Iwasaki Yatarō
| Iwasaki Yatarō 岩崎 弥太郎 |
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| Born |
January 9, 1835 Aki, Tosa Province |
| Died | February 7, 1885 (aged 50) Edo, Japan |
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Occupation | Industrialist |
| Known for | Founder of Mitsubishi |
Iwasaki Yatarō (岩崎 弥太郎?, January 9, 1835 – February 7, 1885) was a Japanese financier and shipping industrialist, and the founder of Mitsubishi.
Iwasaki was born in a provincial farming family in Aki, Tosa province (now Kōchi Prefecture), the great-grandson of a man who had sold his family's samurai status in obligation of debts. Iwasaki began his career as an employee of the Tosa clan. The clan had business interests in many parts of Japan.
Iwasaki left for Edo (now Tokyo) aged nineteen for his education. He interrupted his studies a year later when his father was seriously injured in a dispute with the village headman. When the local magistrate refused to hear his case, Iwasaki accused him of corruption. Iwasaki was sent to prison for seven months. After his release, Iwasaki was without a job for a time before finding work as a teacher.
Returning to Edo, he socialised with political activists and studied under the reformist Yoshida Toyo, who influenced him with ideas of opening and developing the then-closed nation through industry and foreign trade. Through Yoshida, he found work as a clerk for the Tosa government, and bought back his family's samurai status. He was promoted to the top position at the Tosa clan's trading office in Nagasaki, responsible for trading camphor oil and paper to buy ships, weapons, and ammunition.
Following the Meiji Restoration in 1868, which forced the disbandment of the shogunate's business interests, Iwasaki travelled to Osaka and leased the trading rights for the Tosa clan's Tsukumo Trading Company. The company changed its name to Mitsubishi in 1873.
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