Zuiken Kawamura

1618–1699

Zuiken Kawamura was a merchant in the early Edo period. Zuiken can be written as瑞賢, 瑞軒, or 随軒. Born Shichibei Kawamura, he was later called Juemon. Kawamura came from a poor farming family in Togu Village, Watarai County, Ise Province (now Minami Ise-cho, Watarai-gun, Mie Prefecture). Leaving his village for the capital Edo, he worked a number of jobs, including courier, foreman, and timber merchant. With the Great Fire of Meireki (1657) in Edo, Kawamura amassed a fortune from Kiso forest timber futures. Setting himself up in construction, he gained commissions from several daimyo and the Shogunate for work on the Ryogoku Bridge and other major construction projects. In 1670, by order of the Shogunate, he began work to establish shipping routes for cargo ships to transport rice from the Tohoku region along an eastern route around the Boso Peninsula to Edo and a western route from the Japan Sea via Shimonoseki to Osaka. He successfully opened the Shin’aji River to control flooding on the Yodo River, which helped manage flooding in Osaka. For these achievements, Kawamura in 1698 was elevated to direct retainer of the shogun. Parks bearing his name have been established in Minami Ise-cho and Sakata City in Yamagata Prefecture.