He was born in Okazaki, Kyoto, a son of Kimura Chōemon. His childhood name was Minosuke. His family had served as village heads for generations, but by his father's time they had fallen on hard times, and from childhood he helped the family by peddling tofu. This hardship is said to have shaped his later tenacity.
Relying on a maternal uncle who was a moneylender in the Morioka domain, he went to Morioka to train. He helped his uncle collect debts, then worked at the shop of a purveyor to the Morioka domain, but that shop soon went bankrupt. In the distant northeast he learned the harshness of business firsthand.
Through his uncle's help he was adopted by Furukawa Tarōzaemon, a head clerk of the great Kyoto merchant house Onogumi, and the next year changed his name to Furukawa Ichibei. He bought raw silk with his adoptive father, and with his talent recognized, he gradually rose within the Onogumi.
Riding the wave of great change at the Meiji Restoration, he sent raw silk from the northeast to Yokohama and made large profits in foreign trade. The Onogumi was also entrusted with handling the new government's funds, and Ichibei became one of its central figures. This was the period when he took off as a merchant.
The government suddenly changed its rules on deposited funds, and the Onogumi was dealt a heavy blow and collapsed. Ichibei suffered a setback once again. But by handing over Onogumi assets, he kept Shibusawa Eiichi's First National Bank, a business partner, from going down with it, and so gained Shibusawa as a strong ally.
Going independent, he set out in mining. At first his requests for the sale of government mines were refused, but borrowing the name of the Sōma family, former lords of the Nakamura domain, he acquired the Kusakura mine in Niigata Prefecture. The Kusakura mine was run successfully, giving him the confidence and funds to continue in mining.
He bought the Ashio copper mine in Tochigi Prefecture. At the time Ashio was an old mine, thought to have been exhausted after flourishing in the Edo period. He also met strong resistance from the prospectors who ran the site, and for the first few years almost no copper came out, so the business struggled. Still, Ichibei did not give up and kept digging.
Rich veins were found one after another at Ashio, copper output rose sharply, and it grew into Japan's largest copper mine. Ichibei also brought in new machinery and technology. The same year he opened a copper-refining works in Tokyo, which led to the later Furukawa Electric. In this way the Furukawa zaibatsu took shape.
Behind the mine's rapid growth, toxic waste flowing from it was causing heavy damage to fields and fish along the Watarase River. This year the House of Representatives member Tanaka Shōzō raised the problem in the Imperial Diet. The Ashio mine pollution grew into a major social issue, called the starting point of Japan's pollution problems.
As the protests of affected farmers grew stronger, the government ordered Furukawa to carry out works to prevent the pollution. Ichibei built settling ponds and other works within a short deadline, but the damage did not end and the problem dragged on for years. The Ashio pollution is still remembered as the great dark side of Ichibei's enterprise.
He died in Tokyo. In business he is said to have valued un, don, kon: luck, dogged patience and perseverance. He had adopted Junkichi, the second son of Foreign Minister Mutsu Munemitsu, and the business was carried on by the Furukawa family. Furukawa companies later spread into firms such as Furukawa Electric and Fujitsu.
Shibusawa EiichiTanaka ShōzōMutsu Munemitsu
Ōkubo ToshimichiKawanabe KyōsaiNakamura MasanaoTerashima MunenoriKido TakayoshiŌtori KeisukeEtō ShinpeiFukuzawa Yukichi
People of the Meiji period ・ People by period
Based on facts found in textbooks and biographies. Uncertain points are marked as such.