[Complete View of the First National Bank at the Tokyo Kaiun Bridge, with a View of the Nearby Cityscape].

1876 Yoshitora Ukiyo-e View of the Dai-Ichi National Bank Building, Tokyo

Publication Date: 1876

About this Item

Very good. 3 sheets. Unrepaired tear and slight loss to upper left margin of left sheet. Size 14.75 x 30 Inches. This stunning 1876 Ukiyo-e triptych, depicting the Dai-Ichi Bank Building in Tokyo, was drawn by the artist Yoshitora and published by Takekawa Seikichi. Both the bank and its building, along with several other financial institutions in the same area, were key signifiers of Japan's modernization in the early Meiji period. A Closer Look Edobashi (???) is to the left, and Nihonbashi (here as ????) is to the far left, while Yoroibashi (here as ?????) is just to the right of the bank building, indicating a general northwards orientation. The Kaiun Bridge, referred to in the title, sat between Edobashi and Yoroibashi in Tokyo's Kabutoch? (??) neighborhood. The bridge is gone, but a stone pillar remains as a memorial. Like the other bridges just mentioned, it was a wooden bridge from the Edo period but was rebuilt with stone in the Meiji period, in this case, 1875, which was likely part of the motivation for drawing this view. As a side note, the utilization of both kanji and kana in place names (such as 'bridge' being rendered as both ?and ??) is a reflection of the exciting but somewhat confused linguistic atmosphere of the early Meiji. The main focus of the view is the Dai-Ichi Kokuritsu, or First National Bank, Building (discussed more below), which was notable for being among the first Western-style banks and the first Western-style buildings in Japan. Additional buildings in the background are labeled, including other financial institutions such as the Mitsui Group (????), Fifth National Bank (????) and the Kaiwase Kaisha (????). The Dai-Ichi National Bank The Dai-Ichi Kokuritsu Bank (First National Bank of Japan) was founded in 1873, shortly after the Meiji Restoration (1868). Among the first Japanese banks to issue banknotes instead of specie (coins), it was founded by Shibusawa Eiichi (????, 1840 - 1931), the father of modern Japanese finance. Shibusawa used the bank as a springboard for building the Meiji Japanese economy, financing hundreds of joint stock corporations (he also founded the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the Japanese Chamber of Commerce). It was later an early means for expanding Japanese influence and eventually colonizing Korea. The Dai-Ichi Bank remained a major financial institution into the Second World War period and has since gone through several mergers and divisions, ultimately becoming part of the Mizuho Financial Group. The bank building seen here was also a novelty, being constructed with brick and standing several stories tall. It was originally built in 1872 and was intended for the Mitsui Group, but was instead acquired by the new Dai-Ichi Bank the following year (though it colloquially continued to be known as the 'Mitsui Building' or 'Mitsui House' for some time). Like the Mitsui Building seen in the background here, the style is not exactly a copy of Western architecture. It is rooted in Western architecture while maintaining some Japanese architectural motifs and styles (such as the pointed roof at the center and the incorporation of bird (possibly cranes) reliefs on the front of the balcony). Although this building no longer exists, the area maintains connections with the financial world as home to the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The Kaiwase Kaisha, also seen here, was another early Meiji financial experiment that issued loans and paper currency, accepted deposits, and handled foreign exchange (it was closed with the National Bank Act of 1872 which merged several such existing institutions, but the building remained). This was typical of early Meiji financial experiments, which often floundered after a few years and were merged into larger operations. Meanwhile, the Mitsui Group, whose headquarters are prominent at the left, was a vitally important conglomerate in the modernization of Japan, developing into the archetypal zaibatsu (??) in the Meiji period; it remains one of the country's.

Seller Inventory # DaiIchiBank-yoshitora-1876

Bibliographic Details

• Title: [Complete View of the First National Bank at the Tokyo Kaiun Bridge, with a View of the Nearby Cityscape].
• Publication Date: 1876
• Seller catalogs:
  • JAPAN-MAPS