Sunday 7th February 1875

Yataro Iwasaki (50), the founder of Mitsubishi, died in Tokyo, Japan. The name Mitsubishi is a compound of mitsu (“three”) and hishi (literally, “water chestnut”, often used in Japanese to denote a diamond or rhombus). Its emblem was a combination of the Iwasaki family crest and the oak-leaf crest of the Yamanouchi family, who were leaders of the Tosa clan, which controlled the part of Shikoku where Yatarō was born.

In 1874–1875, Iwasaki was contracted by the Japanese government to transport Japanese soldiers and war materials. The Japanese government purchased a number of ships for the Japanese Expedition of 1874 to Taiwan against Paiwan Aborigines in southeast Taiwan, and these ships were later given to Mitsubishi after the expedition was finished in 1875. This created strong links between Mitsubishi and the Japanese government that ensured the new company’s success. In return, Mitsubishi supported the new Japanese government and transported troops who defeated the Satsuma Rebellion in 1877. Thus the success of Mitsubishi became intertwined with the rise of the modern Japanese state.

Subsequently he invested in mining, ship repair, and finance. In 1884 he took a lease on the Nagasaki Shipyard, which allowed the company to undertake shipbuilding on a large scale, and renamed it Nagasaki Shipyard & Machinery Works.

Iwasaki Yatarō often gave dinners for dignitaries, spending a huge amount of money on these occasions, but he also made many friends who later helped him by doing favors.

Iwasaki died of stomach cancer, and was succeeded as the head of the family business first by his brother, and later his son, Hisaya.