The House of Mitsui

Opotiki News, Volume II, Issue 271, 15 December 1939, Page 2 (Supplement)

The House of Mitsui

JAPANESE gentleman hotel, and from the first attracted the attention of the local newspapermen. As a man of the world, he received their importunities with the best of grace, and parried their questions with a mild air of amusement. After a while, exchanging roles, he asked them a question himself; “ Plow did you sense that I, Hamazaki, was a member of the Mitsui concern?” In reply, one of the jouinalists triumphantly placed a visiting card on the table 1 akeo Hamazaki,' member of Mitsui Bussan Kaisha, Ltd.”

Confronted with such evidence, Mr. Flamazaki abandoned all pretence at incognito. As a member of the renowned Mitsui family, he explained, lie had travelled through India, Afghanistan, Persia, Arabia, South Africa, Egypt, Turkey and the Balkans on strictly business missions, and now was about to sec the rest of Europe. “To he sure, this will not be the first time that I am seeing your continent, but I want to learn to know it as it exists to-day. When one has been away from home travelling for six whole years, a few more months do not make much difference one way or the other. However, you do"not have to have any fears that I am going to buy up your old continent, or rather, impose all our goods on you. Naturally, 1 aiu here to investigate all possible extensions of our business i clations. But the House of Mitsui always buys as much as it sells. Perhaps you know the motto inscribed on our eoat-of-arms: Kyoson (mutuality).”

In 1648, when the Thirty Years War was being concluded in Europe, the ancestor of the Mitsuis opened up his first store in the Japanese capital, Yedo—the present Tokyo. This was, in fact, the first store in the world where till sorts of goods were offered for sale. Over its floor it carried a wooden sign that is still preserved in the Mitsui Museum: “Cash Payments and Fixed Prices ” —a principle that permitted I lachirobei 1., the first modern merchant of our planet, to sell more cheaply than his competitors.

I lachirohei was not the first Mitsui. The line of his ancestors can be traced right up to the lltli century—Samurais (members of the warrior caste), and' merchants who, because of their diligence and shrewdness, had been unusually successful. But Tachirobei 1 put them all in the shade. Near his store he established a bank. Before long he invented the cheque, and was appointed Court Banker in 1682. In time his branch stores and banks were scattered throughout the Island Empire.

The Business Dynasty of Japan

At that time,' an old Imperial edict still forbade the Japs to carry on trade with foreigners. But Hachirobei felt inhibited by this provision, and soon devised a way of getting around it. In Nagasaki he commissioned foreign agents, and through their intermediary purchased goods from India, China, and even from distant Europe. ' Wool, cotton, sugar and chemicals thus entered the land. But he exported twice or three tirrfes as much as he brought in. The silk and rice cultivators, the spinneries and other industries, profited from all this, and the economy of the whole country prospered.- '•

But the ancestral Mitsui was not interested in amassing wealth alone; he recognised the social responsibility that rested on the shoulders of the entrepreneur. The workers he regarded as the most valuable asset of the Fatherland. In this spirit he adopted the device Kyoson. It is difficult to translate this word adequately from the Japanese. Together with “ humanity and business ” it combines the sense of “ mutual service.” It expresses the concept of humanity not only as an ethical principle, but as the only possible relationship between employer and employees. Flachirobei regarded work as the only thing that gives meaning to life. To put Kyoson into effect, Hachirobei introduced a system of social regulations into his enterprises based on the so-called “Five Rules.” (1) Every worker, or employee, apprentice or agent, if he does his duty, will receive work and bread from the Mitsui firm to the end of his life. (2) When they are no longer able to work, all employees will receive a pension. (3) On the death of an employee, the firm pledges itself to look after his dependents. Those among them who are able to work will be given employment or support. (4) The hours of work arc to be broken .up by periods of rest. 'The firm will provide food from its warehouses to its employees at reduced prices. It considers it a duty of its employees to keep themselves fit by rational living and exercise, and to dress cleanly. (5) Should the profits of the firm surpass a given level, the surplus will be divided among the most capable and efficient workers, irrespective of grade. It must be kept in mind that this remarkable code was formulated in the 17th century. As early as 1680, Hachirobei 7 printed instructions on hygienic living and distributed them among his personnel. He even had them undergo a physical examination at regular intervals.

These social measures have not been without effect. Throughout the course of its history there has not been a single strike against the House of Mitsui. Every Jap considers it a real honour to be permitted to work for Mitsui.

hachirobei. I. employed publicity methods that were strongly prophetic of the technique of contemporary American advertising. Indeed, a good deal of his brilliant success is to be traced to his adroit use of publicity. Here are a few of the methods that stood the old Tokyo of 250 years ago on its ears: When customers of Mitsui were surprised by rain in the midst of their shopping, they would be given gratis an umbrella of oiled paper'On which the name Mitsui was painted in large letters. WhenevdMtshey would take their umbrell|||?with them for a stroll they would-HnVolun-tarily perform functions' analogous to those of our modern sanjj§:' wichboard men. Before long th^e’ 1 was scarcely a home that dicl®Ot have its Mitsui umbrella standing in a corner. They would even be sent away to relatives in distant villages; the name Mitsui thus became known in every nook of the Empire. Old Hachirobei rented the walls of buildings and fences for his signs. On them lie pasted huge posters announcing the bargains that he had on sale. Special clearance sales even then featured in the repertory of the venerable Mitsui long before our modern capitalism saw the light of day. He even took advantage of the Japanese love for dramatics by impressing the theatre into his publicity service. lie financed the presentation of plays and pantomimes in which the name of the firm would appear, or in which there would be some allusion to his goods. Such “artistic” methods of publicity may not be altogether in accordance with our concept of good taste, but they do prove that the Mitsuis had nothing to learn from the brightest of our advertising wizards. It was by this means that Japan developed apace. Although shut off from the rest of the world, it must not be thought that in her seclusion she slept the sleep of Rip van Winkle. People have often wondered how Japan managed to become a power of first magnitude in world commerce and politics in so short a time. When in 1864 the combined fleets of England, Holland, America and France forcefully broke open the doors of the country, they found a society that still preserved its medieval customs and traditions. But its outlook had already developed far beyond the confines of the old feudal state. The House of Mitsui was in no small degree responsible for this. When Hachirobei breathed his last in 1692 he left his fifteen children a modern enterprise of wide ramifications. His descendants in turn built extensively and firmly on the foundations laid by the shrewd old man. The Mitsuis did not share the fate of our famous European commercial families of bygone centuries —the Fuggers and the Welsers. For the last fifty years the Mitsui concern has comprised all possible branches of economy. It has its iron, coal and mineral mines, its spinneries and textile factories; it carries on wool and cotton transactions, has tea, silk and rubber plantations, paper factories, shipbuilding yards and shipping lines, newspaper and book publishing houses, warehouses, banks, real estate and

brokerage establishments, import and export enterprises. Eleven branches of the family participate in the work of administrating this empire. The family fortune is estimated to run to something like 10,000,000,000 yen. The enterprises of the family stretch throughout the world —New York, London, Paris, Hamburg, Bombay, Ceylon, Manila, Peking, Shanghai, Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea, Manchukuo. There are 80,000 employees engaged merely for the negotiation of transactions and internal administration. , Present supreme head of the family is Baron Mitsui Hachiroeinon, who looks after the maintenance of the laws and traditions of the house. Each of the eleven Mitsui families sends its senior member to the Family Council £hat is presided over by the Kachiroemon. His word is" ktl is accepted by all membWl sources j|JJj Tsflurth- of this unique liousC___

wngie, strong individual. Even to-day all the reports from the innumerable establishments of

the family throughout the world are forwarded to Tokyo, where they are checked by the family chieftain in person. Then they are filed with the old .business books of the ancestral Hachirobei 1., who in the 17th century had already introduced double-entry bookkeeping. . “Kyoson” is still the highest law of the Mitsuis. The family’s welfare institutions are spread over half the world, and do not confine their work to the employees of the firm. During the numerous natural catastrophes that have overtaken Japan, the Mitsuis have always been in the forefront in the relief work. They have housed tens of thousands of homeless on their estates, fed and clothed them, and provided medical care to thousands of wounded. Innumerable hospitals have been built by them, millions contributed for the needy. The inner family code that was formulated by Hachirobei I. in 1670 is still in force. Not only did that remarkable man establish safeguards against serious family rifts, but dictated measures that would automatically prevent such altercations from endangering the family reputation and fortunes. The head of the family has far-reaching powers to discipline any troublemakers, and in extreme cases exclude them from the family. No member of the family may marry without the consent of the family council. Even then a newcomer must undergo a lengthy period of trial to demonstrate his worthiness to be accepted into the family fold. Thrift and parsimony are enjoined upon all members of the clan; they must avoid all luxury, they must remain at their work until their death. Whoever wishes to retire from active participation in the business without adequate reason and live on his dividends can be expelled from the family and deprived of the income from his property. Industry, obedience, duty, loyalty, patriotism and “kyoson” are the sturdy pillars of the house. The virtues of the old Samurai are fully observed in the twentieth century. The Mitsui are counted among the first families of the realm. They belong to the oldest aristocracy of the country and play an influential role in the Council of the Upper Four Hundred. Mr. Takeo Hamazaki, head of one of the eleven families of Mitsui, has been absent from home for fully six years. It is in a casual way that he mentions it, but it reflects the profound spirit of obedience and subordination to duty that inspires the family. To-day the Eastern Island Empire is defending its world, position with the greatest sacrifices. The House of Mitsui has a special mission—to provide the foreign currency, the golden bullets necessary for Japan’s victory.