The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1908-05-01
The House
Of Nlitsuii
ny F1,EDEI,1C J. HAsK1N.

IT. Inc NlitSul tlHlnlly OLSJHpdu Is one O
d the oldest and strongest business con
:, Germs In tho world. It has a finger /
/. ALMOST every kind OF enterprise In tn
II Island empire, and its ramlfications ex
= tend to all parts OF tho globe. In n
II rancial strength It Is second only t
: tho Imperial household. It has its ow,
fleet OF steamers to carry its grca
II commerce. which is SO extensive tina
Y ~ amounts to one-seyenth Of the eli
t |one- third of the whole annual Goa
il production OF tho country, and It's trad.
e IN cotton yarn constitutes one-third o
6 1.-THE nations total output
n According to the historians of tn,
We're eis' great Warriors. But on one oeea
! sion. several hundred years ago, The
I trounced by a vicious rival Wherefore
} The turned his back upon warlike pUr.
suits and opened dry goods store
: From that time on the energies OF til.
suits with such success that the busI-
ness founded by tho defeated brave !.
now one OF the strong pillars Of the
oneer hs sa Ee M des Il ea
. ing; they organized a plan for the
collection and remittance of money
and established the first. carriers bus
mess In Japan.
was appointed by the government az
its .purveyor and controller OF. public
exchange. In recognition OF the SER
tate in Tokyo was conferred upon the
clan. The Mitsuis have continued to
render valuable. service to the state.
For two centuries they. were loyal to
the Emperor. In fact. when the pres
lent Emperor was restored to actual
power: the anti:.shogun party was Il,
vice the head OF the house was ere.
iated a peer, and other members OF the
family have been decorated and given
various kinds OF honors.
| The holdings OF the house OF Mltsui
are the common property OF the mem.
bers OF eleven families. and the con.
duct OF affairs Is under the direct con.
troll OF board made up OF the heads
OF society Is the family and not the
individual. Family is "a collective
word and does not necessarily mean
households with 200 members. but in
the eyes OF the law 1t is one family.
IL is ruled by a family council. and
the Oldest son Of an Oldest son presides
over II. The individual Is always sub.
servient to the family. and when the
rights or interests OF one person are
weighed In the balance against the
rights or interests OF the whole body,
dividual.
BY laws and customs Of Inheritance,
the estate OF the father descends to
the first first born son by prinogenitnre.
must make their own fortunes indie
pF a,,,,,, In the case Of the Mitsui
The Youngest, there is no particular
property to which any individual can
enter his absolute claim. The proper
ties are the common holdings of all. 1t
is collective body or Joint association,
wo-kire with a combined capital and
under joint liability.
The family rules under which this
gre. equalization works Were drawn
Was wa one o Year e oid, and they eontnue
In force until this day, being. only
slightly modified to conform to the re-
qurements of the laws OF the country
pniss ts sft to in
last Will and testament OF one Taxa
toshi, and were codified by his son.
Haehirobei rakahira. The many
tered the principles of these rules. and
the business which owns It's own
steamship lines and Eirdies the globe
is still governed by regulations origi-
in ancient Yeddo, city to which no
foreigner might come. and located in
a country from which no native might
journey.
The influence of the Mitsui family
in the economical affairs OF Japan |
Is so extensive that 1t Is difficult to |
give anything like comprehensive
survey OF 1t. The undertakings may |
of banking. foreign and domestic trade.
mining and wholesale and retail dry |
goods. Under these come innumerable
branches. such as home commerce. for
eign trade. shipping, fisheries. insur-
ance agencies. warehouses, retail trade,
iron and engineering works. and many |
other enterprises which cover practical
ly the entire commercial and Industrial
The Mitsu banking business was
founded over 200 years ago and is deep
~ rooted In, the soil Of Japanese
finance. These banks financed the
and in 1871 tho Mitsuis de-
cided to organize central bank of ia
pan. For that purpose they erected
ma gnificent stone building in Yoko-
hama. But in 1872 the government de-
cided to adopt the American banking
system, and the First National Bank
Of Japan was organized. This COMPEL
ed the Mitsuis to abandon their plan, but
they became the principal shareholders
in the new national bank. They turn
erected for It's own purposes. which re-
mains to-day ono of the finest struc-
lures In the entire empire. Later. N
1876. the Mitsul Bank was organized:
Although not tue HOlLICldI DaunSi' " i
The government. it is a we'll known
fact that now in the times Of finan-
,ial stress the Mitsui family is pract-
sally carrying upon It's broad shoulders
The credit OF the Japanese nation
The export business of the Mitsuls
8 the most extensive In the country. .
rhey ship millions of dollars' worth 8
ST raw silk to New York each year r
being the largest handlers of SILK IN
he world. They were pioneers IN the
export Of Japanese rice and do an IN
ernational business In this staple.
Among the many articles included nal.d in
heir export business are coal, cotton
,arn, cotton cloth. copper, silver, coral.
cement, timber. railway slecpers, sui
blur, matches and so on.
Their, import business is conducted
IN an equally large scale. Their com
nercial Importance to the United states
S shown by the fact that they are
he agents in Japan for the American
Bridge Company, the United states
steel Corporation and the General
electric Company. The list of their |
Imports includes such important items
IS steamers warships, ordnance. loco-
motives. steel bridges, electrical ma
hines, pig iron, wire, lead, tin, zinc.
of all kinds, and material
or railway equipment, Although I
,r,,,jppoI 1,,it Il "a flnrtf which thew /