A Satsuma domain retainer who became a businessman and diplomat. Taken prisoner by British forces during the Anglo-Satsuma War, the experience only deepened his conviction of Western civilization's superiority, driving his subsequent commitment to opening Japan and modernization. After the Meiji Restoration he resigned government positions and moved to Osaka, working as a businessman to modernize Osaka's commercial world. He founded the Osaka Chamber of Commerce (now the Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry) and the Osaka Stock Exchange (now the Osaka Exchange), transforming Osaka into a modern commercial and industrial city. He also collaborated with Kansai financial groups including Sumitomo, Mitsubishi, and Konoike, contributing to mining development and the growth of the textile industry. He is sometimes called "Shibusawa Eiichi of the East, Godai Tomoatsu of the West." He died young at forty-nine.

A businessman with the positive thinking to turn adversity into learning, and the flexibility to greedily absorb excellent Western institutions. A passionate man who devoted his life to the prosperity of Osaka.

The founding of the Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Osaka Exchange is the foundation of the modern Osaka economy. The achievement of transforming "the nation's kitchen" Osaka into a modern commercial city is an important chapter of modern Japanese economic history alongside Shibusawa Eiichi's activities in Tokyo.