Iwasaki Yatarô was a ''[[goshi|gôshi]]'' from [[Tosa han|Tosa]] who headed the [[han|domain’s]] trading business in [[Nagasaki]] during the waning days of the [[Tokugawa shogunate]]. He became a business associate of [[Sakamoto Ryoma|Sakamoto Ryôma]] through the [[Kaientai]] trading operations. Iwasaki was not particularly fond of Ryôma but "business was business". Iwasaki later formed the famous [[Mitsubishi|Mitsubishi Trading House]] and became one of Japan’s most successful businessmen of the [[Meiji period]].
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Iwasaki Yatarô was a ''[[goshi|gôshi]]'' from [[Tosa han|Tosa]] who headed the [[han|domain’s]] trading business in [[Nagasaki]] during the waning days of the [[Tokugawa shogunate]]. He became a business associate of [[Sakamoto Ryoma|Sakamoto Ryôma]] through the [[Kaientai]] trading operations. Iwasaki was not particularly fond of Ryôma but "business was business". Iwasaki later formed the famous [[Mitsubishi|Mitsubishi Trading House]] and became one of Japan’s most successful businessmen of the [[Meiji period]]. His many philanthropic projects included the restoration of [[Rikugien]], the [[Edo period]] gardens of ''daimyô'' [[Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu]].
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Yatarô was succeeded as head of Mitsubishi by his younger brother [[Iwasaki Yanosuke]], who was followed in turn by Yatarô's eldest son [[Iwasaki Hisaya]], who also founded the [[Toyo Bunko|Tôyô Bunko]].<ref>Gallery labels, Tôyô Bunko.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/35953134521/sizes/h/]</ref>
==References==
==References==
*[[Romulus Hillsborough|Hillsborough, Romulus]]. ''RYOMA- Life of a Renaissance Samurai''. Ridgeback Press, 1999
*[[Romulus Hillsborough|Hillsborough, Romulus]]. ''RYOMA- Life of a Renaissance Samurai''. Ridgeback Press, 1999
*Jansen, Marius B. ''Sakamoto Ryoma and the Meiji Restoration''. Columbia University Press, 1994.
*Jansen, Marius B. ''Sakamoto Ryoma and the Meiji Restoration''. Columbia University Press, 1994.