was a Japanese banker, businessman, investor, and politician. He served as the 4th Governor of the

Bank of Japan The is the central bank of Japan.Louis Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric. (2005). "Nihon Ginkō" in The bank is often called for short. It has its headquarters in Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo. History Like most modern Japanese instituti ...

(BOJ). He was created a Baron in 1900; and he was a member of Japan's House of Peers."Baron Yanosuke Iwasaki,"
''New York Times.'' March 26, 1908; retrieved 2011-08-30

Early life

Iwasaki was born in

Kōchi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Kōchi Prefecture has a population of 757,914 (1 December 2011) and has a geographic area of 7,103 km2 (2,742 sq mi). Kōchi Prefecture borders Ehime Prefecture to the northwest and ...

. He was the brother of

Iwasaki Yatarō was a Japanese industrialist and financier known as the founder of Mitsubishi, one of Japan's largest conglomerates. Early life Iwasaki Yatarō was born on 9 January 1835 in Aki, Tosa Province (now Kōchi Prefecture) into a provincial farmin ...

, the founder of Mitsubishi. He was educated at the

Tokyo Imperial University , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...

and at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

in Phlladelphia.

Career

In 1885, Iwasaki became the second president of

Mitsubishi The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group historically descended from the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company which existed from 1870 ...

. Iwasaki was Governor of the Bank of Japan from November 11, 1896—October 20, 1898. In 1890, he was responsible for Mitsubishi's purchase of the land in most of the central business district in Tokyo when it was still covered with grass and bamboo.

Legacy

Iwasaki's son Koyata would become Mitsubishi's 4th president; and his second son Toshiya would found his own company,

Asahi Glass , formerly Asahi Glass Co., Ltd.'(旭硝子株式会社), is a Japanese global glass manufacturing company, headquartered in Tokyo. It is the largest glass company in the world and one of the core Mitsubishi companies. The company is listed on t ...

.Mitsubishi
Toshiya Iwasaki
/ref>

Notes

References

* Weston, Mark. (1999). ''Giants of Japan: the Lives of Japan's Greatest Men and Women.'' New York : Kodansha International.
OCLC 246601936
1851 births 1908 deaths 19th-century Japanese businesspeople Governors of the Bank of Japan Japanese art collectors Japanese bankers Japanese chief executives Japanese investors People from Kōchi Prefecture University of Tokyo alumni Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania alumni {{Japan-business-bio-stub