Ikeda Shigeaki

Ikeda Shigeaki , also known as Seihin Ikeda, was a politician, cabinet minister and businessman in the Empire of Japan, prominent in the early decades of the 20th century. He served as director of Mitsui Bank from 19091933, was appointed governor of the Bank of Japan in 1937, and served as Minister of Finance under Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe from 1937 to 1939. In 1941, he was made a member of the Imperial Privy Council following Japans defeat in World War II, Ikeda was banned from public political service.

Ikeda was born in 1867, the final year of the Bakumatsu period in Yonezawa Domain modern Yamagata Prefecture, as the eldest son of noted samurai Ikeda Nariaki. He moved to Tokyo at age 13. His initial efforts to enroll in either Keio University or Tokyo Imperial University failed due to his lack of English language skills however aftermonths of private tutoring he was able to secure admission into the newly formed Department of Economics at Keio University in 1890. At the recommendation of Harvard professor Arthur Knapp, who was stationed at Keio University, Ikeda was sent to study at Harvard University in the United States from 18901895. After graduation, he returned to Japan and obtained a job at the Jiji Shimpo newspaper, but quite after only three weeks.

Source: Wikipedia