CIRJE-J-97 『昭和金融恐慌と三菱銀行: 日次財務データから見た金融恐慌』
"Mitsubishi Bank under the Showa Financial Crisis, 1927: The Crisis observed thorough the Daily Financial Data"
Author Name 岡崎哲二(Tetsuji Okazaki)
Date October 2003
Full Paper PDF file (only Japanese version available)
Remarks 『三菱史料館論集』第5号, 2004年, 133-153頁, 所収。
Abstract (Japanese) Abstract (English)


In this paper, we examine the influences of the Showa Financial Crisis on Mitsubishi Bank, one of the largest banks in prewar Japan, using its daily financial data. It is known that the Crisis gave contrasting effects on the major banks and the other ones. Large amount of deposits moved from the latter to the former including Mitsubishi Bank. However, these observations are mainly based on yearly data. On the other hand, a financial crisis is essentially an acute event, and therefore we can have a better understanding of it, using the data with high frequency. Here, we use the daily financial data of the headquarters of Mitsubishi Bank, as well as its inside business report with information on the loans and deposits of the branches. Several interesting facts have emerged. First, even on the daily basis, the Financial Crisis gave only a positive impact on the deposits of the headquarters of Mitsubishi Bank. Second, some of its branches, mainly in the western district, became targets of bank runs, but it was limited to the day when the Crisis came to the peak. Third, the Crisis also gave a positive impact on the loans of Mitsubishi Bank. It supplied rescue loans to the banks faced with runs, and to the companies which had borrowed fund from those banks and suffered from the credit crunch. Finally, as a result of the Crisis, inside Mitsubishi Bank, the fund flows from the branches to the headquarters substantially increased. The headquarters applied those funds, together with the increased deposits of itself, mainly to the national bonds and corporate bonds.