Masajiro Furuya

Masajiro Furuya
Born	Template:Birth date Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan
Died	February 15, 1938(1938-02-15) (aged 75) Yokohama, Japan
Occupation(s)	Entrepreneur, banker, manufacturer
Known for	Founder of the Furuya Company; leading Japanese American businessman in Seattle

Masajiro Furuya (古屋政次郎, born November 7, 1862 – died February 15, 1938; occasionally referred to as Masahiro Furuya) was the founder of the Furuya Company and a leading figure among Japanese American entrepreneurs, bankers, and manufacturers in Seattle, Washington. Historian Gary Iwamoto recognized him as "arguably the most influential local [Seattle] businessman of the early 1900s" and "undoubtedly the foremost Japanese entrepreneur on the Pacific Coast" during that period.

Early life in Japan

Furuya was born in 1862 in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan, the son of Heibei and T. Ariidzumi Furuya. Following the premature death of his mother, he began an apprenticeship at a confectionery before pursuing private education. By age 21, he had obtained a teaching license and subsequently served three years with the Imperial Japanese Army in Tokyo’s Azabu First Infantry Regiment. His military experience motivated his decision to immigrate to North America.

Initial years in North America

To avoid physically demanding labor common among immigrants, Furuya trained as a tailor before arriving at age 28 in Vancouver, British Columbia. Shortly afterwards, he relocated to the United States. During the following two years, he worked in tailoring and grocery businesses across Seattle, Chicago, and St. Louis before finally establishing residence in Seattle by December 1892. There, he launched a grocery store coupled with a tailor shop at 303 Yesler Way.

In 1903, Furuya returned to Japan to wed Hatsu Shibata. The couple made their home in Seattle and raised two daughters who attended local public schools.

The Furuya Company

Furuya capitalized on opportunities presented by the Sino-Japanese War and Klondike Gold Rush to build a thriving enterprise, leveraging Seattle’s growing Japanese population alongside the N.Y.K. line’s direct steamship route between Seattle and Yokohama. The Japanese community in Seattle expanded dramatically from 125 individuals in 1890 to 2,884 by 1900. His sales agents—known as "Furuya men"—traveled throughout the Western United States taking orders from Japanese laborers. The company grew to encompass wholesale and retail operations, import-export activities, and became a leading distributor of Japanese food products.

In 1895, he inaugurated an Oriental fine arts shop eventually situated at 1304 Second Avenue near what is now Benaroya Hall. Additionally, he founded the Furuya Construction Company, which functioned mainly as a labor contracting firm engaged with projects such as the Great Northern Railway, Milwaukee Road, and Oregon Short Line railroads. By 1900, he constructed a headquarters at 216 South Second Avenue housing both his grocery and art businesses; this location became a central point within Seattle's Japantown (Nihonmachi). Furuya further consolidated his influence by acquiring the Nippon Kan Theatre and actively supporting Japanese-American participation in the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition.

The enterprise diversified into real estate development, postal services, banking operations, printing ventures, and supplied rice to the Imperial Japanese Navy. At its zenith, Furuya maintained branches across North America—in Portland (1895), Tacoma (1900), and Vancouver (1904)—as well as offices in Japan located in Yokohama (1898), Kobe (1903), Yokosuka, and Tokyo. His company offered crucial employment opportunities for skilled Japanese Americans who were often excluded from white-owned businesses; however, it imposed strict working conditions including shifts lasting 10 to 12 hours daily, seven days per week, modest pay rates, compulsory Christian gatherings, and mandatory attendance at Sunday school classes. Employees’ vacations were limited to an annual company trip held at Furuya’s summer retreat on Bainbridge Island overlooking Puget Sound.

Although Furuya led a disciplined Christian life, historian Ronald Takaki suggests that part of his fortune may have been linked to Seattle’s underground economy centered around Skid Road. It was commonly believed that Furuya acted as a confidential banker for local prostitutes—some of whom never reclaimed their funds—thereby contributing significantly to his wealth accumulation.

Furuya Resort House

Situated on a property encompassing Bainbridge Island shoreline, the Furuya Resort House featured extensive grounds that included two stone lanterns, a pond with a bridge, a sizable greenhouse, and eight hothouses cultivating approximately 5,000 pots containing lilies, cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, geraniums, and chrysanthemums. Furuya conducted experiments with bamboo species and is believed to have been the pioneer in importing udo (Aralia cordata) along with specific soybean varieties utilized in soy sauce manufacturing. Additionally, he brought paulownias, maples, wisteria, Japanese cypress, and cryptomeria from Japan. Beyond regular employee visits each year, the residence welcomed University of Washington students and local prefectural groups for Sunday picnics. While the house and many plants still exist today, the paulownias have disappeared. Ownership passed to the Whitman family in the late 1970s, who continue to organize an annual Japanese Community Picnic on the premises.

The summer retreat likely represented Furuya’s sole personal indulgence. Throughout most of the year, he and his family resided in the upper floor of the company boarding house and maintained a modest traditional Japanese diet. Even within the summer home, simplicity prevailed; notably, its second floor was left unfinished and never occupied.

Banking

Building upon his success in commerce, Furuya established the Japanese Commercial Bank in 1907. This institution laid the groundwork for a banking empire that amalgamated the Oriental American Bank and Seattle Specie Bank in 1928 under the Pacific Commercial Bank and Pacific Holding Company umbrella. His combined roles as merchant and banker provided entry to exclusive business networks typically inaccessible to Japanese Americans. He held membership in the Seattle Chamber of Commerce and was an honorary member of the United States Chamber of Commerce. His business expertise earned recognition in Clarence Bagley’s History of Seattle (1916) and inclusion in Who’s Who in Washington State (1927).

The financial crisis brought on by the Great Depression alongside poor management at Seattle Specie Bank caused his fortunes to plummet from millionaire status to bankruptcy. Similar to many bankers during that era, he had overextended himself through speculative stock ventures and unsecured lending. Efforts to obtain bailout funds from Sumitomo Bank and Yokohama Specie Bank were unsuccessful. With no deposit insurance available at that time, his collapse severely impacted Seattle’s Japanese community and contributed to numerous failures among Main Street enterprises.

Taking advantage of this situation, First National Bank (which later became Seafirst Bank and ultimately part of Bank of America) inaugurated its "International Branch" on Jackson Street on April 10, 1934. The present-day Bank of America branch located at Sixth and Jackson within Seattle’s Chinatown-International District directly descends from that original branch.

Later years

In 1931, Furuya moved to Southern California but was unable to revive his business ventures there. He returned to Japan in poor health by July 1937 and passed away in Yokohama on February 15, 1938, due to atrophic kidney disease.