Historical Account: Jacob Schiff’s Loans to Japan (1904–1905)
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In April 1904, Schiff, then senior partner at Kuhn, Loeb & Co., met with Takahashi Korekiyo (Deputy Governor of the Bank of Japan) in Paris. He agreed to underwrite approximately $200 million worth of Japanese government bonds—covering nearly half of Japan’s military expenditures during the Russo–Japanese War Mishpacha Magazine+2SpringerLink+2Berman Archive+5Wikipedia+5Mishpacha Magazine+5.
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These were the first Japanese war bonds floated on Wall Street, and Schiff helped mobilize U.S. and German investors to participate in successive loan issuances throughout 1904 and 1905 totaling around £30 million at 4.5% interest, a major feat for its time CUHK Alumni+1.
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Schiff's motivation was twofold: strategic financial support for Japan’s war effort and a moral statement against the Russian Empire’s anti‑Jewish pogroms—his loans were intended, at least in part, to weaken Russia and help the Jewish people suffering under the czarist regime Mishpacha Magazine+2Wikipedia+2.
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His efforts drew significant recognition: in 1905, Emperor Meiji awarded him the Order of the Sacred Treasure, and in 1907, the Order of the Rising Sun (Gold and Silver Star)—Schiff became the first foreign national personally decorated by the Emperor at the Imperial Palace Biblioteka Nauki+10Wikipedia+10Berman Archive+10.
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