Background
Eijiro Ono was born in Fukuoka Prefecture in 1864. He was the eldest son of Sakujuro Ono, a retainer of the Yanagawa Clan, Chikugo Province.
Eijiro Ono was born in Fukuoka Prefecture in 1864. He was the eldest son of Sakujuro Ono, a retainer of the Yanagawa Clan, Chikugo Province.
Eijiro Ono went to the United States, where he studied political economy at Oberlin College and Chicago University. After his return to Japan (1890), he founded the Doshisha School of Political Science and Law. He received the degree of doctor of philosophy for his thesis on changes in Japanese industry.
Eijiro Ono joined the Bank of Japan at its invitation (1896), became chief of its business bureau (1911), vice president of the Japan Industrial Bank (1913) and its president (1923). He was concurrently president of the Kyoritsu Mining Company.
When the Kawasaki Dockyard was in financial difficulties owing to the suspension of business of the No. 15 Bank, the government proposed that the Industrial Bank extend loans to the Kawasaki Dockyard, with the Finance Ministry's Deposits Bureau underwriting the bank's debentures. Ono accepted the proposal on condition that the government should cover the losses incurred by his bank in case of the shipbuilding company defaulting on payment of principal and interest. It touched off a controversy in financial circles. Bankers, however, praised Ono's stand as exemplifying the Bank First Policy.
