At the end of 1989, when the Nikkei average stock price was 38,915 yen and the market capitalization of shares listed on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange was 590 trillion yen, becoming the world 1st, the Japanese government at that time announced the following concept.
“Establish a financial district comparable to Wall Street and the City in Otemachi, where there are many major financial institutions including foreign capital.”
At that time, Otemachi, where I was commuting, had a remarkable advance in foreign financial institutions, and it was not uncommon for blonde and blue-eyed businessmen to appear in commuter trains, lunchtime, and evening restaurants. They quickly disappeared from Otemachi as the bubble burst.
Now, my friend and I have changed the subway many times and arrived at the City, once the Japanese government modeled a financial district.
However, we had to give up on the visit to the London Stock Exchange because of the impact of the bomb incident by the IRA (Ireland Republican) interim group in July of the previous year.
By the way, the City was independent of London, and the current British Prime Minister Boris Johnson once served as mayor for the second term.
The photo is the city at the time.
１９８９年末に日経平均株価が３８，９１５円を記録して、東証一部上場株式の時価総額が５９０兆円で世界１になった頃、当時の日本政府が次のような構想を発表した。
「外資を含む大手金融機関の多い大手町にウオール街やシティ（the City）に匹敵する金融街を形成する」
その当時、私が通勤していた大手町は外資系金融機関の進出が目覚しく、通勤電車内、ランチタイム、そして夕方のレストランでは金髪で青い目のビジネスマンの姿が珍しくなかったが、日本のバブル崩壊に伴い彼らは瞬く間に大手町から姿を消した。
さて、私と友人は何度も地下鉄を乗変えて、かつて日本政府が金融街のお手本にしたシティ（the City）に到着した。
しかし、私達は、肝心のロンドン証券取引所の見学は、前年７月のＩＲＡ（アイルランド共和軍）暫定派による爆弾事件の影響で諦めざるを得なかった。
因みに、シティ（the City）はロンドン市とは独立した存在で、現在の英国のボリス・ジョンソン首相はかつて市長を２期務めていた。
写真は当時のシティ（the City）。
