Confucian Capitalism

John H. Sagers is Professor of East Asian History at Linfield College, USA. He received his PhD in history from the University of Washington, USA; was a Fulbright Fellow at Rikkyo University, Japan; and held a Japan Foundation Fellowship. In 2006, he published his first book Origins of Japanese Wealth and Power: Reconciling Confucianism and Capitalism, 1830–1885 with Palgrave Macmillan.

“Shibusawa’s enormous contribution to the economic success story of Meiji Japan, Sagers argues, was not primarily based on business interests but on mutual trust and on the time-honored values of moral commitment. These key attributes of the business ethics promoted by Shibusawa, which paid heed to the importance of social harmony, deserve the attention of the readers of the twenty-first century as well: in particular those with keen interest in East Asian religions.” (Lehel Balogh, Religious Studies Review, Vol. 45 (2), June, 2019)

• Chapter 1: Introduction: Shibusawa Eiichi and the Idea of Confucian Capitalism.- Chapter 2: Economic Change and Intellectual Innovation in Tokugawa Japan.- Chapter 3: Government Bureaucrats and Capitalist Institutions in 1870s Japan.- Chapter 4: The Ethical Entrepreneur as a Servant of Japan's National Interest.- Chapter 5: Competing Priorities of Infrastructure Investment and Military Expansion in Late Meiji Japan.- Chapter 6: Business Leaders as Civilian Diplomats in Early Twentieth-Century Japan.- Chapter 7: Confucian Capitalism and the Search for Economic Prosperity and Social Harmony in Early Twentieth-Century Japan.- Chapter 8: Purposeful Preservation of Shibusawa Eiichi's Legacy.