ABSTRACT
Japan’s interest in modern accounting began in the late nineteenth century with Alexander Shand [1844-1930].2 The Japanese translation of Shand’s (1873) Bank bookkeeping proved to be so important that his system of bank accounting became legally obligatory for the newly established banking system of the Meiji era. In the same year, Fukuzawa (1873-74) published a Japanese translation of Bryant and Stratton’s (1871) textbook, Common school bookkeeping. Yukichi Fukuzawa [1835-1901], a prominent Japanese scholar and the founder of Keio Gijuku University, was no professional accountant but his translation proved to be most influential in improving accounting practice and in spreading the idea of double-entry in schools as well as in private Japanese companies beyond the banking sector. Finally, Naotaro Shimono [1866-1939] introduced his Boki seiri (Shimono 1895/1982), an authentic Japanese text of double-entry accounting. For details about early Japanese cost accounting applications, we referred in section 2.7 to Kimizuka (1991).
