Yoshio Takahashi

Image: Yoshio Takahashi (Courtesy of the Keio University Fukuzawa Memorial Center for Modern Japanese Studies)

Yoshio Takahashi was born into a family of low-ranking samurai 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 Gofukuten (dry goods store), Mitsui Mining, and Oji Paper. The management reforms he led, particularly at Mitsui Gofukuten, 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 "sukisha" (connoisseur of tea) and was known by the pen name Soan. He focused on tea ceremony research, and the results of his diligent investigations into tea utensils were compiled into famous works such as "Taisho Meikikan" and "Kinsei Dogu Idoshi."

Takahashi first learned the name of Yukichi Fukuzawa while attending Jikyo-sha, a school for Chinese classics in Mito. Takahashi 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 former student of Yukichi Fukuzawa. Matsuki was a person who always "advocated 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 Yukichi Fukuzawa and Keio University, becoming a "Fukuzawa fan" without ever having met the man.

Takahashi finally met Yukichi Fukuzawa in June 1881, when he was 21 years old. At the time, Yukichi 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," Yukichi Fukuzawa suggested to Matsuki that they be admitted to Keio University and become journalists after graduation. Furthermore, Yukichi Fukuzawa offered to cover their tuition. Matsuki returned to Mito overjoyed and sent four students, including Takahashi and Motoaki Ishikawa, to Keio University.

Having become Keio students, Takahashi and the others progressed steadily toward becoming journalists, learning directly from Yukichi Fukuzawa how to write editorials. He also took an interest in public speaking, and it is said that he and then-preparatory student Shuroku Kuroiwa (Ruiko) once snuck into the Enzetsukan (Public Speaking Hall) at night to practice their speeches. After graduating from Keio University 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. Yukichi 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, then return to a literary life and enjoy writing at my leisure." At the same time, he decided that to succeed in business, he "must go abroad to gain prestige," and he shared his thoughts with Yukichi Fukuzawa. Yukichi 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 Keio University 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 that was only valid at 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. Next, he visited Philadelphia, where he toured the Wanamaker's department store. Since many graduates of Eastman Business College were employed at the store, he may have had a connection.

Wanamaker's was a rare department store in America at the time and was "the best in the United States 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 trend of retail stores."

Takahashi then traveled to England, where he met Mr. Booth, 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 Japanophile 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" (Innovation in Commercial Administration), written after his return to Japan.

Returning to Japan in September 1889, Takahashi was invited by Yukichi Fukuzawa to become a guest writer for Jiji Shinpo, where he wrote 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, Yukichi Fukuzawa stated, "What use could Takahashi be in cleaning this great cathedral? He is nothing more than a single clerk," but such harsh language may have been a result of the shock of Takahashi leaving Jiji Shinpo again.

However, Takahashi defied Yukichi Fukuzawa's expectations in a positive way. At Inoue's request, he was involved in creating the "Mitsui Family Constitution" and contributed to the reorganization of Mitsui's assets and liabilities. When he became the Osaka branch manager, he followed Wanamaker's example by hiring female clerks, bringing a fresh perspective. In 1895, he was appointed as a director of Mitsui Gofukuten and set out to reform the store. Although the store was the original family business of the Mitsui-related companies since the founder Takatoshi Mitsui, it was being managed in an outdated manner and was suffering from poor performance.

While Takahashi emphasized reforms centered on the original dry goods business, he first changed the bookkeeping from the Edo-period "daifukucho" style to the Western-style bookkeeping he had learned at Eastman Business College. The former made it difficult to grasp accurate purchase prices, sales figures, and inventory balances, but he cleared those issues. Regarding procurement, he reduced costs by switching from purchasing through brokers to direct buying from producers. Additionally, he changed the sales method from the "zauiri" (seated sales) style to the display sales style. In the former, products were kept in a back warehouse, and customers chose by looking at pattern sample books at the storefront. In the latter, products were lined up directly in glass showcases, allowing customers to choose more freely and 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 the design department that created pictorial signs, advertisements, and "Hana-goromo," which is called Japan's first promotional booklet. These advertising media were also used to launch 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.

Takahashi also set up a sales area 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 reforms, 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 Gofukuten. These radical reforms also generated backlash from veteran 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 Gofukuten 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.

When the reforms reached a certain point, Takahashi invited Yukichi Fukuzawa to the store. After touring the store, Yukichi Fukuzawa reportedly said with delight, "The operation of a dry goods store is a complicated business, yet a scholar has jumped in and taken over the work of 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 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 entered 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 Gofukuten, but after his retirement, he was able to devote time to his hobby and, as mentioned at the beginning, became famous as the connoisseur Soan. The books he collected for his tea ceremony research reached 1,000 volumes and are now held in the Mita Media Center (Keio University Library) as the Takahashi Soan Collection. Furthermore, the network of contacts he built in the political and business worlds remained extensive after his retirement, and 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; it was a task that could only have been achieved because of that network.

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 that Eastman Business College had aimed for its students to acquire. Takahashi's time abroad was only two years, but that experience was useful throughout his life, and he must have thought many times, "I'm glad I went abroad."