渋沢敬三の社会経済思想

<p>Shibusawa Keizō, the grandson of Shibusawa Eiichi, served as the Governor of the Bank of Japan during the Second World War and later became Japan’s Finance Minister in the postwar regime. In 1937, shortly after his grandfather’s death and before assuming his leadership roles, Keizō began channeling his passions into developing the concept for the Japan Business History Museum and preparing for the opening of the facility. Hoping to cover everything from Edo-period culture to the economic shifts and developmental changes that Japan experienced from the Bunsei era to the Meiji period, Keizō oversaw the collection of a wide variety of historical documents, paintings, photographs, materials, and other items to chronicle the country’s progression. The initiative eventually amassed 38,000 pieces in 11 different categories （paintings, maps, product rankings, paper money, materials, documents, books, advertisements, and photographs, among others）, with 13,911 paintings, materials, and advertisements （accounting for 61,964 images） now available in digital formats at the National Institute of Japanese Literature. The process of analyzing this extensive collection holds immense potential for outlining a new approach to business history.</p><p>Keizō’s background helped mold his strong interests in and unique perspectives on both economic and business history. In addition to writing “Honpō kōgyō-shi ni kan suru ichikōsatsu”［A consideration of Japanese industrial history］ as his graduation thesis for the Faculty of Economics at the University of Tokyo, for example, Keizō also shared a long, deep friendship with fellow classmate and eminent economic scholar Tsuchiya Takao. The vision for the Japanese Business History Museum and its collection of materials also stemmed from Keizō’s connections with folklorists and his awareness of the relevant issues. By examining these roots of the conceptualization, along with items reflecting popular economic life and Keizō’s statements pertaining to the use of visual information, this paper analyzes Keizō’s socioeconomic philosophy and proposes a new economic and business history methodology that incorporates nonverbal resources.</p>