Momosuke Fukuzawa (Part 2)

2025/03/27

Image: Momosuke Fukuzawa (Age 61, from "Biography of Old Man Momosuke Fukuzawa")

In 1899, Momosuke Fukuzawa established Marusan Shokai, a company for exporting timber from Hokkaido. He appointed Yasuzaemon Matsunaga, who had become like a younger brother to him since they met while accompanying Yukichi Fukuzawa on his walks, as the head of the Kobe branch. Marusan Shokai secured a large contract to export about 200,000 yen worth of timber to China. However, Mitsui Bank—where his relative Hikojiro Nakamigawa (Yukichi's nephew) and friend Shogoro Hatano held power—refused to do business based on a credit bureau's evaluation of Marusan Shokai as having "zero credit and meager assets." Abandoned by Mitsui Bank, which he had relied on for funding, and receiving a scolding from Yukichi that was "enough to make one's eyes pop out," Momosuke suffered "extreme distress and agony," and reportedly began to "think of Keio University as an enemy." While traveling to see Matsunaga in Kobe, perhaps due to mental fatigue, his illness recurred. Hospitalized in Kyoto, Momosuke closed Marusan Shokai without any lingering regrets.

Momosuke described himself as a "frivolous talent." The reason for this lay in his "fickle and change-loving nature." When Marusan Shokai closed, he abandoned the work and left the liquidation entirely to his subordinates. Even at Nisshinbo, which he had been passionately involved in establishing, he stepped down as both a director and shareholder after about three years when hardships continued for a while after the factory began operations. Furthermore, he entered politics, winning an election in 1912 to become a member of the Diet. He delivered a famous speech attacking the government in the Diet as a spearhead of the Movement to Protect Constitutional Government, but as soon as the House of Representatives was dissolved, he quickly withdrew from the political world as well.

On the other hand, this personality trait proved its worth in the speculation he resumed when the stock market was booming during the Russo-Japanese War. His adoptive father Yukichi was no longer in this world, and Momosuke, no longer needing to show restraint, earned 3 million yen (equivalent to several billion yen today) in about five years, becoming known as a "speculator" and a "swindler." When Matsunaga, who had started trading stocks at Momosuke's suggestion, suffered heavy losses due to the subsequent stock market crash and asked Momosuke how he was doing, Momosuke replied, "I made a profit." With the world's prosperity at his back, he alone had sold off and escaped before the crash.

Matsunaga, who became virtually penniless after the stock market crash, reflected on himself and resolved to throw himself into a single business steadily. The project Matsunaga put his heart into was a company called Fukuhaku Electric Railway. The contract between the company and Fukuoka City required trains to be running by the following year. Momosuke had promised to invest in this company, but as usual, he lost interest and became reluctant to provide the funds. Matsunaga patiently persuaded Momosuke and took the lead at the construction site himself, realizing the railway construction within the deadline. At this time, it was Hisaya Iwasaki, a friend since his days studying in America, who invested the same amount as Momosuke under Momosuke's name. While the public coldly called Momosuke a "phantom businessman," Iwasaki trusted Momosuke and readily agreed to the investment. Momosuke cited this as the second event he "felt happiest about since being born."

Perhaps influenced by the actions of Matsunaga and Iwasaki, Momosuke's way of life began to change significantly around this time. Momosuke began to want to "choose the kind of business that would naturally be welcomed with gratitude by society and make it my lifelong work." This happened after Momosuke turned 40, several years after Yukichi had passed away.

The business Momosuke chose as one that would be "appreciated by society" was the electric power business. Yukichi Fukuzawa had previously written in the Jiji Shinpo under the title "Utilization of Water Power," praising hydroelectric power as a "great invention that brings out the water power buried in deep mountains and dark valleys for practical use in the human world." Since Japan's topography is suitable for hydroelectric power, he wrote, "I earnestly recommend that the businessmen of the world should not let this gift from heaven go to waste, but should establish manufacturing industries in various places, thereby benefiting the nation and themselves" (May 13, 1893). The influence of this editorial by Yukichi likely played a significant role in Momosuke's path toward the electric power business.

Momosuke personally set foot in the upper reaches of the Kiso River, where he found favorable conditions for hydroelectric power—abundant water, a large drop in elevation, and Nagoya as a nearby power-consuming region—and established the Kiso River Power Plant. Momosuke advocated for "one river, one company-ism," acquired the water rights for 200 kilometers of the Kiso River basin, and began constructing power plants as a monopoly area. While he monopolized the most advantageous points, the large-scale construction was accompanied by many hardships and sacrifices, such as gaining the understanding of local residents and the collapse of a dam under construction due to flooding, leading Momosuke to say he "suffered a great loss because I was 10 years too early." Momosuke built a Western-style villa (Oobora Sanso) in Nagiso and frequently visited to direct the site. Accompanying Momosuke on his inspections was Sada Kawakami (stage name Sadayakko). Sada was the wife of Otojiro Kawakami, an actor and promoter who took the world by storm with the "Oppekepe-bushi," and was a pioneer of modern actresses of whom it was said, "If you speak of beauties in the Meiji and Taisho entertainment world, the first is the actress Sadayakko Kawakami" (evaluation by Toyokichi Hata). Seven years after Otojiro's early death, when Sada, who had retired from the entertainment world, began to accompany Momosuke, the two were so famous that they caused a great stir in society. The scene of their meeting was even performed as a play. The script told of a young Momosuke jumping onto a runaway horse carrying a young Sada, saving her just as she was about to be thrown off. This story is still told today as if it were true, but it lacks credibility and has been pointed out as a fabrication. Regardless of its truth, "Madame Sadayakko," who had also succeeded in overseas performances, was an indispensable partner for Momosuke when inviting and entertaining political and business leaders and foreign engineers at the Western-style mansion deep in the mountains.

The hydroelectric power plants on the Kiso River that began operation during Momosuke's tenure started with the Shizumo Power Plant completed in 1919, followed by Ookuwa, Suhara, Momoyama, Yomikaki, Oi, and Ochiai—totaling seven power plants with a total output of 160,000 kilowatts by 1926. The Oi Power Plant was Japan's first dam-type reservoir power plant, and Momosuke was its founder. The bridge built to transport construction materials for the Yomikaki Power Plant was restored during the Heisei era and is still affectionately known as the Momosuke Bridge today, having been designated as a National Important Cultural Property as a heritage of modernization. The electricity obtained from the Kiso River could not be fully consumed by Nagoya alone, so Momosuke established a company called Osaka Transmission to send electricity to the Kansai region, which was suffering from power shortages at the time. Osaka Transmission underwent repeated mergers and eventually became Daido Electric Power. The company that originated from the steel business started by utilizing that surplus electricity is Daido Steel, which still retains the name "Daido" today.

Momosuke traveled to the United States to raise construction funds for Daido Electric Power, which had fallen into financial difficulties due to the Great Kanto Earthquake, and succeeded in the first large-scale foreign bond offering by a Japanese business corporation, which sold out immediately. Daido Electric Power became one of what were then called Japan's Big Five electric power companies. Another was Toho Electric Power, managed by Matsunaga, which began with Fukuhaku Electric Railway and expanded its power supply range from Kyushu to the Kansai region and Nagoya. Momosuke was called the "King of Electric Power," while Matsunaga earned the nickname "Demon of Electric Power" after World War II.

Momosuke announced his retirement from the business world in 1928, enjoyed his retirement life centered on socializing with friends, and passed away from a cerebral hemorrhage in February 1938.

The seven power plants on the Kiso River are still in active operation today, about 100 years after their construction, belonging to Kansai Electric Power and supporting life in the Kansai region.

Tsuyoshi Inukai introduced the following conversation with Momosuke.

Inukai: "I hear you've made money, but what is it for?"

Momosuke: "I make it because I want it."

Inukai: "Do you ever save people?"

Momosuke: "I hate giving out money."

Inukai: "Do you ever lend money to people?"

Momosuke: "No... but when it's absolutely necessary, I lend it with the feeling that I've given it away."

Momosuke fulfilled his investment in Fukuhaku Electric Railway, saying, "I'm willing to take a loss for Matsunaga's sake." Also, without anyone knowing, he provided living expenses out of sympathy for the misfortune of the then-president who had looked after him at Hokkaido Tanko Railway. Yukio Ozaki said, "The late master (Yukichi) was also a person who hid his good deeds and announced his bad ones in front of anyone, and Mr. Momosuke is influenced by that and resembles him." While Momosuke called himself a cheapskate, behind the scenes he was generously giving money to those who requested it.

When Keio University decided to build a library to commemorate its 50th anniversary, Momosuke became a member of the building fund collection committee and personally made a huge donation (20,000 yen). Also, the construction costs for the Public Hall were covered by donations from Momosuke and Ichizaemon Morimura. While saying "Keio University is the enemy," Momosuke was supporting the Juku after Yukichi's death.

Momosuke published a book titled "The Momosuke Style" in which he described methods for success for businessmen, but the phrasing is very much in the Momosuke style. The true essence is: "Make a show of studying," and "It is necessary to make yourself look like an honest person as well as making yourself look clever." Yukichi also had a tendency to use extreme expressions, such as "Use honeyed words and a flattering face," but in Momosuke's case, his twisted personality added to this, resulting in even more venomous expressions. Setsurei Miyake described this Momosuke style as "not only not trying to act virtuous and become a hypocrite, but rather trying to be a pseudo-villain."

Because he became Yukichi's adopted son, Momosuke remained a "beautiful young man in a white shirt with a lion depicted on it," standing out too much throughout his life, and comparisons with Yukichi always followed him. He seemed about to be swallowed by the great presence of Yukichi, but Momosuke disliked this, and it seems that the more he tried to distance himself, the more the weight of "Fukuzawa" pressed down on him. If he had remained just a disciple, it would have been enough to simply praise Yukichi, but with Momosuke's personality, even that became impossible. While he himself would not praise Yukichi directly, according to a close friend, "If someone spoke ill of Yukichi Fukuzawa, Momosuke would suddenly get angry."

It was likely after Yukichi's death that Momosuke was released from the spell of Yukichi. His later life from then on was one of independence and self-reliance, where he took the lead in carving out the world of the electric power business. That figure was truly the embodiment of independence and self-respect. In December 2024, the Oi Dam reached its 100th anniversary and commemorative events were held. In a corner overlooking the dam, a large monument built to commemorate the completion of Japan's first dam-type power plant is engraved with a relief of Yukichi Fukuzawa and the words "independence and self-respect."