Masatsune Ogura (小倉 正恆, Ogura Masatsune, 22 March 1875 – 20 November 1961) was a Japanese politician and businessman. In 1930 he became the president of Sumitomo Group. During his period as president the company developed into a zaibatsu. The Ogura family served as retainers for the Nishio Clan which held possession of the Kanazawa Domain.[1] Ogura joined the company in 1899 at the age of 24. He is credited for developing the Konomai Gold Mine, the biggest gold mine in East Asia at the time, and for streamlining management for the company, reorganizing it into a corporation.[2] In 1941 he was appointed Minister of Finance for the brief period between 18 July 1941 and 18 October 1941 in Fumimaro Konoe's third cabinet. In October 1941, the Tojo cabinet replaced the Konoe cabinet. Tojo requested Ogura to remain but Ogura declined Tojo’s offer, saying, “I joined the cabinet because of Prime Minister Konoe’s earnest request. I have no reason or intention to remain in office.”[3] Ogura was a proponent of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere and spoke against the initiation of a war against western powers.[4]
During World War II, Ogura presided over the Wartime Finance Bank.[5] and as the supreme economic advisor to the Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China.
Ogura was mentioned in the Tokyo Trials, but found not guilty of any war crimes.[6]
References
External links
- Newspaper clippings about Masatsune Ogura in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW
- "MASATSUNE OGURA DIES; Japan's Finance Minister at Time of Pearl Harbor". The New York Times. 21 November 1961. p. 31. Retrieved 3 October 2020. (subscription required)