Zeniya Gohei

Zeniya Gohei (銭屋五兵衛^?, 1773-1852) was a Japanese merchant and engineer in the Edo period.

Gohei was born to a family of money-changers in Kaga province.^[1]

Contents 1 Coastal shipping 2 Land reclamation project 3 Notes 4 References 5 Further reading 6 External links

Coastal shipping

Gohei was put in charge of developing a coastal shipping fleet (kitamae ships) for the Tokugawa shogunate; and he became very rich from trading,^[1] especially rice and lumber.

Land reclamation project

In the summer of 1851, Gohei attempted a land reclamation project in the Kahoku Lake, which is south of Kanazawa on the Sea of Japan. He planned to create rice paddies; but the project failed.^[2]

In mid-1852, a large number of dead fish floated to the surface of the inlet near worksite; and some local people died after eating the dead fish. Gohei and his family were deemed responsible; and they were imprisoned.^[2] It is likely that these criminal charges were contrived as a subterfuge which enabled the clan to seize his considerable wealth.^[3]

The eighty-year old Gohei died within three months of his incareration.^[2]

Notes

References

• Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). Japan Encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 10-ISBN 0-674-01753-6; 13-ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5; OCLC 48943301
• Sansom, George Bailey. (1963). A History of Japan, 1615-1867.] Stanford: Stanford University Press. 10-ISBN 0-8047-0527-5; 13-ISBN 978-0-804-70527-1; OCLC 173092834

Further reading

• Wakabayashi, Kisaburo. (1957). Zeniya Gohei (錢屋五兵衛^?) Osaka: Sōgensha. OCLC 033644769

External links

• Zeniya Gohei Memorial Museum
• Gohei and Kitamae ships
• IMDb, Zeniya Gohei (1913) Zeniya Gohei (1913)

Persondata
Name	Zeniya, Gohei
Alternative names
Short description	Japanese businessman
Date of birth	1773
Place of birth
Date of death	1852
Place of death