Matsukata Kojiro was born December 1st, 1865 in Satsuma (present-day Kagoshima Prefecture). His father was Matsukata Masayoshi, a politician who served as prime minister twice during the Meiji era. Matsukata first studied at the Preparatory School of the University of Tokyo. However, after receiving letters from his brothers about their experiences studying in Europe, Matsukata realized he needed to continue his education in the west to better succeed in the business world. In 1885, he traveled to America to begin his studies at Rutgers Grammar School and Rutgers College. He was a member of the Delta Upsilon fraternity, as well as the freshman football team. After transferring to Yale to study law, Mastukata traveled the world studying the practice of shipbuilding. Once he returned to Japan, he served as chairman of the Kobe Chamber of Commerce and as a member of the Kobe House of Representatives. In 1896, he became president and owner of the Kawasaki Dockyard Company, one of the largest shipbuilding plants in the world, chosen for his global perspective from studying abroad. With a desire to make Kawasaki a world-class company and to design ships that could compete with western technology, Matsukata sent engineers overseas to learn western practices. This evolved into a successful scholarship program, encouraging Japanese engineers to learn about technology overseas.

Due to Matsukata’s wealth, he was able to purchase thousands of western paintings, with the goal of displaying them in a museum called Kyoraku Bijutsukan. However, these plans were disrupted by the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923, a luxury goods customs act, and warehouse fires. After his death in 1950, the works were finally brought together at the National Museum of Western Art in Japan in 1959. Today, the Matsukata Collection contains about 10,000 pieces, and is known as one of the three major collections of art in the world.

Caitlin A. Moy “Matsukata Kaijiro – Rutgers Meets Japan: Early Encounters,” January 31, 2020. https://sites.rutgers.edu/rutgers-meets-japan/matsukata-kojiro/

Sources:

Kojiro Matsukata, Class of 1889 Football Team. (n.d.). Retrieved February 16, 2020, from https://rucore.libraries.rutgers.edu/rutgers-lib/21025/

Kojiro Matsukata The Man: THE STORIES. (n.d.). Retrieved February 16, 2020, from https://global.kawasaki.com/en/stories/articles/vol31/