, was an industrialist and politician in the

Empire of Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent fo ...

, serving as a member of the

Upper House An upper house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.''Bicameralism'' (1997) by George Tsebelis The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smalle ...

of the

Diet of Japan The is the national legislature of Japan. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives (, ''Shūgiin''), and an upper house, the House of Councillors (, '' Sangiin''). Both houses are directly elected under a paralle ...

, advisor to

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Hideki Tōjō, and twice as a cabinet minister. Prior to his political career, he was a central figure in the pre-war

Mitsui zaibatsu is one of the largest ''keiretsu'' in Japan and one of the largest corporate groups in the world. The major companies of the group include Mitsui & Co. ( general trading company), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Nippon Paper Industries ...

and president of

Oji Paper is a Japanese manufacturer of paper products. In 2012 the company was the third largest company in the global forest, paper and packaging industry. The company's stock is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the stock is constituent of the Ni ...

Biography

Fujiwara was born in

Kamiminochi District, Nagano is a district located in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. As of 2011, the district has an estimated population of 23,774. As a result of mergers the total area of the district is now 282.65 km2. Towns and villages *Iizuna * Shinano *Ogawa Merg ...

, currently part of

Nagano city is the capital and largest city of Nagano Prefecture, located in the Nagano Basin (Zenkoji Daira) in the central Chūbu region of Japan. Nagano is categorized as a core city of Japan. Nagano City is the highest prefectural capital in Japan, wi ...

, where his father, a farmer, was also a trader in

indigo Indigo is a deep color close to the color wheel blue (a primary color in the RGB color space), as well as to some variants of ultramarine, based on the ancient dye of the same name. The word "indigo" comes from the Latin word ''indicum'', m ...

and thus the wealthiest man in the village. Fujiwara originally intended to become a medical doctor, and travelled to

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

at the age of 16. However, on graduation from a school affiliated with

Keio University , mottoeng = The pen is mightier than the sword , type = Private research coeducational higher education institution , established = 1858 , founder = Yukichi Fukuzawa , endowmen ...

, he found employment at the Matsui Shimpo newspaper instead, rising to the position of editor-in-chief. When the newspaper was in severe financial difficulties, he also assumed the post of president, but was unable to prevent it from falling into bankruptcy. In 1895, through the introduction of one of his former classmates, Fujiwara was hired by the Mitsui Bank. One of his close colleagues was

Shigeaki Ikeda , also known as Seihin Ikeda, was a politician, cabinet minister and businessman in the Empire of Japan, prominent in the early decades of the 20th century. He served as director of Mitsui Bank from 1909-1933, was appointed governor of the Bank o ...

. He rose rapidly through the ranks, working at the branch office at Otsu, Shiga, and was assistant manager of a branch in Fukagawa, Tokyo. He was then appointed manager of the Tomioka silk mill, which was under Mitsui ownership. Under his management, he resolved labor dispute issues by a combination of wage increases and improved working conditions through negotiations. Due to his success at the Tomioka Silk Mill, he was called in to assume management of Oji Paper, when its workers went on strike in 1898; however, this time he was not as successful and had to call in workers from Fuji Paper (also owned by Mitsui) to break the strike. In 1899, he was transferred to Mitsui & Co., where he was made vice-manager of the company branch in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

. He remained in Shanghai over ten years, becoming branch manager, and also director of procurement for wood. He returned to Oji Paper as vice-president in 1911, at a time when Oji Paper was in severe financial difficulties. Fujiwara turned the company around by replacing managers suspected of embezzlement, purchasing the latest production equipment from Europe, and suing major debtors who were delinquent on payments. In 1929, Fujiwara was appointed to a seat in the

of the

. In 1933, he merged Oji Paper with Fuji Paper and Karafuto Industries, a paper company based in Karafuto to form New Oji Paper, with a market share of over 80%. He resigned his position as president of the new company in 1938 to become chairman of the board. The same year, he established a private university in

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...

, of the Fujiwara Institute of Technology, to train engineers and managerial talent. The university is now the Faculty of Engineering of Keio University. In 1940, he was asked to join the cabinet of Mitsumasa Yonai as Minister of Commerce and Industry. In 1942, he was nominated a special advisor to the cabinet of Prime Minister Tōjō, with oversight over naval procurement, and in 1943 joined the Tōjō cabinet as a

minister without portfolio A minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister who does not head a particular ministry. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet w ...

. In 1944, under Tōjō’s successor,

Kuniaki Koiso was a Japanese general in the Imperial Japanese Army, Governor-General of Korea and Prime Minister of Japan from 1944 to 1945. After Japan's defeat in World War II, he was convicted of war crimes and sentenced to life imprisonment. Early lif ...

, he became

Minister of Munitions The Minister of Munitions was a British government position created during the First World War to oversee and co-ordinate the production and distribution of munitions for the war effort. The position was created in response to the Shell Crisis of ...

. With the war situation quickly becoming critical, Fujiwara devoted his efforts to increasing the production of aircraft to defend Japan against the increasing Allied bombing attacks. He was astonished to find that aircraft built at Mitsubishi’s Nagoya works were being transported to the nearest airfields by ox cart. Following the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Fujiwara, along with all other members of the former Japanese government were arrested by the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers and was held in

Sugamo Prison Sugamo Prison (''Sugamo Kōchi-sho'', Kyūjitai: , Shinjitai: ) was a prison in Tokyo, Japan. It was located in the district of Ikebukuro, which is now part of the Toshima ward of Tokyo, Japan. History Sugamo Prison was originally built in 1 ...

on war crime charges, but his case was dropped soon after. In 1959, he turned over much of his private fortune to a charitable foundation, the Fujiwara Foundation of Science. The Foundation awards the Fujiwara Prize to scientists who have made important contributions to the advancement of science and technology. Fujiwara died of a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

in 1960. He was posthumously awarded the

Order of the Rising Sun The is a Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge features rays of sunlight ...

, 1st class. His grave is at the Tsukiji Hongan-ji in Tokyo.Ginjiro "The Paper Manufacturing King of Japan" Fujiwara
Find-a-grave.

Trivia

*Fujiwara lived in Shirokane-dai Minato ward,

. *In

Keio University , mottoeng = The pen is mightier than the sword , type = Private research coeducational higher education institution , established = 1858 , founder = Yukichi Fukuzawa , endowmen ...

Yagami Campus there is his statue.

Biography

Trivia

References

Further reading