Japan is undergoing a sunami of change these
days, and it is important to document this change so as to better
determine what path Japan should follow to take her boldly into
the future. A brief look at the past should help us to understand
the present, including the curious situation that brought the
zaibatsu into prominence. Named after zai (wealth) and batsu (clique),
the zaibatsu are industrial and financial conglomerates that arose
during the Meiji Restoration.1
Each zaibatsu is a group of diversified businesses owned by a
single or extended family, often descended from Samurai who applied
the aggressive bashido (way of the warrior) to business life.2
How did zaibatsu get so powerful? According to Mori Arinori, minister
to Washington, "Some zaibatsu have been in existence for
centuries, for example, Mitsui, Mitsubishi, Sumitomo, and Yasuda.
Others only came into existence during and after the period of
the Meiji Restoration."3,4 Examples of new zaibatsu include
Sumitomo, Sanwa, and Dai Ichi Kangyo.5
The story of the rise of these family conglomerates
to prominence is interesting. In 1880, the government--facing
a financial crisis from the costs of industrialization, the costs
of subduing the Satsuma Rebellion, and the costs of raising an
army to meet the challenge of Western fleet--decided to sell at
public auction all its enterprises except for munitions plants.
"Costs were too big for the government to manage," said
Masayoshi Matsukata, a samurai from a long line of samurai. "The
government laid thousands of miles of track for railroads and
city trolleys, and this alone could have brought the emperor to
his knees, so expensive were these projects."6
Buyers at public auctions were men who had an "in" with
government officials, and knew they could buy important properties
at bargain prices. When these enterprises became profitable, the
zaibatsu who owned them became immensely wealthy. The result was
the dominance of society by these huge financial and industrial
combines.7
The Mitsui conglomerate, for example, had been big in textiles,
and they transitioned easily into banking and domestic and foreign
commerce. Other big merchant houses were not able to change, and
so they did not move into the Meiji world. Instead, new leaders
came in, for example, Mitsubishi, which came to prominence by
cozying up to government officials and getting contracts, subsidies,
and loans that turned out to be gifts.8,9 In most cases, the zaibatsu
have became closely associated with the government, which protects
their monopolies.10
Not all zaibatsu have survived. Those that have owe their success
to recruiting good managers, for example, from the samurai class.
At first, the samurai refused to work for the zaibatsu, feeling
that being a merchant was beneath their dignity, but gradually
they have come to realize that not only are money and power at
stake, but also that the zaibutsu, with their close ties with
the government, are serving the emperor and Japan. "This
service of emperor and country is part of the samurai charter,"
explained Matsukata, "and is the reason why samurai have
been won over by the zaibatsu. And it is the samurai spirit that
has made these big conglomerates the successes they are today."11
These new firms represent a new Japan, a shift from traditional small-scale establishments to big government-industrial conglomerates that power the growth of Japan and propel it into the modern world.12,13 Without the zaibatsu and their role in modernization, Japan will never be able to stand up to the West. The Western powers, with their large fleets of ships and weapons of war, would be able to sail into Japan's harbors and take control, without the rich and powerful zaibatsu to stop them. Zaibatsu are what allow us to resist takeover, and so are a good thing. We have been fortunate to learn from the West, without having to spend decades in trial and error. We have been able to adopt what we need and reject the rest. The zaibatsu--and the Japanese people--work for the glory of Japan, and show corporate loyalty as well as government loyalty. This path to modernization--led by the strength of zaibatsu companies and the loyalty of the Japanese people--is the only way to survive in the modern world, and make a future for Japan.
Sources
1. Yamamoto, Mike. "Japan." [http://www.news.cnet.com], 2001.
2. Viking Phoenix Web Page: "Japan, Incorporated." [http://www.vikingphoenix.com], 2001.
3. Reischauer, Haru Matsukata. Samurai and Silk. (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1986), 34-278.
4. Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. "Zaibatsu." (New York: Columbia University Press, 2000).
5. Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. "Zaibatsu."
(New York: Columbia
University Press, 2000).
6. Yamamoto, Mike. "Japan." [http://www.news.cnet.com], 2001.
7. Reischauer, Haru Matsukata. Samurai and Silk. (Cambridge,
MA: Harvard University
Press, 1986), 34-278.
8. Yamamoto, Mike. "Japan." [http://www.news.cnet.com], 2001.
9. Reischauer, Haru Matsukata. Samurai and Silk. (Cambridge,
MA: Harvard University
Press, 1986), 34-278.
10. Yamamoto, Mike. "Japan." [http://www.news.cnet.com], 2001.
11. Reischauer, Haru Matsukata. Samurai and Silk. (Cambridge,
MA: Harvard University
Press, 1986), 34-278.
12. Yamamoto, Mike. "Japan." [http://www.news.cnet.com], 2001.
13. Viking Phoenix Web Page: "Japan, Incorporated." [http://www.vikingphoenix.com], 2001.
Images
1. http://history.acusd.edu/gen.USPics3/56390.jpg
2. http://history.acusd.edu/gen.WW2Timeline/Prelude01.html
3. http://wiem.onet.pl/wiem/003a47.html