Article:
The country has 33,000 businesses at least a century old. How have so many survived – and what does it mean for Japan’s future?
Japan is changing: a rapidly ageing society, a record-breaking influx of visitors from overseas, and more robots than ever. That's where the country's young people come in. Gen J, a new series by BBC Worklife, keeps you up to speed on how the nation's next generation is shaping the Japan of tomorrow.
Tsuen Tea sits on a street corner overlooking a large river and bridge in a sleepy outer suburb of Kyoto, Japan’s ancient capital. In a city famous for extraordinary shrines, temples and gardens (and an inundation of tourists armed with selfie sticks), it’s a relatively unremarkable structure; a quiet place to enjoy some ice cream or green tea.
But there’s something special about Tsuen Tea: it’s been open since 1160 AD and claims to be the world’s oldest continually operating tea house. It’s run by 38-year-old Yusuke Tsuen, who sits cross-legged behind a counter low on the floor pouring green tea from iron kettles. “We’ve focused on tea and haven’t expanded the business too much,” he says. “That’s why we’re surviving.”
Comments:
The last sentence here in the first part of the article, might show the significance of all of these companies that have been in business for a very long time. They focus on a few core ideas or products only to sustain them. They don't seem to be greedy or feel the need to expand too much. This tea shop knows what they think is important and nothing more.
I've seen a lot of these places in Japan. For example in Yokohama near Kannai station, there is a very old looking place among more modern buildings that has a small soba shop. It is most likely not that old, beyond the husband and wife who own it. There is nothing special about their little soba shop. But the principal is the same with these long term shops. They have decided what they think is important and sustainable compared to the high pressure world of profits and expansion.
Article:
Maybe it’s not too surprising that this 900-year-old tea house has survived in a city renowned for tradition and craftsmanship. But what is surprising is that Tsuen isn’t alone. Back in 2008, a Bank of Korea report found that of 5,586 companies older than 200 years in 41 countries, 56% of them were in Japan. In 2019, there were over 33,000 businesses in Japan over a century old, according to research firm Teikoku Data Bank. The oldest hotel in the world has been open since 705 in Yamanashi and confectioner Ichimonjiya Wasuke has been selling sweet treats in Kyoto since 1000. Osaka-based construction giant Takenaka was founded in 1610, while even some global Japanese brands like Suntory and Nintendo have unexpectedly long histories stretching back to the 1800s.
But what is it about Japan that produces these long-lasting businesses? And in a global era defined by scrappy start-ups that push boundaries at lightning speed, do they have anything to teach us?
Comments:
I think again there is a very different, if you want to call it "business model" that exists in Japan, and continues to sustain these businesses. They know what their core business is and they don't go beyond that. They survive and grow on that idea of their core and nothing more. Maybe they don't feel the need to be like modern businesses other than what is needed to survive in the 21st century.
I think what they can teach us is do what works and don't be greedy.
I think if Dr. Peter Drucker were alive today he would probably say "these businesses know what their core strengths are and what works for them and nothing more."
Article:
‘Respecting tradition’
Yoshinori Hara, dean and professor at Kyoto University’s Graduate School of Management, says these long-standing entities, at least 100 years old, are known as ‘shinise’ – literally meaning ‘old shop’.
Hara, who worked in Silicon Valley for a decade, says that Japanese companies’ emphasis on sustainability, rather than quick maximisation of profit, is a major reason why so many of the nation’s businesses have such staying power. “In Japan, it’s more: how can we move [the company] on to our descendants, our children, our grandchildren?” he explains.
Japan’s towns and cities have existed for centuries (compared to the US, for example), so perhaps it shouldn’t be shocking that it has many older companies. But Innan Sasaki, an assistant professor at the University of Warwick’s business school who’s written about Japanese company longevity, says there are other reasons more specific to Japan.
“More generally, we could say that it is because of the general long-term orientation: the culture of respecting tradition and ancestors, combined with the fact that it has been an island country with relatively limited interaction with other countries,” she says, pointing to people’s desire to make the most of what they have for as long as possible by preserving local companies in the community.
Many of these oldest companies are medium or small family-owned organisations focusing on hospitality and food, like Tsuen Tea. Several companies have even benefited from the widely-accepted Japanese practice of adopting adult male workers into the family bloodline to ensure an unbroken succession for the business, something even huge firms like Suzuki Motor and Panasonic have done.
Comments:
Yes, most US cities and town are barely hundreds of years old, so the businesses and companies there are not that old, while some cities and towns in Japan are much older, and as such so are the businesses. Maybe even out of survival, family member decide it was best to just work in the family business instead of trying to make somewhere else.
Since many of these companies are medium or small-family owned businesses, that are/were sustainable it was easy to remain in the family business.
Article:
Core skills and customer service
Elsewhere in Kyoto is another shinise company that isn’t nearly as old as Tsuen Tea, but much larger: the video game company Nintendo. It’s known across the globe for the way it revolutionised at-home entertainment with its electronic gaming system back in 1985.
But most people don’t know that the company predates its massive global commercial success. Despite being thought of as a tech company, Nintendo was founded back in 1889, as a maker of playing cards for the Japanese game hanafuda. First imported by the Portuguese in the 16th Century, the game involves collecting cards with various flowers printed on them, each worth different points.
Kyoto University’s Hara says Nintendo is a great example of a company sticking to what he calls a “core competency”. That’s the basic concept behind what a company makes or does, which helps the company survive – even as the technology or world around it changes. In Nintendo’s case, it’s “how to create fun”, Hara says
Comments:
To be continued
Tsuen Tea sits on a street corner overlooking a large river and bridge in a sleepy outer suburb of Kyoto, Japan’s ancient capital. In a city famous for extraordinary shrines, temples and gardens (and an inundation of tourists armed with selfie sticks), it’s a relatively unremarkable structure; a quiet place to enjoy some ice cream or green tea.
But there’s something special about Tsuen Tea: it’s been open since 1160 AD and claims to be the world’s oldest continually operating tea house. It’s run by 38-year-old Yusuke Tsuen, who sits cross-legged behind a counter low on the floor pouring green tea from iron kettles. “We’ve focused on tea and haven’t expanded the business too much,” he says. “That’s why we’re surviving.”
Comments:
The last sentence here in the first part of the article, might show the significance of all of these companies that have been in business for a very long time. They focus on a few core ideas or products only to sustain them. They don't seem to be greedy or feel the need to expand too much. This tea shop knows what they think is important and nothing more.
I've seen a lot of these places in Japan. For example in Yokohama near Kannai station, there is a very old looking place among more modern buildings that has a small soba shop. It is most likely not that old, beyond the husband and wife who own it. There is nothing special about their little soba shop. But the principal is the same with these long term shops. They have decided what they think is important and sustainable compared to the high pressure world of profits and expansion.
Article:
Maybe it’s not too surprising that this 900-year-old tea house has survived in a city renowned for tradition and craftsmanship. But what is surprising is that Tsuen isn’t alone. Back in 2008, a Bank of Korea report found that of 5,586 companies older than 200 years in 41 countries, 56% of them were in Japan. In 2019, there were over 33,000 businesses in Japan over a century old, according to research firm Teikoku Data Bank. The oldest hotel in the world has been open since 705 in Yamanashi and confectioner Ichimonjiya Wasuke has been selling sweet treats in Kyoto since 1000. Osaka-based construction giant Takenaka was founded in 1610, while even some global Japanese brands like Suntory and Nintendo have unexpectedly long histories stretching back to the 1800s.
But what is it about Japan that produces these long-lasting businesses? And in a global era defined by scrappy start-ups that push boundaries at lightning speed, do they have anything to teach us?
Comments:
I think again there is a very different, if you want to call it "business model" that exists in Japan, and continues to sustain these businesses. They know what their core business is and they don't go beyond that. They survive and grow on that idea of their core and nothing more. Maybe they don't feel the need to be like modern businesses other than what is needed to survive in the 21st century.
I think what they can teach us is do what works and don't be greedy.
I think if Dr. Peter Drucker were alive today he would probably say "these businesses know what their core strengths are and what works for them and nothing more."
Article:
‘Respecting tradition’
Yoshinori Hara, dean and professor at Kyoto University’s Graduate School of Management, says these long-standing entities, at least 100 years old, are known as ‘shinise’ – literally meaning ‘old shop’.
Hara, who worked in Silicon Valley for a decade, says that Japanese companies’ emphasis on sustainability, rather than quick maximisation of profit, is a major reason why so many of the nation’s businesses have such staying power. “In Japan, it’s more: how can we move [the company] on to our descendants, our children, our grandchildren?” he explains.
At Tsuen Tea, Tsuen says many of his childhood friends in Kyoto also happened to be born into centuries-old family-run companies. To him, picking up the family business wasn’t even a question. “It’s not the business I started – I am operating the business my ancestors started. If I didn’t take it over, [the legacy] would have ended,” says Tsuen. “When you’re little, like in kindergarten and elementary school, you’re asked your dream for the future. I thought I was taking over the business. It was natural.”
Comments:
I think the key word here is "sustainability" rather than profit is the key. Profits are a given, but they won't sustain a business. There has to be more which these companies have found. The idea that many of the children or descendants have taken over the businesses is a good indication of how these business, maybe have a good sound foundation that the children have no problem stepping in and taking over the business.
Article:
Comments:
I think the key word here is "sustainability" rather than profit is the key. Profits are a given, but they won't sustain a business. There has to be more which these companies have found. The idea that many of the children or descendants have taken over the businesses is a good indication of how these business, maybe have a good sound foundation that the children have no problem stepping in and taking over the business.
Article:
“More generally, we could say that it is because of the general long-term orientation: the culture of respecting tradition and ancestors, combined with the fact that it has been an island country with relatively limited interaction with other countries,” she says, pointing to people’s desire to make the most of what they have for as long as possible by preserving local companies in the community.
Many of these oldest companies are medium or small family-owned organisations focusing on hospitality and food, like Tsuen Tea. Several companies have even benefited from the widely-accepted Japanese practice of adopting adult male workers into the family bloodline to ensure an unbroken succession for the business, something even huge firms like Suzuki Motor and Panasonic have done.
Comments:
Yes, most US cities and town are barely hundreds of years old, so the businesses and companies there are not that old, while some cities and towns in Japan are much older, and as such so are the businesses. Maybe even out of survival, family member decide it was best to just work in the family business instead of trying to make somewhere else.
Since many of these companies are medium or small-family owned businesses, that are/were sustainable it was easy to remain in the family business.
Article:
Core skills and customer service
Elsewhere in Kyoto is another shinise company that isn’t nearly as old as Tsuen Tea, but much larger: the video game company Nintendo. It’s known across the globe for the way it revolutionised at-home entertainment with its electronic gaming system back in 1985.
But most people don’t know that the company predates its massive global commercial success. Despite being thought of as a tech company, Nintendo was founded back in 1889, as a maker of playing cards for the Japanese game hanafuda. First imported by the Portuguese in the 16th Century, the game involves collecting cards with various flowers printed on them, each worth different points.
Kyoto University’s Hara says Nintendo is a great example of a company sticking to what he calls a “core competency”. That’s the basic concept behind what a company makes or does, which helps the company survive – even as the technology or world around it changes. In Nintendo’s case, it’s “how to create fun”, Hara says
Hara also points to kimono companies struggling to stay in business as fewer Japanese women wear the traditional garments. One Kyoto-based kimono manufacturer dating back to 1688, Hosoo, has expanded into carbon fibre production for materials companies. “The core competency is the same: 3-D weaving,” he says.
Comments:
To be continued
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