This paper examines the process of capital accumulation and the social activities of Kashii Gentarō. Together with Ōike Tadasuke (大池忠助) and Hazama Husatarō (迫間房太郞), he was called one of the Three men of great wealth in Busan as the most influential Japanese capitalists in Busan during the Japanese colonial period. He accumulated wealth through fishery and marine product industry. On the basis of this fund, he proceeded to set up a company supplying electric power in the late 1910s and a pottery company in the 1920s. His main enterprises were the Busan Marine-Products Company (釜山水産株式會社), the Joseon Marine-Products Export Company (朝鮮水産輸出株式會社), the Joseon Gas and Electricity Company (朝鮮瓦斯電氣株式會社), and the Japan Hard Pottery Company (日本硬質陶器株式會社). Although he did not have many stocks in these corporations, he could run them stably for a long period because he had a close connection with the colonial government. The source of his wealth mainly came from the marine products company and the electricity company. On the basis of them, he became one of the most influential capitalists in Joseon, not just in Busan, during the 1930s. He also took an active part in various social activities. He was engrossed in cultural activities such as the construction of a museum and the erection of a statue, which were means utilized by Japanese imperialists to exhibit their power to the Koreans. He sold curios at auctions in Tokyo in 1934 in order to build a museum in Busan, although it was not completed due to the lack of fund. He erected his statue in the place where he intended to build a museum in 1935. The statue was the symbol of his activity and life as a capitalist in Busan and in the colonized Joseon.

This paper examines the process of capital accumulation and the social activities of Kashii Gentarō. Together with Ōike Tadasuke (大池忠助) and Hazama Husatarō (迫間房太郞), he was called one of the Three men of great wealth in Busan as the most influential Japanese capitalists in Busan during the Japanese colonial period. He accumulated wealth through fishery and marine product industry. On the basis of this fund, he proceeded to set up a company supplying electric power in the late 1910s and a pottery company in the 1920s. His main enterprises were the Busan Marine-Products Company (釜山水産株式會社), the Joseon Marine-Products Export Company (朝鮮水産輸出株式會社), the Joseon Gas and Electricity Company (朝鮮瓦斯電氣株式會社), and the Japan Hard Pottery Company (日本硬質陶器株式會社). Although he did not have many stocks in these corporations, he could run them stably for a long period because he had a close connection with the colonial government. The source of his wealth mainly came from the marine products company and the electricity company. On the basis of them, he became one of the most influential capitalists in Joseon, not just in Busan, during the 1930s. He also took an active part in various social activities. He was engrossed in cultural activities such as the construction of a museum and the erection of a statue, which were means utilized by Japanese imperialists to exhibit their power to the Koreans. He sold curios at auctions in Tokyo in 1934 in order to build a museum in Busan, although it was not completed due to the lack of fund. He erected his statue in the place where he intended to build a museum in 1935. The statue was the symbol of his activity and life as a capitalist in Busan and in the colonized Joseon.

香椎源太郞(Kashii Gentarō), 水産業(marine products industry), 電氣業(electricity-supplying industry), 陶器業(pottery industry), 釜山博物館(Busan Museum), 銅像(a statue)