Hayashi Yuteki

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 companion 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, the 8th year of Tenpo (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 his father, Yamada Ryucho, a physician, and his mother, Tame, but his father died at the age of 26 without ever seeing Yuteki's birth. Therefore, his mother was taken in by her grandfather-in-law, the village headman Hayashi Saibei, and Yuteki was raised as Saibei's adopted son. It is said that Saibei doted on the clever Yuteki. The Hayashi family's original surname was Kunieda, but they were given the surname Hayashi by Toki Yorinari because of their skill in archery.

After studying medical sciences in Ogaki and Nagoya, Yuteki returned to Sasaga Village in the 1st year of Ansei (1854) and opened a medical practice at his family home. He soon became known as a young physician with a good reputation. Encouraged by Takatori Zenroku, the village headman of Nakahora Village who valued his talent, to go to Edo, Yuteki followed this advice and went to the capital in the 6th year of Ansei (1859), continuing his medical training while earning money as a masseur. In June of the 1st year of Man'en (1860), he opened a practice in Tachibana-cho, and in the 2nd year of Bunkyu (1862), he moved to Yagenbori. During that time, he studied under Tsuboi Shindo, primarily learning Dutch studies.

Later, on March 17, the 3rd year of Keio (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 of the 1st year of Meiji (1868), and from September of the 4th year, he worked with Matsuyama at the Yokohama Kyoritsu Hospital (later Juzen Hospital).

In December of the 1st year of Meiji, Hayashi opened a small bookstore in Yokohama. He sold Fukuzawa's books and Keio-related books on consignment, as well as acting as an agent for Western books. On February 11 of the following year, he announced the "Maruya Shosha no Ki" (Record of the Maruya Trading Company). This day corresponded to January 1 of the lunar calendar, and Maruzen considers this its founding date. Regarding the drafter, there are theories that it was Hayashi or Fukuzawa, but the truth is likely a collaboration. The content is characterized by its advocacy for a modern company organization, aiming for a new company composed of "Motokin Shachu" (investors) and "Hataraki Shachu" (employees with small investments). Fukuzawa himself invested a large amount of money 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 "Tamaya" (written with the character for "sphere") to mean doing business with the world, and Hayashi agreed. However, since many people called it "Mariya," it was changed to "Maruya." The shop name was set as "Maruya Zenpachi" when it opened in Yokohama. It is said that "Zenpachi" was named after his benefactor Takatori Zenroku, and the Tokyo store was named "Maruya Zenshichi," the Osaka store "Maruya Zenzo," and the Kyoto store "Maruya Zenkichi." Later, the Maruya Trading Company changed its name to Maruzen Trading Company in the 13th year of Meiji.

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, general merchandise, tailoring, and furniture. On one occasion, an order came through Fukuzawa from Kuki Takayoshi, the former lord of the Sanda Domain, to import "Elekitel," "Galvani," and "Seikyo" (telescope) as school equipment (Correspondence Collection 1), and Hayashi fulfilled it. Elekitel and Galvani were power generation devices, and Seikyo refers to an astronomical telescope.

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 of the 4th year of Meiji), which handled insurance and savings deposits; the "Jiriki Shakai" (9th year), a mutual aid organization for civil and commercial legal affairs; and the Maruya Bank (October of the 12th year).

In October of the 5th year of Meiji, at 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 the 13th year, when the talk 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 obtained to enter the mining business. Around the 17th year, when Maruya Bank fell into management difficulties with non-performing loans due to the influence of the Matsukata Deflation and the reckless management of President Kondo Takayuki, Nakamura, who had gained enormous 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 in the end, reconstruction was not achieved.

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

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 store 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 ores, and the tatami mats were full of 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, and when he entered, there was a large "pot" in the center, and medicine bottles were lined up on the shelves. Hayashi placed a lump of gold on his palm and said happily, pointing to the ore nearby, "Look at this. This much gold can be taken from that stone." This seems to be a scene from when he was actually conducting ore analysis according to books, showing that Hayashi was a person full of intellectual curiosity. Even after retiring, he did not take what was written in books at face value but possessed a rational, empirical spirit to verify things 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, his reason for running a trading company as a physician was a reaction against foreign merchants selling imported goods like medicines to Japanese people at high prices and making excessive profits. Therefore, Hayashi aimed for a conscientious business that wished for the joy of the people, saying, "I want to buy 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 relationship between the two was closer to that of comrades or companions rather than a master-disciple relationship.

That relationship can also be seen from the following episode. On one occasion, 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 product is best left to your testing." Conversely, for the Western umbrella, Hayashi was the first to present one to Fukuzawa, having 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 are unconcerned about entrusting money to this great fool 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 was worried that his son would become 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 incident 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 tested and imported 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 excessive profits. For Fukuzawa, who shared the same aspirations, Hayashi's Maruzen was the practice of his own theory of business and a joint venture. Therefore, he invested a large amount of money himself, introduced many useful human resources, and supported it.

Hayashi passed away on February 18, the 34th year of Meiji (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.