Confucian Capitalism

Shibusawa Eiichi, Business Ethics, and Economic Development in Meiji Japan

verfasst von: Prof. John H. Sagers

Verlag: Springer International Publishing

Buchreihe : Palgrave Studies in Economic History

Enthalten in: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

Einloggen, um Zugang zu erhalten

Über dieses Buch

With the life story of Shibusawa Eiichi (1840–1931), one of the most important financiers and industrialists in modern Japanese history, as its narrative focal point, this book explores the challenges of importing modern business enterprises to Japan, where the pursuit of profit was considered beneath the dignity of the samurai elite. Seeking to overturn the Tokugawa samurai-dominated political economy after the Meiji Restoration, Shibusawa was a pioneer in introducing joint-stock corporations to Japan as institutions of economic development. As the entrepreneurial head of Tokyo’s Dai-Ichi Bank, he helped launch modern enterprises in such diverse industries as banking, shipping, textiles, paper, beer, and railroads. Believing businesses should be both successful and serve the national interest, Shibusawa regularly cautioned against the pursuit of profit alone. He insisted instead on the ‘unity of morality and economy’ following business ethics derived from the Confucian Analects. A top leader in Japan’s business community for decades, Shibusawa contributed to founding the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce, and numerous educational and philanthropic organizations to promote his vision of Confucian capitalism.

This volume marks an important contribution to the international debate on the extent to which capitalist enterprises have a responsibility to serve and benefit the societies in which they do business. Shibusawa's story demonstrates that business, government, trade associations, and educational institutions all have valuable roles to play in establishing a political economy that is both productive and humane.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter

1. Introduction: Shibusawa Eiichi and the Idea of Confucian Capitalism

Abstract

This chapter introduces Shibusawa Eiichi (1840–1931) and his vision of Confucian capitalism. Shibusawa, one of the most important leaders in Japan’s industrial revolution during the Meiji era, helped to launch nearly 500 business enterprises and was known for combining Confucian ethics and modern management in capitalist organizations. This chapter surveys rising global concerns about corporate social responsibility (CSR) and how Chinese Confucian and Legalist philosophical traditions viewed the respective merits of moral education and legal incentives as motivations for ethical leadership. It also examines scholarly views of Confucianism as both supporting and stifling capitalist development. It concludes that Shibusawa formulated his vision of Confucian capitalism as a means to bring both Confucian ethical considerations and modern efficiency to management decisions.

John H. Sagers

2. Economic Change and Intellectual Innovation in Tokugawa Japan

Abstract

To understand the origins of Shibusawa Eiichi’s vision of Confucian capitalism, this chapter focuses on intellectual responses to economic change in the late Tokugawa period. Changing economic realities created new avenues of social mobility, as intellectuals adjusted ideologies to address the ambitions of the upwardly mobile among the peasant and merchant classes. Shibusawa’s experience in his family’s farming and commercial enterprises combined with his samurai-style Confucian education prepared him extraordinarily well to act as a mediator between samurai bureaucrats and commoners. Traveling to Europe in 1867, Shibusawa attributed advancements in European technology to the commercial classes’ high social status. Returning to Japan, he became committed to establishing capitalist joint-stock companies guided by a Confucian ethic of public service.

John H. Sagers

3. Government Bureaucrats and Capitalist Institutions in 1870s Japan

Abstract

This chapter focuses on Shibusawa Eiichi’s work as an official in the Meiji government from 1869 to 1873 where he played a critical role in laying the groundwork for tax, currency, and industrial promotion policies as well as other institutions for economic development. As a government official, Shibusawa’s ideas of Confucian capitalism evolved as he explored institutions of Western market capitalism as the means to the Confucian ends of a stronger state and more prosperous people. Shibusawa’s own narrative of his departure from government to head the new Dai-Ichi Bank characterized this move as a sharp break with official life motivated by a strong desire to work in the private sector to elevate the status of commerce and industry in Japanese society.

John H. Sagers

4. The Ethical Entrepreneur as a Servant of Japan’s National Interest

Abstract

From the 1870s, Japanese reformers looked to Europe and America for models of political, economic, and social institutions to adapt for use in Japan. As head of Dai-Ichi Bank, Shibusawa Eiichi helped organize and finance enterprises in many different industries. Shibusawa also promoted the business leader (jitsugyoka) as a new character in Japanese society. In contrast to the unscrupulous Tokugawa-era merchant, domineering government official, or closed family business groups known as zaibatsu, Shibusawa’s ideal business leader was entrepreneurial, ethical, and devoted to public service.

John H. Sagers

5. Competing Priorities of Infrastructure Investment and Military Expansion in Late Meiji Japan

Abstract

The slogan “rich country, strong military” (fukoku kyohei) famously guided modernization efforts in Meiji Japan, but debates among business leaders and government officials highlighted the contested nature of this formulation. This chapter examines Shibusawa Eiichi’s criticism of policies he saw detrimental to business interests including the transition of Japan’s currency to the Gold Standard and rapid increases in military expenditures, which came at the expense of civilian infrastructure investment. Feeling a Confucian obligation to remonstrate against mistaken government policies, Shibusawa consistently recommended frugality in spending to allow for increased investment in the conviction that a prosperous economy leads to strength where reckless militarism leads to a poor economy and needles hostility from potential trading partners.

John H. Sagers

6. Business Leaders as Civilian Diplomats in Early Twentieth-Century Japan

Abstract

Japan’s victory in the Russo-Japanese War led to the incorporation of Korea into the Japanese empire. Japan’s growing power in East Asia coupled with the start of the Chinese Revolution in 1911 destabilized the region. Europeans and Americans feared that Japan and China might unite and threaten European and American strategic and commercial interests in the region. Proud of their economic and military achievements, Japanese leaders resented racist “Yellow Peril” rhetoric in Europe and exclusionary immigration policies in the United States. Hoping that international exchanges between business leaders would reduce tensions, Shibusawa Eiichi participated in several goodwill missions abroad after his retirement from most business positions in the early 1900s.

John H. Sagers

7. Confucian Capitalism and the Search for Economic Prosperity and Social Harmony in Early Twentieth-Century Japan

Abstract

With his retirement from active management, Shibusawa Eiichi devoted his attention to promoting his ideas of Confucian capitalism, which he called achieving the “unity of morality and economy” (dotoku keizai goitsu) through the Dragon Gate Society (Ryumonsha). In the 1910s and 1920s, his ideas were published as The Analects and the Abacus (Rongo to Soroban) and Lectures on the Analects (Rongo Kogi). Shibusawa also contributed to philanthropic work and participated in organizations like the “Cooperation Society” (Kyochokai) to resolve conflicts between management and labor that became particularly acute in the years after the First World War.

John H. Sagers

8. Purposeful Preservation of Shibusawa Eiichi’s Legacy

Abstract

The chapter focuses on efforts to keep Shibusawa Eiichi’s message of Confucian capitalism in public discourse. Eiichi’s grandson Shibusawa Keizo had a scholarly interest in cultural preservation, which contributed greatly to the collection and publication of Eiichi’s papers. The Dragon Gate Society (Ryumonsha), later renamed the Shibusawa Eiichi Memorial Foundation, maintains a museum and organizes seminars devoted to discussions of business ethics. Critics argue that the “Japan, Inc.” model of Japanese capitalism that Shibusawa helped create has now become an obstacle to progress. However, Shibusawa’s optimistic strategy of building networks of talented and innovative entrepreneurs with an ethical sense of mission is still attractive to those who hope to bring about needed reforms in both politics and business.

John H. Sagers

Backmatter

Titel: Confucian Capitalism
verfasst von: Prof. John H. Sagers
Verlag: Springer International Publishing
Electronic ISBN: 978-3-319-76372-9
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-76371-2
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76372-9