Difference between revisions of "Zaibatsu" - New World Encyclopedia

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{{nihongo|'''Zaibatsu'''|財閥; ざいばつ|lit. ''property''}} is a [[Japanese language|Japanese]] term referring to the "financial cliques," or business [[conglomerate (company)|conglomerates]], whose influence and size allowed for control over significant parts of the [[Japanese economy]] throughout the [[Edo Period|Edo]] and [[Meiji period|Meiji]] periods.  The term was commonly used up until the end of the [[Pacific War|Asia-Pacific War]] ([[World War II]]).  
+
'''Zaibatsu''' ( 財閥, ざいばつ''property''is a [[Japan|Japanese]] term referring to the "financial cliques," “wealth cliques,” or business conglomerates, whose influence and size allowed for control over significant parts of the Japanese economy throughout the [[Edo period|Edo]] and Meiji periods.  The term was commonly used up until the end of the Asia-Pacific War ([[World War II]]). ''Zaibatsu'' were usually organized around a single family, and might operate companies in all the major areas of economic activity.  All zaibatsu owned banks, which they used to mobilize capital. The zaibatsu used their contacts in the government to secure lucrative monopolies, subsidies, and tax concessions.  In return, the zaibatsu helped to finance strategic semiofficial enterprises in Japan and abroad, particularly in [[Taiwan]] and [[Korea]]. The tightly-organized control of the zaibatsu over large areas of the economy was responsible for Japan’s successful industrialization and rapid growth as an economic power. By 1937, the four leading zaibatsu directly controlled one third of Japanese bank deposits, one third of all foreign trade, one half of Japan’s shipbuilding and maritime shipping, and most of the heavy industries in Japan.
  
==History and significance==
+
After Japan’s surrender (1945) in World War II, the breakup of the zaibatsu was announced as a major aim of the Allied occupation. Assets were seized, holding companies were eliminated, interlocking directorships were outlawed, and the individual companies that made up the zaibatsu were made independent entities. Complete dissolution of the zaibatsu was never achieved by Allied reformers, mostly because, in an effort to reindustrialize Japan as a bulwark against Communism in Asia, the U.S. government rescinded the SCAP orders to deconcentrate Japan's large companies.  Individual companies began associating in “enterprise groups” (kigyo shudan), organized around leading companies or major banks. The cooperative nature of these groups became a major factor in the rapid economic growth of postwar Japan, as they pooled their resources to invest in developing industries. Though large industrial conglomerates continue to exist in Japan, the vertically-integrated chain of command of the zaibatsu, has now widely been displaced by the horizontal relationships of association and coordination characteristic of '''keiretsu''' (系列,  meaning "series" or "subsidiary"). 
 +
==History and Significance==
 
==="Zaibatsu"===
 
==="Zaibatsu"===
The term zaibatsu was used in the [[19th century]] and the first half of the [[20th century]] to refer to large family-controlled [[bank]]ing and [[Industry|industrial]] combines in [[Japan]]. While the term was used arbitrarily in the [[United States]] throughout the [[1980s]] to refer to any large Japanese [[corporation]], it is not used natively by Japanese speakers for anything other than [[History|historical]] discussions in reference to Edo- and Meiji-era zaibatsu.
+
The term ''zaibatsu'' was used in the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century to refer to large family-controlled banking and industrial conglomerates in [[Japan]]. While the term was used arbitrarily in the [[United States]] throughout the 1980s to refer to any large Japanese [[corporation]], it is not used by native Japanese speakers for anything other than historical discussions in reference to Edo- and Meiji-era zaibatsu.
  
===Historical influence===
+
A zaibatsu was usually organized around a single family, and might operate companies in all the major areas of economic activity.  All zaibatsu owned banks, which they used to mobilize capitalThe Mitsui zaibatsu, for example, owned companies or invested in banking, food processing, foreign trade, mining, insurance, textiles, sugar, machinery, and many other areas.  The leading zaibatsu were Mitsui, Mitsubishi, Dai Ichi Kangyo, Sumitomo, Sanwa, and Fuyo.
The {{nihongo|'''Big Four''' zaibatsu|四大財閥|extra=''shidai zaibatsu''}} of [[Mitsubishi]], [[Mitsui]], [[Sumitomo Group|Sumitomo]] and [[Yasuda]] are the most historically significant zaibatsu groups, having roots stemming from the Edo period of Japanese historyDuring this period and later into the Meiji period, the [[Tokugawa Shogunate|Tokugawa]] [[Shogun|shogunate]] employed their services and financial powers for various endeavors, which the zaibatsu often provided free of charge in exchange for the privilege of using government funds.<ref name="Watkins">[http://www2.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/zaibatsu.htm Watkins, Thayer''The Zaibatsu of Japan'']</ref> After the [[Russo-Japanese War]], a number of so-called "second-tier" zaibatsu also emerged, mostly as the result of business conglomerations.  Some more famous second-tier zaibatsu included the [[Okura]], [[Furukawa]], [[Nakajima Aircraft Company|Nakajima]], and [[Nissan Group|Nissan]] groups, among several others.
 
  
===Postwar dissolution===
+
===Historical Influence===
The zaibatsu were dissolved by reformers during the [[Allies|Allied]] [[occupation of Japan]]Their controlling [[Family|families']] assets were seized, [[holding company|holding companies]] (the previous "heads" of the zaibatsu conglomerates) eliminated, and interlocking [[Board of directors|directorships]], essential to the old [[system]] of intercompany coordination, were outlawed. Among the zaibatsu that were targeted by the [[Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers|SCAP]] for dissolution in [[1946]] were [[Asano]], Furukawa, Nakajima, Nissan, [[Nomura]], and Okura. [[Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.|Matsushita]], while not a zaibatsu, was originally targeted for breakup, but was saved by a petition signed by 15,000 of its [[trade union|union]] [[worker]]s and their families.<ref>[http://www.nber.org/books/corp-owner03/morck-nakamura7-1-04.pdf Morck & Nakamura, p. 33]</ref>
+
The '''Big Four''' zaibatsu (四大財閥, ''shidai zaibatsu'') of Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Sumitomo and Yasuda are the most historically significant zaibatsu groups, with roots stemming from the Edo period of Japanese history, but there were also many smaller concernsDuring the Edo and into the Meiji periods, the [[bakufu|Tokugawa]] shogunate made use of their services and financial power, often free of charge, to carry out various endeavors, in exchange for the privilege of using government funds. The oldest zaibatsu, the house of Mitsui, had been run by merchants since 1616, when its samurai founder began brewing sake and soy sauce. Most of the other zaibatsu developed after the Meiji Restoration of 1868, when the government began to actively encourage economic growth and industrialization with subsidies, privileges and favorable tax policies. The zaibatsu founders were not wealthy merchants, but samurai bureaucrats with long-established contacts in the government, which enabled them to secure lucrative monopolies, subsidies, and greatly undervalued state assets when the government sold off state industrial properties during the 1870’s. The zaibatsu helped to finance strategic semiofficial enterprises in Japan and abroad, particularly in Taiwan and Korea. For example, Yataro Iwasaki, founder of Mitsubishi, was given a subsidised shipping monopoly in return for his help ferrying troops to Taiwan during a military expedition in 1874.
 +
<ref name="Watkins">[http://www2.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/zaibatsu.htm Watkins, Thayer. ''The Zaibatsu of Japan'']</ref>  
 +
In the early 1930s, an attempt by the military clique to break the economic power of the zaibatsu failed.  By 1937, the four leading zaibatsu directly controlled one third of Japanese bank deposits, one third of all foreign trade, one half of Japan’s shipbuilding and maritime shipping, and most of the heavy industries in Japan. They maintained close relationships with the major political parties.
 +
After the Russo-Japanese War, a number of "second-tier" zaibatsu also emerged, mostly as the result of business conglomerations.  Some more famous second-tier zaibatsu included the Okura, Furukawa, Nakajima Aircraft Company, and Nissan groups, among several others. The zaibatsu grew most rapidly during the early twentieth century, particularly during World War I when Japan’s limited involvement in the war gave it industrial and commercial advantages.
 +
===Postwar Dissolution===
  
Complete dissolution of the zaibatsu was never achieved by Allied reformers or SCAP, mostly because U.S. government rescinded the SCAP orders to deconcentrate Japan's large companies in an effort to reindustrialize Japan as a bulwark against Communism in Asia.<ref>In his 1967 memoirs, Kennan wrote that aside from the [[Marshall Plan]], setting the "reverse course" in Japan was "the most significant contribution I was ever able to make in government." George F. Kennan, ''Memoirs'', 1925-50 (Boston, 1967), 393.</ref> Zaibatsu as a whole were widely considered to be beneficial to the Japanese economy and government, and the opinions of the Japanese public, of the zaibatsu workers and [[management]], and of the entrenched [[bureaucracy]] regarding plans for zaibatsu dissolution ranged from unenthusiastic to disapproving. Additionally, the changing [[politics]] of the Occupation during the [[reverse course]] served as a crippling, if not terminal, [[roadblock]] to zaibatsu elimination.
+
After Japan’s surrender (1945) in World War II, the breakup of the zaibatsu was announced as a major aim of the Allied occupation. Their controlling families' assets were seized, holding companies (the previous "heads" of the zaibatsu conglomerates) eliminated, and interlocking directorships, essential to the old system of intercompany collaboration, were outlawed. Stock owned by the parent companies was sold, and the individual companies that made up the zaibatsu were made independent entities, although the management within each company remained largely unchanged. Among the zaibatsu that were targeted by the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers (SCAP) for dissolution in 1946 were Asano, Furukawa, Nakajima, Nissan, Nomura, and Okura. Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., though not a zaibatsu, was originally targeted for breakup, but was saved by a petition signed by 15,000 of its trade union workers and their families.<ref>[http://www.nber.org/books/corp-owner03/morck-nakamura7-1-04.pdf Morck & Nakamura, p. 33]</ref>
  
===Modern-day influence===
+
After the signing of the peace treaty in 1951, individual companies began associating in “enterprise groups” (kigyo shudan), organized around leading companies or major banks. They differed from the previous centralized zaibatsu in that their collaboration was more informal, and the financial interdependency among the member companies was limitedThe cooperative nature of these groups became a major factor in the rapid economic growth of postwar Japan, as they pooled their resources to invest in developing industries.
Today, the influence of the zaibatsu can still be seen in the form of financial groups, institutions, and larger companies whose origins reach back to the original zaibatsu, often sharing the same original family names (for example, [[Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation]])However, some argue that the "old mechanisms of financial and administrative control" that zaibatsu once enjoyed have been destroyed. Despite the absence of an actualized sweeping change to the existence of large industrial conglomerates in Japan, the zaibatsu's previous [[vertical integration|vertically integrated]] [[chain of command]], ending with a single family, has now widely been displaced by the [[horizontal]] relationships of [[association]] and coordination characteristic of {{nihongo|'''keiretsu'''|系列}}. [[Keiretsu]], meaning "series" or "[[subsidiary]]", could be interpreted as being suggestive of this difference.
+
Complete dissolution of the zaibatsu was never achieved by Allied reformers or SCAP, mostly because, in an effort to reindustrialize Japan as a bulwark against Communism in Asia, the U.S. government rescinded the SCAP orders to deconcentrate Japan's large companies<ref>In his 1967 memoirs, Kennan wrote that aside from the [[Marshall Plan]], setting the "reverse course" in Japan was "the most significant contribution I was ever able to make in government." George F. Kennan, ''Memoirs'', 1925-50 (Boston, 1967), 393.</ref> Zaibatsu as a whole were widely considered to be beneficial to the Japanese economy and government. The Japanese public, zaibatsu workers and management, and the entrenched bureaucracy were unenthusiastic and disapproving of plans to dissolve the zaibatsu.  The change in the political focus of the Occupation during the reverse course crippled efforts to eliminate the zaibatsu.
  
==List of zaibatsu==
+
===Modern  Influence===
 +
Today, the influence of the zaibatsu can still be seen in the financial groups, institutions, and larger companies whose origins reach back to the original zaibatsu, often sharing the same original family names (for example, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation).  However, some argue that the "old mechanisms of financial and administrative control" that zaibatsu once enjoyed have been destroyed. Though large industrial conglomerates continue to exist in Japan, the vertically-integrated chain of command of the zaibatsu, culminating in control by a single family, has now widely been displaced by the horizontal relationships of association and coordination characteristic of '''keiretsu''' (系列,  meaning "series" or "subsidiary"). 
 +
==List of Zaibatsu==
 
===The Big Four===
 
===The Big Four===
* [[Mitsubishi]] (三菱財閥)
+
* Mitsubishi (三菱財閥)
* [[Mitsui]] (三井財閥)
+
* Mitsui (三井財閥)
* [[Sumitomo Group|Sumitomo]] (住友財閥)
+
* Sumitomo Group (住友財閥)
* [[Yasuda]] (安田財閥)
+
* Yasuda (安田財閥)
  
 
===Second-tier zaibatsu===
 
===Second-tier zaibatsu===
* [[Taiheiyo Cement|Asano]] (浅野財閥)
+
* Taiheiyo Cement/Asano (浅野財閥)
* [[Fujita (company)|Fujita]] (藤田財閥)
+
* Fujita (company)/Fujita (藤田財閥)
* [[Fuji Electric|Furukawa]] (古河財閥)
+
* Fuji Electric/Furukawa (古河財閥)
* [[Showa Denko|Mori]] (森コンツェルン)
+
* Showa Denko/Mori (森コンツェルン)
* [[Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd.|Kawasaki]] (川崎財閥)
+
* Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. (川崎財閥)
* [[Nakajima Aircraft Company|Nakajima]] (中島飛行機)
+
* Nakajima Aircraft Company (中島飛行機)
* [[Chisso|Nitchitsu]] (日窒コンツェルン)
+
* Chisso/Nitchitsu (日窒コンツェルン)
* [[Nissan Group|Nissan]] (日産コンツェルン)
+
* Nissan Group (日産コンツェルン)
* [[Nippon Soda Co.|Nisso]] (日曹コンツェルン)
+
* Nippon Soda Co./Nisso (日曹コンツェルン)
* [[Nomura Group|Nomura]] (野村財閥)
+
* Nomura Group (野村財閥)
* [[Taisei Corp.|Okura]] (大倉財閥)
+
* Taisei Corp.|Okura (大倉財閥)
* [[Riken]] (理研コンツェルン)
+
* Riken (理研コンツェルン)
* [[Shibusawa Eiichi|Shibusawa]] (渋沢財閥)
+
* Shibusawa Eiichi (渋沢財閥)
  
 
===Bankrupt zaibatsu===
 
===Bankrupt zaibatsu===
* [[Sojitz]] (鈴木商店)
+
* Sojitz (鈴木商店)
 
 
==Zaibatsu in popular culture==
 
The term has been used often in books, comics, videogames and movies, referring to large, Japanese [[corporations]], who are often involved in shady dealings and/or have connections to the [[Yakuza]]. Examples include the [[Mishima Zaibatsu]] which is mentioned throughout the [[Tekken series]] and the 'Zaibatsu' criminal group in [[GTA2]]. The character Karin in the [[Street Fighter series]] belongs to the Kanzuki Zaibatsu. In the [[Tom Clancy]] book '[[Debt of Honor]]', a group of zaibatsu seize control of Japan and invade the US-held Mariana Islands. In other cases zaibatsu are used simply to provide the background for a character from an influential family, such as in the case of the F4 in [[Boys Over Flowers|Hana Yori Dango]] who are the sons/[[heirs]] of the 4 (fictional) biggest corporations in Japan; this is an obvious reference to the Big Four. Sonoko Suzuki of [[Meitantei Conan]] is a daughter of the chairman of Suzuki Zaibatsu, and, more prominently, Kaoru Hanabishi of Hanabishi Zaibatsu and Aoi Sakuraba of Sakuraba Group in [[Ai Yori Aoshi]]; In [[William Gibson]]'s [[The Sprawl trilogy]], 'Zaibatsu' is the generic term used for the mega-corporations prevalent in the futuristic world in which the plot is set.
 
  
 
==See also==
 
==See also==
*[[Keiretsu]]
 
*[[Japanese post-war economic miracle]]
 
 
*[[Chaebol]]<ref name="cognate">While ''chaebol'' is often viewed as the Korean [[cognate]] to ''zaibatsu'', both the Korean and the Japanese words are composed of loans from [[Chinese language|Chinese]], and thus are not cognates in the true sense of the word.</ref>
 
*[[Chaebol]]<ref name="cognate">While ''chaebol'' is often viewed as the Korean [[cognate]] to ''zaibatsu'', both the Korean and the Japanese words are composed of loans from [[Chinese language|Chinese]], and thus are not cognates in the true sense of the word.</ref>
 
*[[The Hongs]]
 
*[[The Hongs]]
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[[es:Zaibatsu]]
 
[[fr:Zaibatsu]]
 
[[it:Zaibatsu]]
 
[[lt:Zaibatsu]]
 
[[nl:Zaibatsu Busting]]
 
[[ja:財閥]]
 
[[pl:Zaibatsu]]
 
[[pt:Zaibatsu]]
 
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Revision as of 00:56, 8 May 2007

Zaibatsu ( 財閥, ざいばつ, property) is a Japanese term referring to the "financial cliques," “wealth cliques,” or business conglomerates, whose influence and size allowed for control over significant parts of the Japanese economy throughout the Edo and Meiji periods. The term was commonly used up until the end of the Asia-Pacific War (World War II). Zaibatsu were usually organized around a single family, and might operate companies in all the major areas of economic activity. All zaibatsu owned banks, which they used to mobilize capital. The zaibatsu used their contacts in the government to secure lucrative monopolies, subsidies, and tax concessions. In return, the zaibatsu helped to finance strategic semiofficial enterprises in Japan and abroad, particularly in Taiwan and Korea. The tightly-organized control of the zaibatsu over large areas of the economy was responsible for Japan’s successful industrialization and rapid growth as an economic power. By 1937, the four leading zaibatsu directly controlled one third of Japanese bank deposits, one third of all foreign trade, one half of Japan’s shipbuilding and maritime shipping, and most of the heavy industries in Japan.

After Japan’s surrender (1945) in World War II, the breakup of the zaibatsu was announced as a major aim of the Allied occupation. Assets were seized, holding companies were eliminated, interlocking directorships were outlawed, and the individual companies that made up the zaibatsu were made independent entities. Complete dissolution of the zaibatsu was never achieved by Allied reformers, mostly because, in an effort to reindustrialize Japan as a bulwark against Communism in Asia, the U.S. government rescinded the SCAP orders to deconcentrate Japan's large companies. Individual companies began associating in “enterprise groups” (kigyo shudan), organized around leading companies or major banks. The cooperative nature of these groups became a major factor in the rapid economic growth of postwar Japan, as they pooled their resources to invest in developing industries. Though large industrial conglomerates continue to exist in Japan, the vertically-integrated chain of command of the zaibatsu, has now widely been displaced by the horizontal relationships of association and coordination characteristic of keiretsu (系列, meaning "series" or "subsidiary").

History and Significance

"Zaibatsu"

The term zaibatsu was used in the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century to refer to large family-controlled banking and industrial conglomerates in Japan. While the term was used arbitrarily in the United States throughout the 1980s to refer to any large Japanese corporation, it is not used by native Japanese speakers for anything other than historical discussions in reference to Edo- and Meiji-era zaibatsu.

A zaibatsu was usually organized around a single family, and might operate companies in all the major areas of economic activity. All zaibatsu owned banks, which they used to mobilize capital. The Mitsui zaibatsu, for example, owned companies or invested in banking, food processing, foreign trade, mining, insurance, textiles, sugar, machinery, and many other areas. The leading zaibatsu were Mitsui, Mitsubishi, Dai Ichi Kangyo, Sumitomo, Sanwa, and Fuyo.

Historical Influence

The Big Four zaibatsu (四大財閥, shidai zaibatsu) of Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Sumitomo and Yasuda are the most historically significant zaibatsu groups, with roots stemming from the Edo period of Japanese history, but there were also many smaller concerns. During the Edo and into the Meiji periods, the Tokugawa shogunate made use of their services and financial power, often free of charge, to carry out various endeavors, in exchange for the privilege of using government funds. The oldest zaibatsu, the house of Mitsui, had been run by merchants since 1616, when its samurai founder began brewing sake and soy sauce. Most of the other zaibatsu developed after the Meiji Restoration of 1868, when the government began to actively encourage economic growth and industrialization with subsidies, privileges and favorable tax policies. The zaibatsu founders were not wealthy merchants, but samurai bureaucrats with long-established contacts in the government, which enabled them to secure lucrative monopolies, subsidies, and greatly undervalued state assets when the government sold off state industrial properties during the 1870’s. The zaibatsu helped to finance strategic semiofficial enterprises in Japan and abroad, particularly in Taiwan and Korea. For example, Yataro Iwasaki, founder of Mitsubishi, was given a subsidised shipping monopoly in return for his help ferrying troops to Taiwan during a military expedition in 1874. [1] In the early 1930s, an attempt by the military clique to break the economic power of the zaibatsu failed. By 1937, the four leading zaibatsu directly controlled one third of Japanese bank deposits, one third of all foreign trade, one half of Japan’s shipbuilding and maritime shipping, and most of the heavy industries in Japan. They maintained close relationships with the major political parties. After the Russo-Japanese War, a number of "second-tier" zaibatsu also emerged, mostly as the result of business conglomerations. Some more famous second-tier zaibatsu included the Okura, Furukawa, Nakajima Aircraft Company, and Nissan groups, among several others. The zaibatsu grew most rapidly during the early twentieth century, particularly during World War I when Japan’s limited involvement in the war gave it industrial and commercial advantages.

Postwar Dissolution

After Japan’s surrender (1945) in World War II, the breakup of the zaibatsu was announced as a major aim of the Allied occupation. Their controlling families' assets were seized, holding companies (the previous "heads" of the zaibatsu conglomerates) eliminated, and interlocking directorships, essential to the old system of intercompany collaboration, were outlawed. Stock owned by the parent companies was sold, and the individual companies that made up the zaibatsu were made independent entities, although the management within each company remained largely unchanged. Among the zaibatsu that were targeted by the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers (SCAP) for dissolution in 1946 were Asano, Furukawa, Nakajima, Nissan, Nomura, and Okura. Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., though not a zaibatsu, was originally targeted for breakup, but was saved by a petition signed by 15,000 of its trade union workers and their families.[2]

After the signing of the peace treaty in 1951, individual companies began associating in “enterprise groups” (kigyo shudan), organized around leading companies or major banks. They differed from the previous centralized zaibatsu in that their collaboration was more informal, and the financial interdependency among the member companies was limited. The cooperative nature of these groups became a major factor in the rapid economic growth of postwar Japan, as they pooled their resources to invest in developing industries. Complete dissolution of the zaibatsu was never achieved by Allied reformers or SCAP, mostly because, in an effort to reindustrialize Japan as a bulwark against Communism in Asia, the U.S. government rescinded the SCAP orders to deconcentrate Japan's large companies[3] Zaibatsu as a whole were widely considered to be beneficial to the Japanese economy and government. The Japanese public, zaibatsu workers and management, and the entrenched bureaucracy were unenthusiastic and disapproving of plans to dissolve the zaibatsu. The change in the political focus of the Occupation during the reverse course crippled efforts to eliminate the zaibatsu.

Modern Influence

Today, the influence of the zaibatsu can still be seen in the financial groups, institutions, and larger companies whose origins reach back to the original zaibatsu, often sharing the same original family names (for example, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation). However, some argue that the "old mechanisms of financial and administrative control" that zaibatsu once enjoyed have been destroyed. Though large industrial conglomerates continue to exist in Japan, the vertically-integrated chain of command of the zaibatsu, culminating in control by a single family, has now widely been displaced by the horizontal relationships of association and coordination characteristic of keiretsu (系列, meaning "series" or "subsidiary").

List of Zaibatsu

The Big Four

  • Mitsubishi (三菱財閥)
  • Mitsui (三井財閥)
  • Sumitomo Group (住友財閥)
  • Yasuda (安田財閥)

Second-tier zaibatsu

  • Taiheiyo Cement/Asano (浅野財閥)
  • Fujita (company)/Fujita (藤田財閥)
  • Fuji Electric/Furukawa (古河財閥)
  • Showa Denko/Mori (森コンツェルン)
  • Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. (川崎財閥)
  • Nakajima Aircraft Company (中島飛行機)
  • Chisso/Nitchitsu (日窒コンツェルン)
  • Nissan Group (日産コンツェルン)
  • Nippon Soda Co./Nisso (日曹コンツェルン)
  • Nomura Group (野村財閥)
  • Taisei Corp.|Okura (大倉財閥)
  • Riken (理研コンツェルン)
  • Shibusawa Eiichi (渋沢財閥)

Bankrupt zaibatsu

  • Sojitz (鈴木商店)

See also

References and further reading

  1. Watkins, Thayer. The Zaibatsu of Japan
  2. Morck & Nakamura, p. 33
  3. In his 1967 memoirs, Kennan wrote that aside from the Marshall Plan, setting the "reverse course" in Japan was "the most significant contribution I was ever able to make in government." George F. Kennan, Memoirs, 1925-50 (Boston, 1967), 393.
  4. While chaebol is often viewed as the Korean cognate to zaibatsu, both the Korean and the Japanese words are composed of loans from Chinese, and thus are not cognates in the true sense of the word.


  • Alletzhauser, Albert J. The House of Nomura. New York: Harper Perennial, 1991. ISBN 0-06-097397-8.
  • Allinson, Gary D. Japan's Postwar History. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1997. ISBN 0-8014-3312-6.
  • Aoki, Masahiko & Hyung-Ki Kim. Corporate Governance in Transitional Economies: Insider Control and the Role of Banks. Retrieved online 28 June 2004. Print edition: Washington, D.C.: World Bank Office of the Publisher, 1995. ISBN 0-8213-2990-1.
  • Morck, Randall and Masao Nakamura. A Frog in a Well Knows Nothing of the Ocean: A History of Corporate Ownership in Japan.
  • Morikawa, Hidemasa. Zaibatsu: The Rise and Fall of Family Enterprise Groups in Japan. Tokyo, Japan: University of Tokyo Press, 1992.

External links


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