Viscount was a Japanese businessman, central banker and the 8th Governor of the

Bank of Japan The is the central bank of Japan.Louis Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric. (2005). "Nihon Ginkō" in The bank is often called for short. It is headquartered in Nihonbashi, Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo. The said bank is a corporate entity ...

(BOJ). Viscount Mishima was a member of Japan's House of Peers.Masaoka, Naoichi. (1914)
''Japan to America,'' p. 127.
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Early life

Mishima was born in

Kagoshima Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu and the Ryukyu Islands. Kagoshima Prefecture has a population of 1,527,019 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 9,187 Square kilometre, km2 (3,547 Square m ...

. In 1893, Mishima briefly married a daughter of

Ōyama Iwao was a Japanese Field Marshal (Japan), field marshal, and one of the founders of the Imperial Japanese Army. He was representative of the outstanding military commanders of the late modern period. Biography Early life Ōyama was born in Kag ...

, whom he was forced to divorce when she caught

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

. Their relationship was the basis for Kenjirō Tokutomi's popular 1899 novel ''The Cuckoo''. In 1894–1900 he studied at

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

Ithaca, New York Ithaca () is a city in and the county seat of Tompkins County, New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake in the Finger Lakes region of New York (state), New York, Ithaca is the largest community in the Ithaca metrop ...

where he earned a M.A. degree.

Career

During 1911–1913, Mishima was head of the

Yokohama Specie Bank The was a Japanese bank founded in Yokohama in 1880, which dominated the Japanese market for trade finance in subsequent decades. It has been described as a "quasi-governmental exchange bank that was the overseas financial agent of the Japanese ...

. Mishima was Governor of the Bank of Japan from February 28, 1913 to March 7, 1919. As head of the bank, Mishima encouraged policies of monetary restraint. His sudden death in 1919 was unexpected.Metzler,

Notes

References

* Metzler, Mark. (2006). ''Lever of Empire: the International Gold Standard and the Crisis of Liberalism in Prewar Japan.'' Berkeley: University of California Press. ; * Masaoka, Naoichi. (1914).
Japan to America: A Symposium of Papers by Political Leaders and Representative Citizens of Japan on Conditions in Japan and on the Relations Between Japan and the United States
'' New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons ( Japan Society). * Smitka, Michael. (1998). ''The Interwar Economy of Japan: Colonialism, Depression, and Recovery, 1910-1940.'' New York: Garland. ; 1867 births 1919 deaths Cornell University alumni Governors of the Bank of Japan Japanese bankers Members of the House of Peers (Japan) People from Kagoshima {{Japan-business-bio-stub

Early life

Career

See also

Notes

References