Background
Meizen Kimbara was born in 1832.
Meizen Kimbara was born in 1832.
Meizen Kimbara soon became a leader of the agrarian community and worked assiduously at Aichi and Shizuoka prefectures to cultivate mulberry trees and the reclamation of waste land. Later, he financed and reclaimed land along the banks of Tenryu River. Entering business shortly after Meizen Kimbara opened a store at Is lhonbashi, Tokyo, where he sold the products of Hachijo Island. From this beginning founded a money exchange business, which later blossomed into the Kimbara Bank. Returning home to Shizuoka, Meizen Kimbara became village headman. Later returned to Tokyo, and founded a store named Izu-tsu-ya, specializing in fancy articles.
A humanitarian by heart Meizen Kimbara helped ex-prisoners rehabilitate themselves and also organized tree planting groups.