Looking to Reconstruction:
Lessons from Shibusawa Eiichi1
Masato KIMURA2
The magnitude 9.0 earthquake that rocked eastern Japan on March 11, 2011 came as a major
shock to the entire world. In addition to raising questions about the future of Japanese society,which has been drifting along since the end of the Cold War, the quake has forced all of us tofundamentally rethink the way in which we lead our lives. The triple-whammy of a huge
earthquake, massive tsunami and radioactive contamination from the nuclear accident has
prompted the Japanese public to reassess the path that they have been treading until now. Are
we going to be able to overcome this unprecedented crisis and create a new Japanese societythat has something to contribute to the rest of the world?
It isn’t going to be easy to overcome the challenges that lie ahead. First of all, we probably
can’t expect much from the government. Unlike after the Great Hanshin Earthquake in 1995,
this time around there is no room to maneuver in terms of public finances. The government
will obviously set out a basic policy for recovery, but reconstruction work itself willessentially depend on the private sector. Combining a commitment to serving the public’s bestinterests with the entrepreneurial spirit to create a new society, the private sector is set to playa central role. The capabilities of Japanese civil society are undoubtedly going to be put to thetest.
At times like these, the first person that comes to mind is Shibusawa Eiichi, who played an
instrumental role in the aftermath of the Great Kanto Earthquake almost ninety years ago. Akey figure within economic circles, Shibusawa brought together private sector resources froma long-term, international perspective and dedicated himself to ensuring Japan’s recovery
from the earthquake, working hand in hand with the government. There is a great deal that wecan learn from his work and leadership skills.

Standing Up to the Earthquake
At around noon on September 1, 1923, the Kanto region was rocked by a massive earthquakewith a magnitude of 7.9. The ensuing chaos, including fires and a tsunami, claimed the lives
of approximately 100,000 people and had a devastating impact on the entire Tokyo
Metropolitan Area. Shibusawa’s office in Nihonbashi, Tokyo, was destroyed in the quake, but
he fortunately managed to make his way back to his home in Asukayama.

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Fearing for their father’s safety, Shibusawa’s sons encouraged him to head back to the family
home in Saitama, only to be told in no uncertain terms that “at times like these, doing your bit
to help should be your very reason for living.” Shibusawa insisted that he would remain inTokyo with all those affected by the earthquake and face the challenges that lay ahead.
Although aged eighty-three, he nonetheless set about rebuilding, drawing on both private
sector resources and his own extensive experience.
Shibusawa found that a number of questions immediately came to mind. What should be done
to rescue victims of the quake and give the public peace of mind? How should Tokyo berebuilt? What role should private citizens play? What would be the spiritual foundations
underpinning reconstruction? His approach essentially took into account everything from theimmediate crisis to medium-term reconstruction plans, looking one to ten years into the future.
He divided measures in response to the earthquake into three stages, focusing on theimmediate aftermath, the medium term (three months to a year) and the long term (ten years).
Shibusawa was a victim of the quake himself, having lost his office and important historical
documents in the fires that broke out in the immediate aftermath. On September 2, the day
after the quake, he sent messengers to acting Prime Minister Uchida Kosai, the Metropolitan
Police Department and both the Governor and Mayor of Tokyo, advising them to concentrateon supplying food to victims, building shelters and maintaining law and order.

Shibusawa Eiichi (center) meets evacuees from Saitama in Tokyo, November 17, 1923.

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A new cabinet was formed that same day, headed by Prime Minister Yamamoto Gonbee, who
immediately imposed martial law and appointed former Mayor of Tokyo Goto Shinpei as
Home Minister. As soon as the cabinet returned from its imperial investiture ceremony, Gotoannounced a set of four principles for earthquake reconstruction. He set out a precise,large-scale policy stating that: (1) the capital would not be relocated, (2) approximately 3billion yen would be set aside as an essential budget for reconstruction, (3) the latest urban
planning techniques from Europe and the United States would be used to create a new capital
fit for Japan, and (4) the government would exercise firm control over landowners whenputting new city plans into practice.
That same day, Shibusawa personally set out to secure food supplies. At the suggestion thatrice could be brought in from Saitama Prefecture, he contacted the town of Takinogawaku
near his home and made the necessary arrangements to procure rice for them. From then until
September 12, Shibusawa’s own home served as the headquarters for food distribution in
Takinogawaku.

Channeling Private Sector Resources into Reconstruction—The Harmony Society andthe Great Earthquake Disaster Rehabilitation Association
As he watched the government’s framework and earthquake reconstruction policy taking
shape, Shibusawa set about harnessing private sector resources to create and structure anorganization that could take action as quickly as possible. This brought the Harmony Society(Kyochokai) into play and led to the establishment of the Great Earthquake Disaster
Rehabilitation Association (Daishinsai Zengokai).
The Cooperation Society was established in 1919 in an effort to promote cooperation between
capitalists and laborers. Shibusawa served as vice president. In those days, there still weren’t
many capitalists or executives in Japan who appreciated the significance of labor movements,
due in part to fears over communism following the Russian Revolution.
On September 4, Goto summoned Shibusawa in his capacity as vice president of the HarmonySociety. In addition to consulting Shibusawa with regard to relief for the victims of theearthquake and economic measures (imposing a moratorium, clamping down on profiteering,paying fire insurance, etc.), Goto also asked him for the full support of the Harmony Society
as part of the reconstruction process. Goto wanted to make use of the Harmony Society’s
influence with both workers and capitalists in order to facilitate relief efforts.

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Shibusawa agreed immediately to Goto’s request and started talking through relief activities
the following day on September 5 with Soeda Keiichiro, Tazawa Yoshiharu and otherexecutive members of the Harmony Society. At an emergency meeting on September 8, thesociety approved a set of post-earthquake reconstruction measures. From that point onwards,
they quickly set about dealing with specific tasks that government agencies were struggling tohandle, including housing victims, distributing rice, setting up disaster information points andsecuring temporary hospital facilities.
Next, Shibusawa consulted entrepreneur volunteers such as Yamashina Reizo and Hattori
Kintaro regarding funding for relief work and began to set up a dedicated organization. On
September 9, Shibusawa chaired a meeting of around forty entrepreneurs at the Tokyo
Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which had escaped the disaster undamaged, andproposed establishing an organization to handle relief and reconstruction from a private sector
standpoint. On September 11, volunteer members of the House of Peers and House ofRepresentatives got involved and the Great Earthquake Disaster Rehabilitation Association
was formed. Headquartered at the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce, it acted as a focal point for
private sector relief activities.

Aid from the United States
Shibusawa also looked to the international community. He used his contacts around the world
to collect relief donations and funding for the Great Earthquake Rehabilitation Association’s
activities. He pinned his hopes primarily on entrepreneurs in the United States. Having been
to the United States four times since 1902, Shibusawa had visited major cities all over thecountry and made a great many friends along the way. He was also one of the first to collectrelief donations after the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. The fact that Japan had sent more
donations to the United States than any other country had earned Shibusawa a great deal ofgratitude.
Having persistently engaged in private-sector diplomacy to prevent the souring of relations
between Japan and the United States in relation to thorny issues such as opposition toJapanese immigration and naval treaty negotiations, Shibusawa was known as the “Grand Old
Man of Japan” in the United States and had earned a huge amount of trust. At the time of theGreat Kanto Earthquake, relations between Japan and the United States were good, helped
along by burgeoning economic ties and a growing human network within economic circles,
including politicians and intellectuals.

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Having been appointed Vice President of the Great Earthquake Rehabilitation Association,
Shibusawa gave a personal donation of 50,000 yen and sent out letters about the earthquake totwenty-four of his acquaintances in the United States on September 11. He followed this withtelegrams requesting aid on September 13. As news of the earthquake rapidly spread acrossthe United States, leading entrepreneurs such as steel magnate Elbert H. Gary, banker FrankA. Vanderlip and lumber merchant O. M. Clark started to send heart-warming messages of
sympathy and encouragement to Shibusawa and organizations around Japan and set aboutcollecting substantial relief donations.
As a result, Japan received more donations than anyone could have expected, along with large
quantities of relief supplies. Essentially, this was due to Shibusawa and his fellow
entrepreneurs engaging in private-sector diplomacy with the United States over the course ofmany years. Entrepreneurs up and down the Pacific Coast of the United States, particularly
San Francisco, went out of their way to lend a hand. On November 28, a group of
entrepreneurs from the region, including Shibusawa’s old friends O. M. Clark and EverettGriggs, came to Japan on board the Taiyo Maru to give direct encouragement.
Having harnessed private sector resources to fund the Harmony Society’s relief activities andreceived moral support from overseas, Shibusawa went out to visit people all over Tokyo inorder to gather precise information on their actual needs, dedicating himself to relief and reconstruction work without a moment’s rest. For an eighty-three-year-old, he had anunbelievable amount of energy.

Transforming Tokyo from a Military Stronghold to a Commercial CityAt the same time, Shibusawa was also tackling the medium-term issue of deciding how torebuild Tokyo. On September 19, he was appointed as a member of the Imperial Capital
Reconstruction Council by the Yamamoto cabinet. Having been closely involved in themodernization of Tokyo since 1874, including repairing roads and establishing care facilities
in his capacity as chairman of the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce, Shibusawa had his own
unique vision for the capital’s reconstruction.
Shibusawa wanted to revitalize Tokyo, focusing on its commercial role as the heart of themodern Japanese economy, rather than its role as a military stronghold revolving around Edo
Castle, as it had been since the Edo period (1603–1867). Taking the reconstruction process as
the ideal opportunity to fulfill this long-held ambition, he abandoned his principle ofnon-involvement in government and agreed to join the Council.
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American businessmen in San Francisco, shortly before leaving the United States to go to Japan to giveencouragement, November 9, 1923

As a member of the Imperial Capital Reconstruction Council, Shibusawa proposed theconstruction of the Port of Tokyo and the introduction of the Keihin Canal in an effort torebuild Tokyo as a commercial city. Although his proposals were not acted upon at the time
due to reductions in the reconstruction budget and opposition from the likes of Ito Miyoji,modern day Tokyo has developed into a world-leading metropolis that today is the very imageof the commercial city that Shibusawa had in mind. Work is even underway to extend the Portof Tokyo.

Spiritual Reconstruction—Creating a Benevolent Society
Shibusawa realized that, for people to go back to living peaceful lives, physical reconstruction
would need to be underpinned by spiritual reconstruction. Having from an early age lived hisown life in line with the teachings of Confucius, Shibusawa began eagerly advocating
harmony between ethics and business, and Confucian teachings and commerce from around1912 onwards. Viewing the rapid modernization of Japan and the bubble economy thatemerged during World War I as signs of a decline in benevolence and justice, Shibusawa
began to condemn politicians for obsessing over political gains and entrepreneurs for focusing6http://www.shibusawa/english/eiichi/earthquake/pdf/earthquake01.pdf

solely on their own interests rather than the common good.
Shibusawa came to regard the Great Kanto Earthquake as a form of divine punishment. He
criticized the leaders of Japan who had had a hand in modernization, including himself, andstarted to preach on the role of spirituality in helping Japan through its crisis. He believed thatthe long-term goal of reconstruction was to create a benevolent society, and that both physicaland spiritual reconstruction were essential to enable people to lead peaceful, contented lives.
Viewed from that angle, it is clear that Shibusawa’s leadership and involvement in restoration
activities after the Great Kanto Earthquake helped eradicate the practice of elevating
government above the private sector, which dated back to the 1860s. Since he had had a handin the establishment of almost 470 companies and strived to promote economic interests, it isalso clear that his actions were underpinned by his belief in the harmony between Confucian
teachings and commerce (morality and economics) and by the principle of businesscollectivism (gapponshugi: assembling the best possible people, materials, funding andinformation from a wide range of sources so as to ensure that business benefits the generalpublic).
Another key factor was the perfect partnership between the public-sector in Goto Shinpei,
who set out a grand design that was labeled a pipe-dream but was nonetheless underpinned byrational thinking, outstanding vision and advanced technology; and the private-sector inShibusawa Eiichi, who managed to quickly and effectively bring together the frayed ends ofGoto’s dream.
As we rebuild following the recent earthquake in eastern Japan, we need to harness private
sector resources, via economic and private organizations, so that we can come up with newvisions and ideas, provide support for the government and take action based on a strong senseof responsibility to build a new Japan for ourselves. These are the main lessons that we canlearn from Shibusawa Eiichi and his actions following the Great Kanto Earthquake.

1This article was first published in Japanese in the April 11, 2011 issue of “Kohokyo meru tsushin,” the e-zineof the Japan Association of Charitable Organizations.
issue of The Japan Journal (pp 23-25).

An English translation was published in the May 2011

The current version has been edited and made available thanks to thekind permission of the Japan Association of Charitable Organizations and the Japan Journal.
2

Masato KIMURA is the director of the Research Department at the Shibusawa Eiichi Memorial Foundation(April 11, 2011)7http://www.shibusawa/english/eiichi/earthquake/pdf/earthquake01.pdf

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