The Hokkaidō Takushoku Bank (北海道拓殖銀行, Hokkaidō Takushoku Ginkō), generally translated as Hokkaidō Development Bank (literally "Exploitation Bank") and alternatively referred to by the shorthands Takugin (拓銀 or たくぎん) or Hokutaku (北拓), was a significant Japanese bank, based in Sapporo, Hokkaidō. It was established in 1899-1900 as a policy institution or "special bank", similarly as Nippon Kangyo Bank (est. 1897), Bank of Taiwan (est. 1897) and Industrial Bank of Japan (est. 1902), with the aim to promote capitalism on the island of Hokkaidō and thus contribute to its defence against the appetites of the Russian Empire.[1]: 17
After World War II, Hokkaido Takushoku Bank lost its special bank status and became a commercial bank ("city bank") with main operations in Hokkaidō. In the mid-1980s, it expanded nationwide to become Japan's 10th-largest bank by total assets by 1997.[2] It eventually went bankrupt in November of that year, in one of the most disorderly episodes of the Japanese financial crisis.
- ^ Masanobu KONNO (2003), "A historical inquiry into the Japanese financial system and economic performance" (PDF), The Economic Journal of Takasaki City University of Economics, 46 (1): 15–32
- ^ Nicholas D. Kristof (17 November 1997). "Collapse of Japan's 10th Largest Bank Sets Off Large Market Rally". The New York Times.