Background
Furukawa Ichibe was born in Kyoto in 1832. His original family name was Kimura.
- Photos
- Works
- Photos
- Works
Furukawa Ichibe
Edit Profile古河市 兵衛
Career
Furukawa Ichibe engaged in brewing and tofu (bean curd) manufacturing. Because his business declined, he went to Ou (northeast Japan) and became a clerk of Konoikeya a money exchange establishment in Nambu (Iwate Prefecture). He became the son-in-law of Furukawa, manager of the Ono Gumi Construction Company (1858). Engaging in raw silk purchasing in view of the growing prosperity of Yokohama, he made a fortune. He had engaged in mining in early Meiji years, and bought Ashio Copper Mine (1876) after Ono Gumi went bankrupt and subsequently made it one of the most productive copper mines in Japan.
