This book reconsiders the role of nobility as influential economic players and provides new insights into the business activities of noblemen in Europe and Asia during the nineteenth century thus offering up opportunities for comparison in an age of economic expansion and globalisation. From the Contents: 9. Socio-economic activities of former feudal lords in Meiji Japan (Takeshi Abe, Izumi Shirai and Takenobu Yuki); 10. A gateway to the business world? The analysis of networks in connecting the modern Japanese nobility to the business elite (Shunsuke Nakaoka).