Abstract

The development of the Japanese economy during the Edo period was closely tied to urban development and the changing status of the merchant class. The emergence of the Mitsui family was an inevitable event in Japan's developmental history, given the changing social classes, political instability, and a complex, chaotic financial and monetary situation. Mitsui emerged to promptly meet the changing and developing needs of Japan at that time. With the characteristics of private ownership and a horizontal family management structure, their widespread influence, combined with strong internal linkages across traditional, commercial, and banking sectors, led to a high level of dominance for Mitsui that other families did not possess during this period.