Yodoya Tatsugoro

Yodoya Tatsugoro was a member of a fabulously wealthy family of silk traders, estate owners and rice agents of the 17th century Japan.

Although Tatsugoro family belonged to the commoners in Japanese social hierarchy, their wealth and prominence achieved through a shrewd business policy exceeded that of the aristocracy and even of the shogun himself. They were the owners of the forty-eight warehouses filled with numerous luxury items, 250 fields, and a large amount of gold and silver coins. The family is credited with developing the first market exchange for rice in Japan.

The Tatsugoro's were also involved in moneylending activities, and among their clients were the most prominent persons in Japan, like daimyo and shogun. However, their great wealth was in the same time the cause of their downfall, since they still depended on the goodwill of the political authorities. Their enormous fortune was confiscated by the shogun, and all debts owed to the Tatsugoro family were canceled. Yodoya was spared and exiled to the town of Yamato, where he joined the priests.