Yoshio Takahashi

2019/07/30

Image: Yoshio Takahashi (Keio Institute for Fukuzawa Studies)

Yoshio Takahashi was born into a lower-ranking samurai family in the Mito Domain in 1861 and passed away in 1937 at the age of 77. As a businessman, Takahashi moved through various Mitsui-related companies such as Mitsui Bank, Mitsui Dry Goods Store, Mitsui Mining, and Oji Paper. In particular, the management reforms he led at Mitsui Dry Goods Store had a significant impact on the modernization of the Japanese retail industry.

On the other hand, after retiring from the business world at age 51, he became active as a connoisseur of the arts and was known by the pseudonym Soan. He focused on the study of the tea ceremony, and the results of his diligent research on tea utensils were compiled into famous works such as "Taisho Meikikan" and "Kinsei Dogu Ido-shi."

Takahashi first learned the name of Yukichi Fukuzawa while attending Jikyosha, a school of Chinese classics in Mito. He was 14 years old at the time. He read "An Outline of a Theory of Civilization," but he said he was not particularly impressed. Later, after entering Ibaraki Middle School, Takahashi met Naomi Matsuki, a professor at the school and a disciple of Fukuzawa. Matsuki was someone who was always "advocating for the worship of Fukuzawa," and at first, Takahashi listened half-heartedly, thinking, "There goes that same old boasting again." However, after hearing him speak several times, he became interested in Fukuzawa and Keio University, becoming a "Fukuzawa fan" without ever having met the man.

Takahashi finally met Fukuzawa in June 1881, at the age of 21. At the time, Fukuzawa was aiming to launch the "Jiji Shinpo" newspaper and was looking for people capable of writing editorials. Hearing from Matsuki that "there are four or five young men in the Mito middle school who are good at writing," Fukuzawa suggested to Matsuki that they be admitted to the Juku and become journalists after graduation. Furthermore, Fukuzawa offered to cover their tuition. Matsuki returned to Mito overjoyed and sent four students, including Takahashi and Motoaki Ishikawa, to the Juku.

Having become Keio students, Takahashi and the others progressed steadily toward becoming journalists, learning how to write editorials directly from Fukuzawa. He also took an interest in public speaking, and it is said that he and Shuroku Kuroiwa (also known as Ruiko), who was then a preparatory student, would sneak into the Enzetsukan (Public Speaking Hall) at night to practice. After graduating from the Juku in April of the following year, Takahashi joined Jiji Shinpo as planned, and in October, his writing graced the editorial column for the first time. Fukuzawa must have been very pleased with the growth of the student from Mito.

However, in 1887, Takahashi began to consider quitting his job as a journalist. His plan was to "take a detour into the business world for a while to gain financial stability, and then return to a literary life to enjoy writing at leisure." At the same time, he judged that to succeed in the business world, he "must go abroad to gain prestige," and he shared his thoughts with Fukuzawa. Fukuzawa tried to persuade him to stay, concerned about the damage Takahashi's departure would cause to Jiji Shinpo, but Takahashi did not change his mind. He went to the United States in September of that year and enrolled in Eastman Business College in Poughkeepsie, New York, in December. Incidentally, 12 graduates of the Juku studied at the same school between 1876 and 1912. The first international student was Yutaka Morimura, founder of Morimura Brothers, which developed a trading business in Manhattan; Takahashi chose Eastman Business College on the recommendation of Yasutaka Murai, an employee of that company.

Eastman Business College was a school that emphasized practical experience. After learning bookkeeping and commercial theory, students would exchange actual currency for currency valid only within the school and buy and sell goods and stocks among themselves. The market rates were the same as in the real world, and students could even receive loans from the on-campus Eastman Bank. Having experienced the reality of Western commerce here, Takahashi graduated from the school in March 1888 and began field research in Manhattan. In Philadelphia, which he visited next, he toured the Wanamaker's department store. Since many graduates of Eastman Business College were employed there, he may have had a connection.

Wanamaker's was a department store rare even in the United States at the time, and was "the best in America at that time" in terms of scale. Takahashi was surprised that the store "displayed human necessities under one roof" and that "there was nothing they didn't sell." He was also impressed that "female clerks were very active," and felt that "it is human nature to want to get everything done in one place rather than going around to buy various items at individual shops, and this department store sales method will likely dominate the retail trade."

Afterward, Takahashi traveled to England, where he met Booth, the vice-president of the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce, and received much assistance for his field research. However, commerce was not the only thing Takahashi learned from Booth. Booth was a pro-Japanese individual who collected Japanese art and served as an honorary consul for Japan. Takahashi learned about Japanese art from Booth and also discovered that Japanese art designs were popular in Europe. Feeling firsthand that design attracts people, Takahashi came to the conclusion that attention should be paid to design in product sales as well, an idea he presented in his book "Shosei Isshin" (Reform of Commercial Administration), written after his return to Japan.

Returning to Japan in September 1889, Takahashi was invited by Fukuzawa to become a guest writer for Jiji Shinpo, writing accounts of his observations in the West. However, Takahashi had originally gone abroad to establish himself in business. In 1891, he joined the head office of Mitsui Bank. It seems he was welcomed into Mitsui after "Shosei Isshin" caught the eye of Kaoru Inoue, an advisor to the Mitsui family. Meanwhile, around this time, Hikojiro Nakamigawa had also joined the company at Inoue's request to reform Mitsui. In a letter to Nakamigawa, Fukuzawa stated, "What use could Takahashi be in cleaning this great cathedral? He is nothing more than a single clerk," but such harsh words may have been linked to the shock of Takahashi leaving Jiji Shinpo again.

However, Takahashi proved Fukuzawa's expectations wrong in a positive way. Under Inoue's request, he was involved in creating the "Mitsui Family Constitution" and contributed to the settlement of Mitsui's assets and liabilities. When he became the Osaka branch manager, he hired female clerks following the example of Wanamaker's, bringing a breath of fresh air. In 1895, he was appointed as a director of Mitsui Dry Goods Store and set about reforming the shop. Among Mitsui-related companies, this store had been the family business since the founder Takatoshi Mitsui, but for that reason, it was managed in an antiquated way and was suffering from poor performance.

While Takahashi emphasized reforms centered on the original dry goods business, he first changed the accounting from the traditional Edo-period ledger system to the Western-style bookkeeping he had learned at Eastman Business College. Under the former, it was difficult to grasp accurate purchase prices, sales figures, and inventory balances, but he cleared those issues. Regarding procurement, he switched from going through brokers to direct purchasing from producers to reduce costs. Additionally, he changed the sales method from the "za-uri" (sitting and selling) style to a display-based sales style. In the former, goods were kept in a back warehouse, and customers chose by looking at pattern sample books at the storefront. In the latter, goods were lined up directly in glass showcases, allowing customers to choose more freely at their own pace. The scene Takahashi had seen at Wanamaker's was introduced in Japan for the first time.

Furthermore, Takahashi established a design department and invited Japanese-style painters to conduct research and development on designs. He also increased the number of patterns to meet customer preferences. It was also the design department that created illustrated signs, advertisements, and "Hanakoromo," which is called Japan's first promotional booklet. These advertising media were also used to set trends, and it is said that Takahashi and the design department were the masterminds behind the Genroku patterns that became popular from the late 1890s to the 1910s.

In addition, Takahashi set up sales areas for Westerners, selling shawls and bags featuring Japanese art motifs. This was the first time that miscellaneous goods other than dry goods were included in the product lineup. As for personnel reform, he promoted the hiring of women and university graduates who had studied modern management, and changed the apprenticeship system to a salary system, completely overturning the old culture of Mitsui Dry Goods Store. These radical reforms also generated backlash from long-time employees. However, Takahashi's reforms were aimed at creating a "store that customers would want to visit," and bringing such a concept to the retail industry was truly revolutionary. Takahashi's enthusiasm was passed on to his successors. When the store name was changed to Mitsukoshi Dry Goods Store in 1904, the so-called "Department Store Declaration" was issued, and under the leadership of Osuke Hibi, the store developed into Japan's first department store.

Takahashi invited Fukuzawa to the store when the reforms had reached a certain stage. After touring the store, Fukuzawa reportedly rejoiced, saying, "The operation of a dry goods store is a complex business, yet a scholar has jumped in and taken over the work of head clerks who have been accustomed to it for two hundred years, reforming it swiftly—how delightful is that?"

In 1905, Takahashi moved to become a director of Mitsui Mining, and in 1909, he moved to become the senior managing director of Oji Paper Company. However, things did not go very well. Internal conflicts arose within the management of Oji Paper, and he resigned in 1911. At this time, Takahashi decided to leave the business world, thinking, "It would be a far better strategy to find more effective work in the various fields where I believe I have some talent and entrust the second half of my life to it." He said that "retiring from the business world upon reaching the age of fifty was the plan from the time I first threw myself into this society," but this might have been a show of strength to hide the shock of his resignation.

In any case, Takahashi's second life was truly rich. Takahashi had started the tea ceremony around the age of 35 when he moved to Mitsui Dry Goods Store, but retirement allowed him to devote time to his hobby, and as mentioned at the beginning, he became famous as the connoisseur Soan. The books he collected for his tea ceremony research numbered 1,000 volumes and are now held in the Mita Media Center (Keio University Library) as the Takahashi Soan Collection. Furthermore, the personal connections he built in the political and business worlds remained extensive after his retirement; he even invited Aritomo Yamagata and Albert Einstein to tea ceremonies. "Talking about Yukichi Fukuzawa," published in 1934, is a book that compiles anecdotes about Fukuzawa that Takahashi heard from key figures in politics and business, such as Shigenobu Okuma and Tsuyoshi Inukai—a task that could only have been achieved because of those connections.

Of course, funds are necessary to lead such a rich second life. After retiring, Takahashi gained profits from trading stocks and land, which allowed him to live for his hobbies. The ability to read the market was something Eastman Business College had aimed for its students to acquire. Takahashi's time abroad lasted only two years, but that experience was useful throughout his life, and he must have thought many times, "I'm glad I went abroad."