Pledge, signed in blood, is “a treasure” of bank that’s still in operation today.

Professional pride is a big part of Japanese culture, and so companies are often keen to showcase their histories on their websites. Often this takes the form of photographs of the office or shopfront back when the company was first established, or maybe a collection of quotes from the founder, but Shikoku Bank’s website includes a part of their history that conveys their core values in a startlingly violent way.

Included in the company outline/investor relation information section of Shikoku Bank’s website is a page about “The Pledge.” This promissory paper document actually predates the Shikoku Bank name, which the company began using in 1923. The company had the much drier name 37th National Bank upon its founding in 1878.

1878 was just 10 years after the end of Japan’s feudal government system, and while the nation was no longer ruled by a shogun, not all vestiges of samurai society had faded away. So while The Pledge contains the expected vow by Shikoku Bank to ethically and responsibly handle the financial resources with which it has been entrusted, it also includes acceptance of a very strict pre-determined punishment for employees who commit fraud: ritual suicide.

▼ The Pledge

The pledge reads:

“Those who work for this bank and steals money from it, or from the deceased, will make restitution using their own money or belongings, and then kill themselves.”

The exact term used in the Pledge is jijin, literally “self-blade” and referring to committing suicide with a sword, also known as seppuku when referring to the traditional samurai practice of self-disembowelment.

And to show just how serious they took the pledge, the 23 signers of the document, including the bank’s president, stamped their signatures in blood.

▼ The Pledge signees’ names are at the left half of the scroll.

Today, Shikoku Bank, which is based in Kochi Prefecture and primarily serves the island of Shikoku, has transitioned to brighter, more cheerful reassurances about the financial safety and security they provide.

However, Shikoku Bank still holds the Pledge in high esteem, saying “This artifact conveys the ethics of [our founders] not just as bankers, but as members of society, and it is a treasure of Shikoku Bank.”

With all those who signed the Pledge in blood having already passed away, it’s unlikely that Shikoku Bank still has an active policy of backing its service against a promise of ritual suicide, but it’s reassuring to know that they take financial security seriously.

Source: Shikoku Bank via Twitter/@cheap_sake via Otakomu
Top image: Pakutaso
Insert images: Shikoku Bank (1, 2)
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