Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
(62) The Mitsui house-sign is to be seen at top center of this board, with a large inscription
Gofukumono
“Drappery” below it. Top left is
kakene nashi
“no fancy prices”; top right is
gengin
“cash sales”; bottom left is
Echigoya
, and bottom right,
Mitsui
, written in normal
characters.
Hewasnowplanningforhissonsratherthanhimself.Hisbrother,Toshitsugu,wasstill
in Kyoto, but would be the heir to the family property, so Takatoshi set about making an
independent fortune; as a first step he built his own residence in 1652, and set up business
as a moneychanger. As with the Kōnoike, the profitable side of the business was the loan-
ing of money, but, being in a country district, in addition to the
daimyō
and fellow mer-
chants who borrowed money, they also served farmers who needed cash to meet demands
for early payment of taxes, or for deficiencies in rice available for tax, and also sometimes
for carrying out improvements. Since loans to
daimyō
and farmers were secured by rice, it
was only natural that the handling of rice was added to his enterprises. Loans to merchants
do not seem to have played a large part in his business, but he amassed a large amount of
capital from his other activities.
In 1667 he sent his eldest son, Takahira, then 14, to Toshitsugu's shop in Edo, where
he had been before him, to learn the trade, and in 1668 and 1672, his next two sons fol-
lowed. In 1670 Takahira changed his name to Hachiroemon. He already had a reputation
for efficiency, and by 1672 he was trying to persuade his father to open a shop for him.
