Yataro Iwasaki

Iwasaki Yatarō was a founder of the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, the second largest family-owned enterprise that dominated the economic life of Japan until the end of the World War II.
Iwasaki was born in Kochi in a humble family of provincial farmer with samurai origins. It is known that his great grandfather had sold the family's samurai status to cover debts. Devoted to education the whole life, Iwasaki began his career working for Tosa clan as their financial manager. He worked at their branch offices in Nagasaki and Osaka, and saved money to buy back the family's samurai status . When the three century long rule of the shogunate ended as the consequence of the Meiji Restoration in 1868, the clans were disbanded and forbided to conduct business. Iwasaki used the political situation to acquire the newly privatized Osaka office, known at the time as Tsukumo Trading Company, by accepting part of the clan's debt in return for ships and trading privileges. Osaka became the leading trading port of Japan. In 1873 the company changed its name to Mitsubishi Commercial Company (Mitsubishi Shōkai) and the three-diamond crest became its official emblem. Under Iwasaki's management the company prospered. The company was responsible for military transportation of the Taiwan Expedition and the Satsuma Rebellion, and in 1884 it acquired the newly built government shipyard at Nagasaki.
In the following period the company diversified to various other industrial and commercial activities such as mining, shipbuilding, finance, and trade.