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多様性の世紀におけるリーダー像（渋澤 健の資本主義と道徳）
- 記事詳細
- ちょうど100年前、渋沢栄一を団長とする「渡米実業団」が太平洋を渡りました。日露戦争で勝利した日本は新しい時代に入りましたが、その存在を「脅威」とする不信感も西欧では少なくありませんでした。 その時、お互いの国家社会の繁栄は、保護貿易の壁などで隔離するのではなく、自由な共生であるという信念を持った、両国の良識ある民間人が立ち上がりました。 It was the summer of 1909. Somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, after his evening meal onboard the “Minnesota,” Eiichi Shibusawa stepped out on the deck. The evening ocean breeze was much cooler, relieved from the scorching sun during the day. He gazed towards the night sky and recognized the North Star. The same star was in the same place above the horizon, when he first traveled to America 7 years ago. This time, the group was much larger. Business executives from Tokyo, Yokohama, Kyoto, Osaka, and Kobe (Nagoya would join later), some wives and younger assistants. In all, 51 private sector Japanese citizens would spend the next three months traveling from Seattle to Washington, then back to San Francisco and Hawaii, in all, visiting 53 cities. This was the largest Japanese private sector business mission to the US at the time, and they met with distinguished Americans such as President William Taft and inventor Thomas Edison. These were days soon after the Russo-Japanese War, and there were some uneasiness in the US of a rising power on the other side of the Pacific. However, rather than raising walls of protectionism based on fear and mistrust, insightful private sector people on both sides of the Pacific saw the merits of establishing a closer relationship between the rising economies of the 20th century. 19世紀までは欧州の時代でしたが、20世紀はアメリカの時代だと栄一は読んでいたのでしょう。
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