MITSUBISHI ZAIBATSU
(The Mitsubishi Zaibatsu)
Edited by Yasuo Mishima,Tokyo,Japan,Nihon Keizai Shimbun-sha
1981,353pages.
MITSUI ZAIBATSU
(The Mitsui Zaibatsu)
Edited by Shigeaki Yasuoka,Tokyo,Japan,Nihon Keizai Shimbun-sha
1982,350pages.
SUMITOMO ZAIBATSU
(The Sumitomo Zaibatsu)
Edited by Yotaro Sakudo,Tokyo,Japan,Nihon Keizai Shimbun-sha
1982,414pages.
Reviewed by Seishi Nakamura
Tokyo College of Economics
Translated by Barbara Molony
The University of Santa Clara
To date,pre-World War‡Ubusiness management has been the major
focus of research in Japanese business history,with the liveliest research
being done in the area of zaibatsu studies.Properly speaking,Japanese
research on zaibatsu can be divided into two large categories,those studies
taking an economic history approach and those taking a business history
approach.Studies taking an economic history approach are based on a
Marxist economic interpretation and understand zaibatsu as monopoly or
finance capital.Mainly concerned with such issues as a zaibatsu's domi
nance of an industry or its degree of economic concentration,these studies
use exogenous environmental factors like market or economic change to
explain zaibatsu capital accumulation and development.This group of
studies includes Kazuo Shibagaki,Nihon kin'yu shihon bunseki(Analysis
of Japanese Finance Capital)and Hiroshi Matsumoto,Mitsui zaibatsu no
kenkyu(Research on Mitsui Zaibatsu).On the other hand,studies taking
the business history approach use primarily internal managerial factors
such as business philosophy,strategy,and organization,as well as man
agers themselves,to elucidate the development of the zaibatsu.Repre
sentative of this group are Shigeaki Yasuoka,ed.,Nihon no zaibatsu
(Japanese Zaibatsu,Readings on Japanese Business History,vol.‡V),
and Hidemasa Morikawa,Zaibatsu no keieishiteki kenkyu(Business
History of Zaibatsu).Indeed,the liveliness of the recent Japanese research
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on zaibatsu derives from the existence of two competing historiographical
approaches.
The works introduced in this review•|Yasuo Mishima,ed.,Mitsubishi
zaibatsu;Shigeaki Yasuoka,ed.,Mitsui zaibatsu;and Yotaro Sakudo,ed.,
Sumitomo zaibatsu•|are published by Nihon Keizai Shimbunsha as
part of its series of case studies in zaibatsu business history.All take an
approach that is fundamentally business historical.Forthcoming volumes
include Yasuda zaibatsu,Shinko zaibatsu(The new zaibatsu),Chiho
zaibatsu(The regional zaibatsu),and Nomura and Yamaguchi zaibatsu.
The three volumes already published share two features:all are collabo
ratively written by three scholars,and all are edited to contain com
prehensive histories of the companies from their founding (during the
Tokugawa period in the case of Mitsui and Sumitomo,and during the early
Meiji period in the case of Mitsubishi)until the dissolution of the zaibatsu
after World War‡U.In addition,a detailed and relevant bibliography in
cluding company histories and journal articles is appended to each volume .
Of course,each volume uses a unique methodology and perspective in
its historical treatment of the zaibatsu.For example,each section of
the collaboratively written Sumitomo zaibatsu reflects the concern of
its author:the section treating the period from the Tokugawa era to mid
Meiji is considered from the perspective of socio-economic history,that
-
from mid-Meiji to early Showa,from a business historical perspective;
and that from early Showa to the zaibatsu dissolution,from a perspective
that focuses on the business philosophy of managers.
Mitsubishi zaibatsu is a thematically organized historical narrative of
the zaibatsu's business strategy•|its managers,business organization
,
management structure,and its various subsidiary groups(heavy industry,
finance,mining,circulation,etc.).Each short chapter deals with one of
these functions or categories.In Mitsui Zaibatsu,as in Sumitomo zaibatsu
,
the chapters are divided into historical periods corresponding to the
development of the enterprise.Each chapter of the Mitsui volume is
arranged around common themes such as business environment and
organization,financial administration and business conditions,company
structure and labor management.Yet each chapter is designed to maintain
chronological coherence.
These books are successful in attempting new approaches to the study
of business history,including their introduction of the study of the various
functions of management.It cannot be said,however,that their success is
total.I believe the series'greatest shortcoming is its lack of effort to
integrate the various facets of each independently described zaibatsu.It
is also disappointing that the reader is left with neither an overall im-
180
pression of the management of each zaibatsu nor a clear image of its
comprehensive business strategy.Moreover,I have some misgivings about
the ambiguities in the authors'use of basic conceptual terminology.To be
sure, business historical research on the zaibatsu is still in its preliminary
stages;in future studies,various approaches should be tried to find which
is most effective.
The lively scholarly activity in the field of case studies exemplified by
these three volumes has led to the discovery and dissemination of internal
documents of the zaibatsu as well as the publication of company histories
of their subsidiaries.The expanded base of zaibatsu research accom
panying the increase in these case studies should produce additional com
parative studies. Although these three volumes indicate some of the com
parisons among the zaibatsu,international comparative research focusing
on zaibatsu characteristics is still in the developmental stage.This suggests
the need for further study of the international position of Japanese
zaibatsu.
The ultimate issue in Japanese zaibatsu studies will be to explain
the great number of zaibatsu-family businesses managing enterprises
unusually large and diverse by international standards-which developed
in the course of Japan's industrialization.To do so,the various economic,
business,and cultural reasons for the growth of the zaibatsu should be
investigated.Current research into the causes for the development of
Japanese zaibatsu falls into two theoretical categories.The viewpoint
represented by Professor Shigeaki Yasuoka stresses traditional factors
like the strong integration of the spirit and property of the family as
symbolized by the family constitution(kaken)and the underlying family
system(ie seido).The viewpoint represented by Professor Hidemasa
Morikawa stresses such modern factors as salaried managers who propelled
the multifaceted industrialization of the zaibatsu.In the future,investiga
tion of these viewpoints as they relate to comparative case studies must be
accompanied by vigorous debate.
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