Hayashi Yuteki

2019/04/26

Image: Hayashi Yuteki (Collection of Maruzen-Yushodo Co., Ltd.)

This year (2019) marks the 150th anniversary of the founding of Maruzen. The founder, Hayashi Yuteki, was a student from the early days of Keio who studied under Fukuzawa Yukichi. He was close in age to Fukuzawa and was a partner who worked on various businesses together. What kind of person was Yuteki, who is now known as the creator of "Hayashi Rice"?

Hayashi Yuteki was born on August 9, 1837, in Sasaga Village, Mugi District, Mino Province (now Sasaga, Yamagata City, Gifu Prefecture, an enclave of the Iwamura Domain). His childhood name was Sakyo. He was born to a physician father, Yamada Ryucho, and a mother, Tame, but his father died at the age of 26 without ever seeing Yuteki's birth. Consequently, his mother was taken in by the village headman, Hayashi Saibei, who was her grandfather-in-law, and Yuteki was raised as Saibei's adopted son. It is said that Saibei doted on the bright Yuteki. The Hayashi family's original surname was Kunieda, but it is said they were given the surname Hayashi by Toki Yorinari because they excelled in archery.

After studying medical sciences in Ogaki and Nagoya, Yuteki returned to Sasaga Village in 1854 and opened a medical practice at his family home. He soon became known as a young physician with a good reputation. Encouraged by Takao Zenroku, the village headman of Nakahora Village who valued his talent, to go to Edo, Yuteki followed his advice and moved to the capital in 1859. He continued his medical training while earning money as a masseur. In June 1860, he opened a practice in Tachibana-cho, and in 1862, he moved to Yagenbori. During that time, he studied under Tsuboi Shindo, primarily learning Dutch Studies.

Later, on March 17, 1867 (February 12 of the lunar calendar), Yuteki decided to study English studies in earnest and entered the Fukuzawa Juku in Teppozu, Tsukiji. At the Juku, he studied English studies and medical sciences, working hard alongside Matsuyama Toan, who also aspired to be a physician. Although his period of study at the Juku was short, meeting Fukuzawa Yukichi here led Hayashi to embark on many joint ventures with Fukuzawa. As a physician, he took up a post as the director of the Yokohama Syphilis Hospital in August 1868, and from September 1871, he worked with Matsuyama at the Yokohama Kyoritsu Hospital (later Juzen Hospital).

In December 1868, Hayashi opened a small bookstore in Yokohama. He sold Fukuzawa's writings and Keio-related books on consignment, while also acting as an agent for Western books. On February 11 of the following year, he published the "Maruya Shosha no Ki" (Record of the Maruya Trading Company). This day corresponded to January 1 of the lunar calendar, which Maruzen considers its founding date. Regarding the drafter of this document, there are theories that it was Hayashi and theories that it was Fukuzawa, but the truth is likely that it was a collaboration. The content is characterized by its advocacy for a modern corporate organization, aiming for a new type of company composed of "Motokin Shachu" (investors) and "Hataraki Shachu" (employees with small investments). Fukuzawa himself invested a large sum in Maruzen as a member of the Motokin Shachu, and Maruzen was a joint venture between Fukuzawa and Hayashi.

Regarding the name of the bookstore, when Hayashi and Fukuzawa consulted, Fukuzawa suggested the name "Tamaya" (written with characters meaning "Globe Shop") to signify doing business with the world, and Hayashi agreed. However, since many people called it "Mariya," it was changed to "Maruya." For the shop name, he used "Maruya Zenpachi" when he opened in Yokohama. It is said that "Zenpachi" was named after his benefactor Takao Zenroku; the Tokyo store was named "Maruya Zenshichi," the Osaka store "Maruya Zenzo," and the Kyoto store "Maruya Zenkichi." Later, in 1880, the Maruya Trading Company changed its name to Maruzen Trading Company.

While it has long been called "Maruzen of Western Books," at the time it was a general trading company with a wide variety of imported items. In addition to Western books, it handled all kinds of Western goods such as medicines, medical instruments, sundries, tailoring, and furniture. On one occasion, an order came through Fukuzawa from Kuki Takayoshi, the former lord of the Sanda Domain, to import "Elekitel" (electrical generators), "Galvani" (galvanic batteries), and "Hoshikagami" (telescopes) as school equipment (Correspondence Collection 1), and Hayashi fulfilled it.

Furthermore, along with Fukuzawa and his students, Hayashi worked on many organizations and businesses that existed in the West but not in Japan, in addition to Maruzen. These included the "Sairyu Company" (December 1871), which handled insurance and savings deposits; the "Jiriki Shakai" (1876), a mutual aid organization for civil and commercial legal affairs; and the Maruya Bank (October 1879).

In October 1872, on Fukuzawa's recommendation, Nakamura Michita, an abacus expert from Toyohashi, joined the Maruya Trading Company and became Hayashi's business partner. Nakamura introduced Western-style bookkeeping to Maruzen and gave lectures on bookkeeping within the company. In that respect as well, Maruzen was a cutting-edge company. In 1880, when talks of establishing the Yokohama Specie Bank arose between Fukuzawa and Okuma Shigenobu, Hayashi worked hard to realize it and recommended Nakamura as the first president of the Yokohama Specie Bank. Nakamura later resigned to take responsibility for the bank's poor management, but he sold the stock certificates he had taken over after the business recovered and used the funds to enter the mining business. Around 1884, when Maruya Bank fell into management difficulties with non-performing loans due to the effects of the Matsukata Deflation and the reckless management of President Kondo Takayuki, Nakamura, who had acquired great wealth, worked hard to repay Maruya Bank's debts. Hayashi also stepped down as president of Maruzen Trading Company and became the president of Maruya Bank to strive for its reconstruction, but ultimately, the reconstruction was not realized.

Thereafter, Hayashi retired from the front lines and entered a life of seclusion. However, he reportedly appeared unexpectedly at Maruzen to drink tea or play Go, and the Maruzen employees are said to have looked upon such behavior warmly.

Until now, many books have treated Hayashi as an eccentric. This is largely due to episodes conveying his eccentric behavior. For example, forgetting his sword at a hospital, starting a major cleaning of the shop on New Year's Day, or injecting morphine into his own muscles to observe the reaction. What kind of person was he really?

The writer Uchida Roan left his impressions of visiting the retired Hayashi's home as an errand boy during his apprenticeship at Maruzen (Complete Works of Uchida Roan, Vol. 4). When Uchida entered the house, the alcove and desk were overflowing with books, newspapers, scrap paper, bottles, and minerals, and the tatami mats were covered in medicine stains and holes. Hayashi was sitting cross-legged in Western clothes in front of a brazier, drinking sake. He kindly asked the apprentice Uchida, "When did you come to serve? How old are you? What does your father do?" He was extremely gentle, and his way of speaking was said to be like a woman's.

Also, on another day, he was called into a storage shed, where there was a large "pot" in the center and medicine bottles lined up on shelves. Hayashi placed a lump of gold in his palm and said happily, pointing to a nearby ore, "Look at this. This much gold can be taken from that stone." This apparently describes a scene where he was conducting an actual analysis of ore according to books. It shows that Hayashi was a person full of intellectual curiosity and possessed a rational, empirical spirit, not taking what was written in books at face value even after retirement, but verifying it through his own experiments.

Furthermore, in Fukuzawa's view, while Hayashi was a "person of integrity," he was also "sturdy and honest" when it mattered. For example, one reason Hayashi, a physician, ran a trading company was his opposition to foreign merchants selling imported goods like medicines to Japanese people at high prices and reaping exorbitant profits. Therefore, Hayashi aspired to a conscientious business that wished for the joy of the people, saying, "I want to buy and collect as cheaply as possible, wish for the joy of the buyers, and gain intangible profits rather than gaining profits from risky currency." Fukuzawa valued Hayashi's honest business and not only invested himself but also encouraged those around him to invest and introduced promising individuals to Maruzen. It can be said that the two were closer to being comrades or partners than a teacher-student relationship.

That relationship can also be seen from the following episode. Once, Fukuzawa was greatly delighted to see a rickshaw imported to Japan for the first time and yielded the honor of the first ride to Hayashi, saying, "Mr. Hayashi, please be the first to try it out; such a novel creation is best left to your testing." Conversely, it is said that Hayashi was the first to present a Western umbrella to Fukuzawa, letting him be the first Japanese person to test holding an umbrella.

On the other hand, when Maruya Bank was facing a crisis of collapse, Fukuzawa unusually expressed his anger toward Hayashi in a letter, saying, "Hayashi is a great fool, and those who entrust money to this great fool and remain unconcerned are also great fools." This was because Fukuzawa had invested in the bank not only in his own name but also in the name of his son, Sanpachi, and since investments could only be made with unlimited liability at the time, he worried that his son would become a bankrupt if it collapsed as it was. Although the worst-case scenario was avoided through the efforts of Nakamura and Hayashi, it was an unbearable matter for the doting father Fukuzawa.

Hayashi Yuteki was a physician and also a businessman who utilized the medical sciences and science he had learned to found Maruzen and personally test and import Western goods to Japan. The purpose of his business was to conduct trade with their own hands rather than relying on foreign merchants who sought exorbitant profits. For Fukuzawa, who shared the same aspirations, Hayashi's Maruzen was the practice of his own theories on business and a joint venture. For this reason, he invested a large sum of money himself, introduced many useful human resources, and supported it.

Hayashi passed away on February 18, 1901, at the age of 63. This was 15 days after Fukuzawa's death. Upon learning of Fukuzawa's death, Yuteki reportedly remarked to those around him, "Maybe I'm next." His grave is in Zoshigaya Cemetery, and on the anniversary of his death this year, flowers for Maruzen's 150th anniversary were offered.