1. The Father of Japanese Capitalism: Shibusawa Eiichi’s Vision of the Ethical Corporation
- Author:
- Sean Valencia, Rebecca Orr, and Christopher McKenna
- Publication Date:
- 04-2019
- Content Type:
- Case Study
- Institution:
- Oxford Centre for Global History
- Abstract:
- When Europeans began trading with Japan in the 16th century, they were amazed by Japanese craftsmanship, the country’s sophistication, and its extraordinary wealth but the Japanese elite were not equally convinced by the benefits of European trade. Wary of foreign influence, particularly the attempts by Christian missionaries to convert the Japanese, the Tokugawa Shogunate enforced a policy of strict isolation in Japan. Tokugawa Iemitsu, the shogun of Japan from 1623 to 1651, issued a series of edicts placing severe restrictions on trade and the movement of people and goods after 1638. These prohibitions remained in place for more than two hundred years until 8 July 1853 when, under the command of Commodore Matthew Perry, four United States Naval Ships sailed into Tokyo Bay. In the decades leading up to this confrontation, the presence of foreign ships in Japanese waters had become an increasingly common sight as western powers competed ever more fiercely to establish trade relations in the region. The arrival of Perry’s “black ships”, however, marked a stark shift in Japan’s foreign relations. American President Millard Fillmore had tasked Perry with forcing open Japanese ports to US vessels and, unlike in previous naval expeditions, granted him full and discretionary powers to achieve this end. On arriving into Tokyo Bay, Perry staged a week-long campaign of intimidation that began fiercely with the firing of blank shots and culminated in ominous threats to destroy the nation. The Tokugawa Shogunate, stymied by indecision, finally conceded that Perry would be allowed ashore to deliver a letter demanding that Japan abandoned its protectionist policies.
- Topic:
- History, Capitalism, Ethics, and Corporations
- Political Geography:
- Japan and Asia