Tomita Tetsunosuke

Tomita
Born	1835 Sendai Domain, Japan
Died	1916
Occupation(s)	Entrepreneur, banker, politician, diplomat
Known for	Second Governor of the Bank of Japan, Governor of Tokyo

was a prominent Japanese entrepreneur who served as the second Governor of the Bank of Japan (BOJ) and also held the position of Governor of Tokyo.

Biography

Originating from the Sendai Domain (currently Miyagi Prefecture), Tomita was the fourth son in a family serving as retainers to the Date clan. In 1856, he pursued studies in Western artillery in Edo and naval science under the guidance of Katsu Kaishū. By 1867, he traveled to the United States with Katsu Kaishū’s son to study economics at Whitney Business College in Newark, New Jersey, where he learned under William C Whitney, who subsequently advised Japan on implementing the Double-entry bookkeeping system.

Following the Boshin War and the collapse of the Tokugawa Shogunate, Tomita briefly returned home but was dispatched back to America by Katsu Kaishū. Acknowledged by the Meiji government, he played a role in coordinating the Iwakura Mission’s visit to the U.S. in 1872 and became Japan’s inaugural Vice-Consul in New York. Upon his return to Japan in 1874, he joined the intellectual society Meirokusha, entered into Japan’s first formal marriage contract by wedding Sugiyama Gen’s daughter, and later served as consul-general in Shanghai as well as Secretary at the Japanese legation in London.

In 1881, Tomita entered the Ministry of Finance and was appointed as the first Vice-Governor of the BOJ in 1882. After Governor Yoshihara Shigetoshi passed away in 1887, Tomita assumed the governorship in 1888. His tenure focused on introducing a central discount rate and stabilizing foreign exchange markets—core responsibilities of central banking—but he encountered resistance from both the Yokohama Specie Bank and Finance Minister Matsukata Masayoshi. Due to his refusal to comply with Matsukata’s policy demands, Tomita was dismissed after serving for 19 months.

In 1890, he became a member of the House of Peers. Between July 1891 and October 1893, he held office as Governor of Tokyo, during which time he supervised the incorporation of three Tama Districts from Kanagawa Prefecture into Tokyo, thus substantially enlarging its jurisdiction.

After retiring from political life in 1893, Tomita established Kangyo Bank (which later evolved into Mizuho Corporate Bank), Yokohama Fire Insurance Company (subsequently known as Yokohama Fire, Marine, Transit & Fidelity Insurance), and Fujibo Holdings. Additionally, he served on the board of Nippon Railway and founded Kyoritsu Women's University.

References

• Hardacre, Helen. New directions in the study of Meiji Japan. Brill.
• Reischauer, Haru Matsukata. Samurai and Silk: Japanese and American Heritage (1986) Harvard University Press
• Singer, Isidore. (1910). International Insurance Encyclopedia. New York: American Encyclopedic Library Assoc. OCLC 9233410