The Shibusawa Ei`ichi Memorial Foundation (formerly Ryumonsha, Shibusawa Seien Kinen Zaidan), is currently in the midst of a new phase of development and expansion. It is my pleasure to introduce our newly designed and improved Web site presenting information about the Foundation and current updates about its activities.

Restoration of the Seien Bunko library was successfully completed in spring 2003, bringing back to life the quintessential beauty of its Taisho-era architecture. Together with the Bankoro cottage, it gives new charm to the landscape of the old Shibusawa garden.
The Center for the History of Entrepreneurship, launched in October 2003, is now building an extensive database centering primarily on source materials collected by Shibusawa Keizo prior to World War II. In autumn 2004, a special exhibition will be held in St. Louis, Missouri entitled "Different Lands/Shared Experiences: The Emergence of Modern Industrial Society in Japan and the U.S." The database, the majority of which consists of materials in Japanese, will be open to researchers at the Center within the Museum premises and will be accessible online to a certain extent via the Web site at a date to be announced.

In addition to the 5th Shibusawa International Seminar in June, the Research Department is involved in a variety of projects including the Shibusawa Eiichi Memorial Lecture series at Keio University; the Shibusawa International Seminars on Confucianism;and research projects on U.S.-Japan Relations during the 1930s; the Role of Philanthropy in the Post-War U.S.-Japan Relations, and the Post-Cold War International System and U.S.-Japan Relations, among others.

At the core of the work of the Foundation, the Shibusawa Memorial Museum cooperates with all these projects, while holding special exhibits, engaging in public relations and education, conducting a variety of exchange programs, acquisition of artifacts, documents, and other resources to add to its archive, in addition to its regular management of the museum.

Through these activities, the foundation seeks to commemorate Shibusawa Eiichi`s work and life, and to realize, in our contemporary context, his lifelong endeavors to encourage independent entrepreneurship instead of relying heavily on governmental institutions (and by implication the building of a civil society in the true sense) and promote the idea that economic affairs should be guided by morality.

Masahide Shibusawa
Director and CEO
Shibusawa Ei`ichi Memorial Foundation