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The purpose of this article is to argue that the view is a product of deductive theorizing, conveniently suited to a general discussion of the rapid economic development of Japan, but hardly supportable when a closer examination is made of the behavior, decisions, and motivations of the leading Meiji entrepreneurs. To show that the "community-centered" entrepreneurs are a product of deductive theorizing, two closely connected points must be made. The first is that the practice of emphasizing the class origin of Meiji entrepreneurs is continued in order to support the current view of "community-centered" entrepreneurs, though it hinders rather than aids the understanding of the entrepreneurial function performed during the crucial years of Japan's economic transformation. The second is that the Meiji entrepreneurs are often revealed as unabashed profit-maximizers, regardless of their class origin, when one examines their deeds rather than their public utterances, and the results rather than the reasons given in the autobiographies for their business decisions.

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