was a Japanese businessman, national politician and philanthropist.

Early life and career

Born into an established merchant family in Yamanashi,

Yamanashi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Yamanashi Prefecture has a population of 817,192 (1 January 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,465 km2 (1,724 sq mi). Yamanashi Prefecture borders Saitama Prefecture to the no ...

, he moved to Tokyo in 1897, and became independently wealthy through stock investments. Nezu was elected as a member of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

in the

National Diet The is the national legislature of Japan. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives (Japan), House of Representatives (, ''Shūgiin''), and an upper house, the House of Councillors (Japan), House of Councillors (, ...

in 1904 and won three subsequent reelections. He was elevated to the House of Peers in 1926. In 1905 Nezu became President of

Tobu Railway is a Japanese commuter railway and ''keiretsu'' holding company in the Greater Tokyo Area as well as an intercity and regional operator in the Kantō region. Excluding the Japan Railways Group companies, Tobu's rail system is the second longes ...

and successfully helped to grow the company to one of the largest private rail operators in the Kanto region. Other business interests included managerial and shareholding roles in Tokyo Basha Tetsudo (Tokyo Horse-Drawn Carriage Railways), Tokyo Dento (Tokyo electric Light Company) and in

Tokyo Gas , founded in 1885, is the primary provider of natural gas to the main cities of Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Yamanashi, and Nagano. , Tokyo Gas is the largest natural gas utility in Japan. Timeline *October 1, ...

Philanthropy

Accompanying

Shibusawa Eiichi was a Japanese industrialist widely known today as the "father of Japanese capitalism". He spearheaded the introduction of Western capitalism to Japan after the Meiji Restoration. He introduced many economic reforms including use of double-en ...

on a trade mission to the United States in 1909, Nezu was inspired by American industrialists' enthusiasm for civic and philanthropic activities. On his return to Japan Nezu founded and donated to a number of new educational and cultural initiatives including

Musashi Junior and Senior High School is a privately owned school for boys based in Nerima, Tokyo, Japan. History The school was founded in 1922 by industrialist Nezu Kaichirō, as Musashi High School. The school was one of the first institutions of its type to use a seven-year sy ...

Nezu was a keen practitioner of the

Japanese tea ceremony The Japanese tea ceremony (known as or ) is a Japanese cultural activity involving the ceremonial preparation and presentation of , powdered green tea, the procedure of which is called . While in the West it is known as "tea ceremony", it is se ...

and his extensive private collection of pre-modern Japanese and East Asian art, served as the basis for the

Nezu Museum Nezu may refer to: *Nezu Shrine, a Shinto shrine in Tokyo, Japan *Nezu Station, a railway station in Tokyo * Nezu (''My Hero Academia''), a character in the manga series ''My Hero Academia'' * Nezu, a character in the manga series ''Akira'' Peopl ...

Minato, Tokyo is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is also called Minato City in English. It was formed in 1947 as a merger of Akasaka, Azabu and Shiba wards following Tokyo City's transformation into Tokyo Metropolis. The modern Minato ward exhibits th ...

. The museum buildings were rebuilt in 2006 to modern design by Japanese architect

Kengo Kuma is a Japanese architect and professor in the Department of Architecture (Graduate School of Engineering) at the University of Tokyo. Frequently compared to contemporaries Shigeru Ban and Kazuyo Sejima, Kuma is also noted for his prolific writings ...

, but the gardens of the museum also retain multiple traditional

Chashitsu ''Chashitsu'' (, "tea room") in Japanese tradition is an architectural space designed to be used for tea ceremony (''chanoyu'') gatherings. The architectural style that developed for ''chashitsu'' is referred to as the ''sukiya'' style (''suk ...

structures for tea ceremony gatherings. Constructed in 1933, Nezu's family home in Yamanashi has been preserved as the Nezu Memorial Museum. The main house, gate house and three story

Kura (storehouse) are traditional Japanese storehouses. They are commonly durable buildings built from timber, stone or clay used to safely store valuable commodities. ''Kura'' in rural communities are normally of simpler construction and used for storing grai ...

, were listed as registered tangible cultural properties in 2007.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nezu Kaichiro Japanese businesspeople Japanese philanthropists Japanese politicians Museum founders Japanese art collectors Japanese tea masters People from Yamanashi Prefecture 1860 births 1940 deaths University and college founders