journal of Oriental Studies, The Society of Oriental Studies, 2010).
17 The Shibasaki documents are historical sources that were in the possession of
Shibasaki Shinichi, who was secretary to Shibusawa Eiichi from around 1869
(Meiji 2). Please refer to Igarashi Masaru, Shibusaki-ke Bunsho ni tsuite [About the

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Shimada empirically analyzed Shibusawa’s actions as an entrepreneur, andpresented characteristics of Eiichi’s activities. In other words, many interesting facts were revealed such as that, when starting a new business, Eiichi
used different types of organization, including joint stock company, generalpartnership company, mutual company and silent partnership, according to thenature and size of the business; that he avoided decision-making by amajority vote at the general meeting of shareholders as much as possible; that
he attached importance to discussion and sought unanimous agreement; that
he attached importance to face-to-face meetings when judging people or
determining loan conditions; and that many donations had been made mainly
through the Shibusawa Family Association. Subsequently, critical biographiesof entrepreneurs from the same era as Eiichi, such as Iwasaki Yatarō, Yasuda
Zenjirō and Masuda Takashi, were published in quick succession, making therelationships between fellow business leaders much clearer.18

5. Impact of the Collapse of Lehman Brothers

It was after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008 that books andmagazine articles about Shibusawa Eiichi started to appear frequently. So why
did the skepticism about backlash against UK- and US-style capitalism triggered by the Lehman Brothers collapse arouse interest in Shibusawa Eiichi?
Let us break down the question raised here into four parts.
Firstly, what is the purpose of financial services; what is the role playedby banks? This question leads us to an important issue that relates to theessence of Shibusawa Eiichi. In other words, the financial crisis and global
recession triggered by the collapse of Lehman Brothers led to strong criticism
of “financial capitalism,” as pointed out by Ronald Dore, endangering thefuture of global capitalism.19 Since the 1990s, global capitalism, which canalso be described as free market principles that engulfed the world, with the
US at the center, has failed and there has been a tendency for UK and US
researchers to try to rethink the nature of global capitalism. The idea that
Shibusawa’s Doctrine of the Inseparability of Morality and Economy basedon Rongo [the Analects] might have a role in curbing financial capitalism, as
pointed out by Ronald Dore, has started to gain traction. In other words, since
Shibusaki Family Documents] (2nd Edition of the Journal of Shibusawa Studies,
1990, Shiryo Shokai [Introduction of Historical Sources]).
18 Works include Takeda Haruhito, Iwasaki Yatarō (Minerva Shobo, 2011) and Yui
Tsunehiko, Yasuda Zenjirō (Minerva Shobo, 2016).
19 Ronald Dore, Nihongata shihonshugi to shijoshugi no shototsu [The Clash Between
Japan-style Capitalism and Free Market Principles] (Toyo keizai shinposha, 2001);
Original work: Ronald Dore, Stock Market Capitalism: Welfare Capitalism: Japan
and Germany versus the Anglo-Saxons (Oxford University Press, 2000).

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87

the financial capitalism of today has put too much faith in the pre-establishedharmony of market mechanisms and the efficiency of resource allocation led
by an “invisible hand” and has pursued self-interest above all else, it has led
to the formation of economic bubbles and increased the gap between rich andpoor, and dramatic advances in information technology driven by the IT
Revolution have accelerated this trend. There have long been warnings that
capitalism invites cycles of booms and bust and will plunge the international
community into chaos. The worldwide economic depression of the 1930s
triggered by the Wall Street Crash in 1929 is a typical example. The Lehman
crisis made it clear that financial capitalism, which emerged in the 1990s,
could potentially lead to a cycle where economic bubbles burst, causing
global recessions on a far greater scale and with far greater speed thaninitially thought. The losses suffered by the world economy, once it slips into
recession, are immeasurably huge, undermining public confidence in financial
institutions. At the same time, the gap between rich and poor grows wider
and wider. The astonishing fact that the richest 1% of the American population owns 20% of the country’s total wealth clearly shows that the broad
middle class, which supported an American society that sang the praises of
wealth for a long time after the Word War II, has collapsed. The phenomenonof a shrinking middle class and increasing gap between rich and poor has, invarying degrees, spilled over from the United States to Japan and European
countries and has led to increasing social unrest in all these countries.
It was hoped that, in contrast, Shibusawa Eiichi’s Gapponshugi, which isdefined as the principle of developing a business by assembling the best
possible people and funding to achieve the mission and with the aim ofpursuing the public good, might put the brakes on runaway financial capitalism by inputting business morality into the capitalism model. In otherwords, it was thought that Gapponshugi might provide some hints for establishing a new style of global capitalism that surpasses UK- and US-style
capitalism.

6. Gapponshugi

Shibusawa Eiichi is sometimes called the “father of Japanese capitalism”
but he himself did not use the word capitalism with respect to his activities or
the organizations he was involved in using instead words such as kyoryoku
gappon-ho [cooperative gappon system], gappon-ho [gappon system], gappon
soshiki [gappon organization] and gappon kaisha [gappon company]. Why did
Shibusawa use the word gappon instead of capitalism? While gapponshugi has
been discussed in previous research papers, the difference between gapponshugi and capitalism has not always been made clear. This gapponshugi wasbelieved to be the key to understanding the activities of Shibusawa Eiichi and88

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research reexamining the nature of gapponshugi began. The culmination ofthis research was Gurōbaru shihon shugi no naka no Shibusawa Eiichi:
gappon kyapitarizumu to moraru [Gappon capitalism: the economic and moral
ideology of Shibusawa Eiichi in global perspective] edited by Patrick
Fridenson and Kikkawa Takeo.20 It became clear in the light of Shibusawa’s
discussions and seminars that gapponshugi meant the principle of developing
a business by assembling the best possible people and funding to achieve themission and with the aim of pursuing the public good.
What, then, is the difference between gapponshugi and capitalism? And
how should Shibusawa’s gapponshugi or gappon capitalism be positioned in
the history of capitalism? The findings of researchers from around the world
who have tackled this theme from multiple perspectives are summarized inGurōbaru shihon shugi no naka no Shibusawa Eiichi: gappon kyapitarizumu
to moraru [Gappon capitalism: the economic and moral ideology of
Shibusawa Eiichi in global perspective] introduced earlier. Shimada
Masakazu referred to Shibusawa’s thinking with regard to the gappon organization, gappon system and gappon company as gappon capitalism andobjectively positioned Shibusawa Eiichi in the world of economics based on
empirical data such as the role, assets and shareholding ratio of companies.
He then compared the model of Shibusawa, who introduced the Western joint
stock company system to Japan in the form of the gappon organization, withthe closed zaibatsu models of business conglomerates such as Mitsui and
Mitsubishi. He concluded that Shibusawa’s greatest achievement was to createa market economy model with free movement of capital and talent; in otherwords, an open market model that can be entered and exited freely.

7. Public and Private: The Impact of Saint-Simonism

The question of what the relationship between “public” and “private”
should be is one which has drawn attention in Eastern and Western cultures,
both ancient and modern. Patrick Fridenson analyzed the case of Shibusawa
Eiichi from a broad global history perspective, beginning with a comparisonof Shibusawa Eiichi with Saint-Simonism. The prevailing view in Japan wasthat, in the context of the history of socialism from the nineteenth century, theFrench socialist theorist Saint-Simon (1760-1825) advocated utopiansocialism. The relationship between Saint-Simon and Shibusawa has been
discussed before by Hara Terushi and Kashima Shigeru,21 but since Eiichi
20 Published by Tōyō Keizai Shinpōsha, 2014. Work summarizing the research findingsof the Gapponshugi Research Association (from April 2011 to March 2014) sponsored by the Research Center of the Shibusawa Eiichi Memorial Foundation.
21 Hara Terushi, “Les facteurs psychlogiques et culturels de la modernization japonaise:le car de Eiichi Shibusawa,” in Raymond Boudon ans Pierre Chaunu (eds.), Autour

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himself had never mentioned Saint-Simon, the relationship between the two
had not necessarily been clarified.
Fridenson believes that the key to understanding the impact of SaintSimonism lies in Shibusawa’s failure to advocate the complete privatizationof the economy and society despite his high regard for private companies.
Due to recent research into Saint-Simon in France, Saint-Simon was reevaluated as the founder not only of Saint-Simonism but also of sociology,socialism and anarchism theories. Some of his disciples were influenced by
The New Christianity, Saint-Simon’s final work, in which the redistribution of
wealth—especially labor and skills—is regarded as the new morality.
According to Fridenson’s analysis, the ideas that Shibusawa heard in France
may have actually been secondary Saint-Simonism created when these disciples put Saint-Simonism into practice, for example, the teachings of Frenchbanker Flury-Hérard on monetary and fiscal policies.22

Conclusion: Global Historical Evaluation of Gapponshugi

So how should Shibusawa Eiichi’s entrepreneurial activities be seen in
the context of 19th Century Japan, in other words, in the history of theJapanese economy from early modern to modern times? Miyamoto Matao
sees Shibusawa’s gapponshugi as capitalism led by a “visible hand” andevaluates the historical role that Shibusawa played as that of having rapidly
spread joint stock companies and having nurtured and led Japan’s economic
sector as a financier.23
From the viewpoint of what an entrepreneur’s responsibility should be,
Geoffrey Jones gives examples of companies and entrepreneurs from various
countries from the 19th century to the present day, bringing into relief thecharacteristics of Shibusawa Eiichi’s gapponshugi. He focuses on the fact that
gapponshugi is based on secular ethics known as the Analects, which arelacking in “religious flavor” when compared to Christianity and Islam, and hepoints out that today’s capitalist world might find gapponshugi acceptable.
Kikkawa Takeo cited Ronald Dore’s financial capitalism, compared
Anglo-Saxon capitalism with Japanese and German style capitalism, bringing
de Alain Peyrefitte, Paris, Editions Odile Jacob, 1996, p.120. Kashima Shigeru.
Shibusawa Eiichi I: Sorobanhen [Shibusawa Eiichi I: Abacus] Tokyo: Bungeishunju,
2011.
22 Patrick Fridenson and Kikkawa Takeo, Gurōbaru shihon shugi no naka no Shibusawa
Eiichi: gappon kyapitarizumu to moraru [Gappon capitalism: the economic andmoral ideology of Shibusawa Eiichi in global perspective] Tōyō Keizai Shinpōsha,
2014, pp 73-74.
23 A similar analysis is also given in Miyamoto Matao. Nihon no Kindai 11: Kigyokatachi no Chosen [Modern Age of Japan Vol. 11: Challenges of Entrepreneurs] Chuo
Koron Shinsha, 1999.

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Journal of Cultural Interaction in East Asia Vol. 11 2020

into relief their problems, and argued for the potential of gapponshugi as asolution for finding a way out of the crisis of capitalism that has prevailed
since the Lehman crisis and for building a new style of global capitalism. He
also touched on the possibility of presenting a model for success combining
tradition, modernization and industrialization to emerging countries. In
particular, he pointed out that demanding that business leaders have both
morality and an international education as well as the formation of a broad
middle class is very important for modernization and industrialization.24

24 Kikkawa Takeo, Shimada Masakazu, Tanaka Kazuhiro, eds., Shibusawa Eiichi to
Hitozukuri [Shibusawa Eiichi and Development of Human Resources] (Yuhikaku
Publishing, 2013).