Japan has a really large number of old shops. According to a survey by the Daikoku Data Bank in 2019, there are 33,076 companies in Japan that have been established for over 100 years, and 1,340 companies that have been around for over 200 years. Additionally, there are 147 shops that have been in business for over 500 years, and an astonishing 21 shops that have lasted over a thousand years. In terms of the number of old companies, Japan is undoubtedly the world's unrivaled leader. Among these, the oldest company in Japan is Kongo Gumi, which was established in 578 and maintained its operations until 2006. This means that the company was founded around the time when the Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla kingdoms were fiercely fighting, and it continued to exist until the Roh Moo-hyun administration. The longevity of these old businesses in Japan surpasses our imagination. So, why are there so many long-standing shops in Japan? At first glance, it may seem unexpected, but...

There are architectural reasons for this. When we think about it compared to our country, the story is quite simple. In our country, we have used heating systems since ancient times. However, using heating systems means that we cannot build two-story houses, so we have no choice but to build single-story homes. Therefore, if we recall the old houses or buildings in our country, there are hardly any tall houses or buildings. This configuration of single-story architecture directly leads to a low population density. If only single-story buildings occupy a limited space, it is inevitable that the population density will be low. However, a low population density essentially means that there are not many customers to buy goods. As a result, in the past, during the Joseon Dynasty, where the population density was low, the five-day market developed, where people occasionally gathered to buy and sell goods. In such a situation, a successful merchant in Joseon would start a shop and pass it down to his descendants.

It is virtually impossible to pass down a business for several hundred years. Due to these structural reasons, our country has not been able to produce long-standing shops or companies. However, Japan was different from our country. Japan absorbed and embraced our culture in many ways, but it did not adopt ondol, the traditional Korean floor heating system. To be precise, it was not that they did not accept ondol, but rather that they could not. The reason for this was earthquakes; whenever an earthquake occurred, the ondol floors would collapse, making it impossible to use them. Consequently, Japan devised a system that placed a stove in tatami rooms instead of using ondol. Thanks to this system, the Japanese were able to build two-story houses. The trend of two-story houses began in Kyoto several hundred years ago and soon became the standard for Japanese housing styles. Therefore, even today, when you go to Japan, most of the houses you see are two-story.

A two-story house is common, right? In the past, Japan had a high population density, much higher than Joseon, due to the prevalence of two-story homes. However, an increase in population density means there are more customers who can purchase goods. The rise in population density and the increase in customers created a stable commercial environment in historical Japan, which led to a robust merchant class. Their shops were able to maintain their presence for a long time, thanks to these important environmental conditions. Merchants in the past were given a very favorable environment for business. Consequently, they began to ponder how they could effectively utilize this environment to ensure the longevity of their shops. This contemplation gave rise to Japan's unique culture of Yatosuki. The exact time when Yatosuki culture first emerged is not clearly known, but it was formed a long time ago and became significantly active during the Edo period. Yatosuki...

Culture has played a crucial role in helping Japanese shops survive for a long time. So, what exactly is Yatosuki culture? You can think of it as a kind of franchise system. For example, when a sushi master opens a shop, the master first selects apprentices from among young children. The selected boys eat, sleep, and endure hard work at the shop while learning various skills from the master. By steadily improving their skills and gaining the master's trust, they receive the authority to manage a shop independently, along with the master’s support, around their mid-thirties. This culture, where they start as errand boys and eventually receive business knowledge from the owner to open branches under the same brand name, is referred to as Yatosuki culture. This has greatly contributed to the longevity of shops in Japan because even if the main store fails, the franchisees can still maintain the brand.

Since you can continue the lineage, it's only natural that you inherited it, and you added udon to the menu as you pleased. If we consider what an average Japanese person in the past would advise their son, let's listen to this. They would say, Don't create unnecessary friction between different classes. The particularly important thing is, if it's not your area, don't covet it. As a merchant, why do you want to become a noble? Nobles have their own domains, and you have yours. Do you understand? If you wanted to run a ramen shop, then just focus on ramen. Why are you trying to sell udon too, getting into conflicts with udon merchants? That infringes on the territory of udon merchants. If you invade someone else's territory, there is no social peace. Is it okay for society's peace to be disrupted because of you? You understand what wasan means to merchants, right? Thus, according to one's innate capabilities, one should not invade others' territories.

The essence of the Japanese wasan philosophy is to live peacefully without encroaching on each other’s domains. Therefore, if a father runs a ramen shop, it is natural for the child to inherit that business, and if they do inherit it, it is expected that they will sell only ramen. It would be unthinkable to dream of becoming a samurai. If someone wishes to become a merchant samurai, that would invade the samurai's territory, leading to a situation where someone would have to shed blood. The same goes for selling udon in a ramen shop, as that would also infringe upon the udon merchant's domain, resulting in a similar outcome. In such cases, peace would be disrupted. Thus, the wasan philosophy, which emphasizes peace and non-infringement of each other’s domains, is often referenced to explain Japan's culture of inheriting family businesses and its long-standing shops. However, the wasan philosophy has significantly influenced the formation of Japan's unique cultural heritage and the preservation of its ancient shops.

It is a fact that, surprisingly, the influence was temporary. In other words, the influence of the merchant class began to gradually fade from the Edo period. A clear example of this is that starting from the Edo period, the rate of family business succession was matched by the prevalence of buying and selling businesses. In Japan, there is an extensive compilation called the Edo Merchant Data Compendium, which is a collection of materials about merchants from the Edo period that historian Tanaka Yasuro collected over several decades while traveling across the country. This compendium contains detailed information about merchants who operated during the Edo period, including their names, shop names, addresses, and types of businesses, amounting to an incredible total of 74,000 entries. Tanaka completed this lifelong work only after he turned 70. He was truly an impressive person. So, what interesting content is hidden in this extensive compendium? According to the compendium, about half of the Edo period merchants were family businesses.

It is said that money was paid to others for the transfer of ownership, which is a bit shocking. This is because it is commonly understood that most long-established shops in Japan have been passed down through family businesses. However, nearly half of these shops have been bought and sold so casually, which is quite different from the usual perception. 

What's even more interesting is that according to Tanaka's research, shops that were transferred from others had a longer average lifespan than those inherited through family. This means that shops inherited through blood relations tended to go out of business more quickly. The average lifespan of a shop transferred from others was 18.1 years, while the average lifespan of a shop inherited through family was only 6.3 years. In fact, inheriting a shop through family relations was supposed to be much more advantageous for business.

You can inherit existing customers and receive valuable experience and know-how, and various costs have been waived. However, it failed much faster than if the store had been transferred. The reasons for this could vary from person to person. Today, we explored why there are so many old stores in Japan. We explained it through architectural reasons, the Yatosuki culture, and the concept of Wasa. We also challenged and refuted general misconceptions about Japanese stores based on historical documents from Danaka Yasuro. If you have any other knowledge or information to share, please do so in the comments. Thank you, this has been Knowledge Booboo.

일본에는 왜 오래된 가게가 많을까? 가업을 잇는다는 허상

일본에는 왜 오래된 가게가 많을까? 가업을 잇는다는 허상