Zeniya Gohei

Background

Zeniya Gohei was born in 1773 in Kaga, Hokkaido, Japan. He was born to a family who for generations were in the money exchange business (Zeniya means money dealer).

Career

Originally served Toemon Kiya, and then began his own business of importing dried herring from Matsumae (Hokkaido) and at the same time secured the shipping contract from his clan and soon amassed a fortune.

Zeniya Gohei was put in charge of developing a coastal shipping fleet (kitamae ships) for the Tokugawa shogunate. And he became very rich from trading, especially rice and lumber. In the summer of 1851, Zeniya Gohei attempted a land reclamation project in the Kahoku Lake, which is south of Kanazawa on the Sea of Japan. He planned to create rice paddies. But the project failed. In mid-1852, a large number of dead fish floated to the surface of the inlet near worksite. And some local people died after eating the dead fish. Zeniya Gohei and his family were deemed responsible. And they were imprisoned.

It is likely that these criminal charges were contrived as a subterfuge which enabled the clan to seize his considerable wealth. The eighty-year-old Zeniya Gohei died within three months of his incareration. He, however, died in prison, having been charged with smuggling. Some say that his arrest had something to do with the scandal over the reclamation of Lake Kawakita.

References

• Zeniya Gohei Japanese Edition
  1918