Abstract
A LONG with many favourable factors which contributed to the rapid economic development of Japan, the unique and important role played by the early Meiji entrepreneurs has been stressed by many students of the Japanese economy. The Meiji entrepreneurs, these economists seem to agree, were community-centred2 and had a genuine interest in general economic progress and in the things that benefit the nation as a whole.3 Almost all leading Japanese entrepreneurs of that time, one recent article observed, cooperated with the government. Both strongly desired to establish a wealthy, powerful country which would ward off a feared colonization by Western powers.4 The predominant view of existing literature, both in English and Japanese, appears to be that the Meiji entrepreneurs possessed unusual degrees of patriotism, shikon shisai (the soul of the samurai with business acumen),5 and profits could be a by-product6 of their activities. Among the sources in English, Ranis's work is an outstanding example of this view. He wrote:
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