The House of Nomura: The Inside Story of the Legendary Japanese Financial Dynasty

The House of Nomura is the true story of a dynasty, andthe tale told here is on an epic scale. The story begins inthe nineteenth century with Tokushichi Nomura I, thebastard son of a noble family living in rural Japan, andends with insider trading and global political powerbrokingin the late l980s.It is the story of the creation of the most powerfulcompany in the world, Nomura Securities, a firm sowealthy it could buy up every stockbroking house inLondon, merely with its own resources. Nomura’sstranglehold on Japan’s financial markets is so strong thatMinistry of Finance officials consult the company on allmajor policy decisions. While the interests of Nomura arethose of the Japanese government, its penetration of theUS bond market is such that were Nomura to ceasepurchasing US treasury bonds, the American economywould be at grave risk.The House of Nomura reveals how this frighteningconcentration of power has come about and how it iswielded in the interests of Japan. It also lays bare theincestuous links between politicians, stockbrokers,bureaucrats and businessmen — the very links that toppledthe Japanese government in 1989.The author is the first Westerner to have been grantedaccess to the fanilly papers of the Nomura dynasty, and,by means of exclusive interviews with Tokushichi’sdescendants, he recreates in fascinating detail thecolourful personalities and dazzling lifestyles of the familyin pre-war Japan, its rise to power, its sudden decline andits dramatic resurgence to supremacy., ISBN13: 9780060973971 ISBN10: 0060973978 Material Type: paperback