When Hiroshige Nishizawa got a job at the now-defunct Industrial Bank of Japan more than 40 years ago, the new graduate was full of ambition.
He wanted to devote himself to the country's promising industrial future, and IBJ -- the biggest of the three long-term credit banks -- appeared to be the right place to spend his life. It was a time when Japan's rapid postwar revival was just beginning.
"What I thought at that time was, if I joined IBJ, I could work close to industries," said Nishizawa, who liked to visit factories as a college student.