He bought the Ashio copper mine from the Japanese government in 1877, which he later organized, with his other holdings, into an industrial conglomerate called the Furukawa zaibatsu, one of the most important in Japan.

Furukawa's school education began and ended before Commodore Perry's ships entered Japanese waters.

It was about the time of the treaty that opened Japan to commerce with the United States and other civilized nations, that the strong traits manifested by the boy attracted the attention of a business man in his native town.

[1] Furukawa made large profits in the raw silk trade, exporting his stock for foreign consumption.

He had aspirations similar to a few pioneering industrialists in the West who wished to improve the lot of the working man and to expand the demand for his services.

He also had benevolent ideas on raising the standard of living for the working classes, espousing methods of making provision for old age, and suitable foundations to help toward that end.

[1] So huge was his wealth and influence that superstitious people began to believe that he might be a demon and that all his beneficence was simply a ploy to gain control over them.

In response, Furukawa built a system of tunnels and canals to carry the industrial waste to a remote coast.

[1] Although Furukawa might be seen as patriarchal in his ideas, and his scheme of government as monarchal, his influence remains, and he is remembered in Japan as the highest example of a far-sighted, public-spirited man, who accomplished great things, and deserved his title of the "Copper King.