The Morimura Brothers (Ichitaro and Yutaka Morimura / Meiroku and Kaisaku Morimura)

2018/06/26

Image: Ichitaro Morimura (Collection of the Keio University Fukuzawa Memorial Center for Modern Japanese Studies)

Ichitaro Morimura was born in 1839 (Tenpo 10) as the sixth-generation head of the Morimura family, armor merchants in Edo Kyobashi (he succeeded to the name Ichizaemon in 1894). When the Morimura family suffered damage and went bankrupt in the Great Ansei Earthquake of 1855, the then 16-year-old Ichitaro repaid the debts while working as a laborer and street vendor, eventually rebuilding the family business at the age of 21.

The era was the end of the Edo period, and waves of change were crashing upon Japan. The year 1859, when Ichitaro rebuilt the family business, was the year trade began with Western countries based on the Ansei Five-Power Treaties. Ichitaro, who had a fondness for new things, visited Yokohama one day to see Westerners and tried buying some imported goods to bring home. Finding that they sold well to his clients among the hatamoto (shogunal vassals) and various feudal lords, Ichitaro transformed his business into a "karamono-ya" (importer of foreign goods), selling imported items he procured in Yokohama.

Ichitaro's business was honest, and he never sought excessive profits. Having gained trust, Ichitaro gradually expanded his business; for example, the Okudaira family of the Nakatsu Domain began ordering items other than imported goods, such as kimonos, from him. It was there that he met Yukichi Fukuzawa. Fukuzawa spoke to Ichitaro about the state of the West and preached that for the independence of the nation, trade must be encouraged to enrich the country.

On another occasion in Yokohama, Ichitaro witnessed a secretary at the American Consulate packing Japanese koban (gold coins) into boxes. When he asked the reason, the secretary replied that since there was nothing to buy in Japan, they were taking gold coins back with them. Witnessing firsthand the outflow of gold coins that was rampant at the end of the Edo period, Ichitaro intuitively felt that Japan was at a disadvantage in trade and asked Fukuzawa for a solution. When Fukuzawa suggested that Japan should take back the gold foreigners were carrying away through the export of Japanese products, Ichitaro was inspired and resolved to one day embark on a trade business for the sake of the nation.

Entering the Meiji Restoration period, Ichitaro learned to manufacture Western-style equestrian equipment for cavalry and eventually served as a purveyor to the new government. This business seems to have been quite successful, but when the new government shifted to a policy of direct management of this manufacturing, Ichitaro—who was already fed up with officials demanding bribes upon delivery—decided to withdraw from the business without compensation. Strongly influenced by Fukuzawa, Ichitaro aspired to management that did not rely on the government—"independent management"—a principle he would maintain throughout his life.

In 1871, Ichitaro finally prepared to embark on his trade business. However, because he lacked the language skills and knowledge necessary for trade, Ichitaro had his younger half-brother, Yutaka, enroll in the Keio University Juku to study English and bookkeeping. Given the times of the Restoration, many who entered the Juku aspired to politics, but Fukuzawa, who believed that cultivating business leaders was also essential for enriching the nation, was delighted by Yutaka's enrollment and his ambition for trade.

Yutaka graduated from the Juku in 1874. While he was serving as an assistant instructor at the Juku for about a year, an opportunity to go to the United States arose. At that time, Fukuzawa was assisting Momotaro Sato, a man who had gone to the U.S. at the end of the Edo period and established a trading company in New York called the "Japan-America Joint Stock Company." When Fukuzawa learned that Sato had returned to Japan temporarily to recruit "commercial interns" to work at this company, he recommended Yutaka. Upon receiving this news, Ichitaro sold off even his personal belongings to raise funds for Yutaka's travel, and Yutaka departed for the U.S. in 1876. Just before his departure, Ichitaro and Yutaka established Morimura-gumi, setting up a system to export Japanese sundries such as ceramics to America.

Upon arriving in New York, Yutaka first graduated from the Eastman Business College in Poughkeepsie in three months and established "Hinode Shokai" with Momotaro Sato and others to handle Japanese sundries. However, dissatisfied with the joint management with Sato, who incurred large debts, Yutaka dissolved the partnership in 1878 and established Morimura Brothers as the New York branch of Morimura-gumi. With this, the trade business—a tag-team effort between the brothers where Ichitaro procured goods in Japan and Yutaka sold them in New York—began in earnest.

The main products of Morimura Brothers were Japanese sundries. This was an era when "Japanese things" were rare even for Americans. It is said that items worth very little in Japan were prized and sold at high prices in America. Ichitaro was meticulous about procurement that met the needs of the American market, visiting various parts of Japan and even traveling to the United States in 1880. Yutaka, along with Yasukata Murai, a graduate of the Juku, and local staff hired to adapt to American business customs, traded quality goods with integrity, gradually gaining trust in the American market.

The 1880s were a difficult period for Japanese trading companies in New York, and some competitors received government subsidies. Ichitaro and Yutaka were also offered subsidies, but Ichitaro reportedly refused, thinking that his principle of independence and self-respect would not allow it, and that it would be disrespectful to Yukichi Fukuzawa. However, as the situation remained unchanged, Ichitaro consulted Fukuzawa. He was scolded for being so spiritless, which inspired him to work even harder. Relying on the teachings of Fukuzawa, Ichitaro and Yutaka succeeded in overcoming the difficulties through their own ingenuity and effort.

A turning point for Morimura Brothers came in 1894. At that time, the owner of the New York department store Higgins & Seiter, a business partner, advised them that Japanese sundries purchased as hobbies had reached their limit, and that to increase sales, they should handle practical ceramics such as tableware. Ichitaro and Yutaka, who had seen the American market firsthand, agreed with this advice and decided to add practical ceramics to their product line.

However, Japan at the time lacked the technology to produce white porcelain suitable for tableware, so Morimura-gumi had to proceed with its manufacture on its own. First, Morimura-gumi worked on manufacturing white porcelain with a group of craftsmen from Seto with whom they had a prior relationship, but it did not go well. Seeking models abroad, Ichitaro and Yutaka even visited the Paris Exposition. In 1904, they established Nippon Toki Gomei Kaisha (now Noritake Co., Limited) in Noritake, Aichi Prefecture, to accelerate research and development.

However, results were slow to appear, and in 1899, Ichitaro's eldest son, Meiroku, and his brother, Yutaka, passed away. Meiroku had entered the Yochisha Elementary School in 1883 and graduated from the regular course of the Juku in 1892. Afterward, like Yutaka, he went to New York to study at Eastman Business College and learned trade practices at Morimura Brothers. Yutaka had spent 23 years in the U.S., during which time he reportedly crossed the Pacific 42 times. Both Meiroku and Yutaka died far too young.

Overcome with grief, Ichitaro established an organization for social contribution, carrying on the spirit of Yutaka, who had said, "If I ever reach a position where I can, I want to invest money for the sake of the nation." The organization was named the Morimura Houmeikai, taking the "Yutaka" (Hou) from Yutaka and the "Mei" from Meiroku. With the goals of promoting women's education and cultivating human resources who could be active in international society, it provided assistance to educational institutions such as Japan Women's University and Waseda University. They also made a donation when the Waseda University Baseball Club made the first overseas tour (to the U.S.) by a student baseball team in 1905. In 1910, Ichitaro himself embarked on school management, opening a kindergarten and elementary school in the garden of his residence in Takanawa.

Furthermore, he did not hesitate to support projects related to the Juku. When Fukuzawa helped Shibasaburo Kitasato, Ichitaro made significant contributions to the establishment of the Institute for Study of Infectious Diseases and the Tsukushigaoka Yojoen sanatorium. It was also the Houmeikai that donated 50,000 yen of the 70,000 yen construction cost for the Keio University Public Hall (Mita Enzetsu-kan) built in 1915.

As a manager, Ichitaro aimed to create a family-like organization rooted in individual relationships of trust. He encouraged his employees—both those who employ and those who are employed—to treat each other with affection, like parents and children or like brothers. In addition, Ichitaro continued to emphasize the necessity of dedicated effort. Credit is born from trading quality goods with integrity, and that credit leads to the long-term development of the business—he placed what he and Yutaka had practiced at the core of Morimura-gumi. In 1909, Ichitaro summarized this management philosophy as "The Spirit of Our Company" and presented it to his employees.

Around the time "The Spirit of Our Company" was created, Ichitaro, who was already over 70 years old, began entrusting management to the younger generation, including his second son, Kaisaku. Like Yutaka and Meiroku, Kaisaku went to New York after graduating from the Juku, graduated from Eastman Business College, and worked at Morimura Brothers. After Meiroku's death, he took on roles in various departments of Morimura-gumi as the future successor.

In 1914, Nippon Toki Gomei Kaisha finally succeeded in manufacturing white porcelain, and the export of tableware to the U.S. began. This was well-received in the American market, which was booming during World War I, and business performance grew steadily. The young executive team ventured into investments in new businesses, establishing new companies such as Toyo Toki Co., Ltd. (now TOTO), which handles sanitary ware, and Nippon Gaishi Co., Ltd. (now NGK Insulators). Such an active management policy may have been an inheritance of Ichitaro's motto: "The world is in constant progress. Those who do not advance, retreat. Those who retreat, perish."

When Ichitaro passed away in 1919, Kaisaku became the president overseeing the Morimura-gumi related companies (Morimura Group) (he succeeded to the name Ichizaemon in 1928). Immediately upon taking office, Kaisaku faced the post-war depression and would go on to steer the management through difficult situations such as the Showa Depression and the war. When World War II began and the assets of Japanese companies in the U.S. were frozen, Morimura Brothers suffered the misfortune of being forced to withdraw. Morimura-gumi related factories were operated as munitions factories.

After the war, Kaisaku was purged from public office as a war collaborator, and even after the purge was lifted, he did not return to the front lines of management. On the other hand, he followed Ichitaro's final wishes by contributing to educational and social work, developing the kindergarten and elementary school his father had founded into Morimura Gakuen. At the Juku, he served as a councilor and trustee, and supported various projects, including efforts to establish the Hiyoshi Campus. Kaisaku passed away in 1962, but Morimura Shoji (renamed from Morimura-gumi) and its related companies remain active at the forefront of industry today.

*Affiliations and titles are from the time of writing.