Comments on development of accountancy in Japan and the JICPA: now forty-seven years old

Independent accountancy, as a business, was not prevalent in Japan during the first half of the Twentieth Century. Bunjiro Otsubo opened his business in 1890 as the first Independent Accountant (IA). Bankruptcy of a large sugar-manufacturing company in 1909 suggested some need and movement to create an authoritative IA business. However, less than twenty IAs were in practice by 1921. Giant family trusts or zaibatzu dominated the Japanese economy until 1945, and disclosure of their financial statements was not generally considered necessary