- Fusanosuke Kuhara
Fusanosuke Kuhara( 久原房之助)(1869-1965) was a
businessman andpolitician ofJapan .He was a
syndicalist ,zaibatsu member, andmining industrialist , later becoming aright-wing supporter in wartime Japan.He was nephew to the
Denzaburo Fujita , and brother-in-law to mining leaderGisuke Ayukawa . Born in Hagi, and died inTokyo .As a businessman
Through an investment from his uncle
Fujita , Kuhara purchased the Hitachi Mine, formerly the Akasawa Silver Mine, in December 1905, and in two years it grew to become one of the four largest copper mines in Japan at the time. Using the success of this investment, in 1912, Kuhara founded Kuhara Trading Co., Ltd.In 1915, copper poisoning in the area prompted Kuhara to knock down the shorter, older smoke stack in favour of a chimney 155 metres tall (the tallest chimney in the world at that time) It was built on the top of a mountain near the refinery. In this regard, Kuhara was the first to make use of the upper-layer air current.
Unfortunately for Kuhara, Japanese economy began caving in as
World War I andWorld War II developed, and after the1923 Great Kantō earthquake destroyed a number of his investments, he fell into debt, finally closing in 1928.As a politician
Kuhara had, from prior to the war had been a
syndicalist . He was also noted as the leader of the newly-emergingZaibatsu faction ofSeiyukal (Political Friends Society). When Japan lost and the War Criminals' Trials began, he was accused by authorities of active participation in support of theFebruary 26 Incident , which supposedly gave funds and refuge to radical militarists in theCoup d'etat .During the Japanese War Trials, he was accused, but not tried, and released. Absolved of the charges, and joined the radicalist group
Taisei Yokusankai . Kuhara acted as spokesman for the organization and was called the new "Political Messiah" the PrinceFumimaro Konoe , descended fromKaruizawa Mountains for charged of political power.Follow-up
The Hitachi Mine was succeeded by
Gisuke Ayukawa , and taken over in 1981 by the Nippon Mining Holdings.Kuhara Trading Co., Ltd was succeeded by Nissei Limited.External links
* [http://www.city.hitachi.ibaraki.jp/upload/freepage/shikatsu/hyotanhp/2005dec/hitachimine/mine.htm Hitachi Mine History]
* [http://www.centurychina.com/wiihist/japdeny/tokyo_trial.html Tokyo Trials]ee also
*
Hitachi, Ltd.
*Hitachi, Ibaraki
*Nissan
*Gisuke Ayukawa
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
