Ryōi Suminokura was a rich merchant of the Momoyama and early Edo periods.
Background
Ryōi Suminokura was born in 1554. A native of Kyoto, his family name was actually Yoshida, but because the family had for generations been in the money-lending business they came to be called Suminokura ("corner storehouse”). Ryoi’s father, Sdkei, was a doctor, but Ryoi, dreaming of a more ambitious and exciting career, allowed his younger brother to take over his father’s medical practice, while he devoted himself to overseas trade and engineering projects.
Career
In 1592 he received from Toyotomi Hide- yoshi one of the shuinjo (vermilion-seal patents), granting him permission to engage in overseas trade, and for the next forty-four years, until the final closing of the country in 1636, he and his son Soan conducted a large number of trading missions to the Annam and Tonkin regions, from which they reaped large profits.
He was buried at the Nison-in at Saga in Kyoto.