Construction giant Shimizu Corporation has acquired the historic home of Viscount Shibusawa Eiichi and will relocate it to an innovation center currently being developed on a manmade island in Tokyo Bay.

The house is already being disassembled in its current location in Hoshino Resort Aomoriya in Aomori Prefecture.  

Shibusawa (1840-1931) is widely celebrated as the father of Japanese capitalism. Throughout his career he either established or supported over 500 companies, one of which is now Mizuho Bank. He purchased the existing house in 1876. It had been built several years earlier by a rice wholesaler and was located near Kiyosumi Park in Koto-ku. With the assistance of friend Shimizu Kisuke, son-in-law of Shimizu Corporation’s founder, the house was relocated to Shibusawa’s main residence in the Mita Tsunamachi district in Minato-ku. The property fell under the control of the Japanese government shortly after WWII. The government auctioned off the house for removal in 1990, where it was sold to the founder of Komaki Onsen (now the Hoshino Resort Aomoriya) and relocated to the onsen a year later.

This is the only surviving home of six of Shibusawa’s former residences. 

Shimizu Corporation purchased a 37,000 sqm site on Shiomi island, Koto-ku, and is in the process of building an innovation and research center at a cost of 50 billion Yen (approx. 462 million USD). The project is expected to be completed by March 2022.

Source: Shimizu Corporation News Release, June 7, 2019.

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