Holme, Ringer & Company : : the rise and fall of a British enterprise in Japan (1868-1940) / / by Brian Burke-Gaffney.

• Author: Burke-Gaffney, Brian.
• Year of Publication: 2012
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (256 p.)
• Notes: Description based upon print version of record.

Established in the Nagasaki Foreign Settlement in 1868, Holme, Ringer andamp; Company led foreign business in western Japan up to the eve of the Second World War, engaging not only in the commodities trade and shipping and insurance agencies, but also trawl fishing and Norwegian-style whaling, hotel management, and the introduction of modern technologies such as waterworks, telephones, mechanised flour milling and large-scale petroleum storage. Gathering information from a wide range of sources, the author provides the first detailed description of these activities in Nagasaki and Shimonoseki while shedding light on the remarkable story of Frederick Ringer and his descendants, a British family that contributed to the development of modern Japan but ultimately found it impossible to stay.

Table of Contents

Preliminary Material -- Beginnings in England and China -- Revival of British Commercial Activity in Japan -- Establishment and Growth of Holme, Ringer and Company -- Family Affairs -- Economic Expansion -- The Dream Hotel -- Whaling and Fishing -- Wuriu Shokwai and the Shimonoseki Connection -- The Second Generation -- Roaring Twenties, Souring Thirties -- Dogs of War -- Mountains and Rivers Remain -- Bibliography -- Appendix I: Ringer Family Tree -- Appendix II: Holme, Ringer and Company (Wuriu Shokwai) Agency list for 1918 -- Index.