Businessman. Born in Kyoto, the son of a brewer. Founder of the Furukawa Zaibatsu (Furukawa financial group). After serving an apprenticeship and engaging in itinerant peddling in his early years, Furukawa joined the Ono-Gumi, exercising his abilities in the silk-trading business. Following the bankruptcy of Ono-Gumi in 1874, Furukawa became independent and established Furukawa Honten at Tokyo in 1875. After obtaining capital from Eiichi Shibusawa and others, he operated various mining businesses and focused on copper mines. He was called the "mine baron", for his management of mines at Ashio, Kusakura, Innai, Ani, and Kune, which formed the basis of the Furukawa zaibatsu. Overly rapid development of the Ashio Copper Mine led to the Ashio Copper Mine Incident.