Yasuda Zenjirō moved to Edo at the age of 17 and began working in a money changing house.
[1] In 1863, he started providing tax-farming services, and greatly magnified his wealth by buying up depreciated Meiji paper money that the government subsequently exchanged for gold.
Yasuda consolidated his empire in banking and finance, specializing in backing small and medium-sized traders and industrialists.
During World War II, the Japanese government began forcing consolidation of major financial institutions.
[7][8] Artist Yoko Ono, the wife of musician John Lennon, is a daughter of the Yasuda clan.