An account of the founding of a financial empire by Tokushichi Nomura in the years before World War 1. The House of Nomura was ruined after World War II but a small part of it has since risen again and become one of the most powerful companies in the world - Nomura Securities. The author describes the stranglehold Nomura has on Japan's financial markets and using interviews with the Nomura family, he recreates the lifestyles of the family in pre-war Japan.