was a Japanese businessman, investor and politician. He was the founder of the

Nomura Group is a financial holding company and a principal member of the Nomura Group, which is Japan's largest investment bank and brokerage group. It, along with its broker-dealer, banking and other financial services subsidiaries, provides investment, fin ...

zaibatsu is a Japanese language, Japanese term referring to industrial and financial vertical integration, vertically integrated business conglomerate (company), conglomerates in the Empire of Japan, whose influence and size allowed control over signifi ...

'' and

Nomura Securities is a Japanese financial services company and a wholly owned subsidiary of Nomura Holdings, Inc. (NHI), which forms part of the Nomura Group. It plays a central role in the securities business, the group's core business. Nomura is a financial ...

, and served as a member of the House of Peers.

Early life and family

Nomura was born on August 7, 1878, in present-day Yao,

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

, the eldest son of businessman Tokushichi Nomura I and Taki (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Yamauchi). He was known as Shinnosuke in his childhood. His father had been born to Doi Ōinokami, the lord of Hirano, and a woman bearing the surname Nomura, and was later adopted by Ōsakaya Yahē, the proprietor of a money-exchange business in Osaka; Tokushichi Nomura I later founded the money-exchange business Nomura Shōten in 1872. His mother was a former employee of Ōsakaya's business. In the year of his birth, 1878, his father's business had expanded and established new exchanges in Osaka and

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. Nomura had five siblings; an elder sister Kiku, younger brothers Jitsusaburō, Tokushirō, Gengorō, and a younger sister Tani. Nomura was accepted into Osaka School of Commerce in 1891, but gave up proceeding beyond preparatory courses after contracting

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

in 1895. He then studied commercial bookkeeping at Kizakijuku, graduating in 1897.

Career

Family business

Nomura and his younger brother Jitsusaburō began work at the family's money-exchange business. The work was mainly money-exchange, but Nomura left this work to his brother, himself focusing on studying stock exchange and working at Yatsushiro Shōten. There, he attempted self-trading but failed, and returned to the family business. The

First Sino-Japanese War The First Sino-Japanese War (25 July 189417 April 1895), or the First China–Japan War, was a conflict between the Qing dynasty of China and the Empire of Japan primarily over influence in Joseon, Korea. In Chinese it is commonly known as th ...

had a severe impact on the securities market, and Nomura gave up his studies to take over the family business in 1897.

First fortune

Nomura made his first fortune in 1915, investing in

Fukushima Boseki may refer to: Japan * Fukushima Prefecture, Japanese prefecture **Fukushima, Fukushima, capital city of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan ***Fukushima University, national university in Japan ***Fukushima Station (Fukushima) in Fukushima, Fukushima ...

, a textile company that was widely believed to be headed for bankruptcy. Nomura knew better: He was a friend of the firm's founder Yutaro Yasuhiro. One day, after a hefty sell-off of the firm's shares, he moved quickly, pestering the management to show him their books. The firm showed bulging order books, the factory was running at full capacity, and the profits had never been better. After seeing the books, he went to the floor of the

Osaka exchange , renamed from , is the largest derivatives exchange in Japan, in terms of amount of business handled. , the Osaka Securities Exchange had 477 listed companies with a combined market capitalization of $212 billion. The Nikkei 225 Futures, intro ...

and began quietly buying Fukushima Boseki's shares at 20 yen. He kept buying until the price rose to 30

yen The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third-most traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar and the euro. It is also widely used as a third reserve currency after the US dollar and the euro. T ...

. A number of traders had sold the stock short and began to panic. Nomura had bought up most of the available shares, and thus the panic began to drive up the price. Nomura watched the price rise continually from 35 to 50 yen. By the end of 1915 the shares had risen to 100 yen, quintupling his investment.

Nomura Securities and later life

Nomura formed

in 1925.The House of Nomura, ''Al Alletzhauser'', Bloomsbury Publishing Limited () In 1928, he was appointed to the House of Peers in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Early life and family

Career

Family business

First fortune

Nomura Securities and later life

References

Further reading