Encounter with Japanese Culture and Joining the Family Business

I started getting exposed to Japanese culture when I met my future wife at university in Europe. In parallel to my studies of business administration, I started learning Japanese. Working for SONY Germany as a part-timer during university and a fulltime employee after graduation exposed me to Japanese business and innovation culture. In 2000 we moved to Japan when I was hired by a German company to join their Japanese operation.

In 2010 my wife decided to take over her family’s business CHIRNIU HONTEN as the fifth generation. CHINRIU HONTEN produces, and retails sweets and pickles made of Ume, Red Shiso and Sakura. The company was established in 1871 by the last chief cook of Odawara castle KOMINE Monya. Nowadays the products are sold through own brick and mortar stores, department store and online marketplaces.

I wanted to support my wife in managing and developing the business but struggled to find my place. I am not good in working with my hands. Becoming a craftsman for Umeboshi or pastries was not an option for me. When joining sales events at major Japanese department stores, I met many owners of other traditional business who mentioned that they wanted to sell international but did not have the necessary skills. This inspired me to launch an international trade business within CHINRIU HONTEN. In 2012 I joined full time and started an international online store to sell Japanese authentic food and craft products under the brand NIHON ICHIBAN.

13 years later we source around 8000 SKUs from 250 traditional companies from Hokkaido to Okinawa. We sell to consumers in more than 100 countries and established relations with specialty retailers and fine food businesses all around the world. Since the beginning our philosophy was not to just sell products, but to tell stories about the craft and the business. We currently are launching the next generation of our website, putting traditional family business and craftsmen even more into focus.

Adapting to the International Market & Collaborations

On our journey to promote Japanese crafts abroad we also started developing original products to align with foreign tastes and requirements. One of those projects was the development of original patterns with INDEN-YA. We worked with designer Miya SUWA – a Japanese designer with experience working in Europe. When we explained to her how we wanted to blend traditional crafts with contemporary design appealing to international markets she immediately understood the concept.

First, we had to meet the craftsmen to explore the possibilities and restrictions. Some design ideas were not practical as the lacquer on the leather would crack. Suwa-san then developed a few ideas. We shared the design ideas with people in Europe and the selected the first project. A few months later, we launched our first original series of INDEN-YA products for the European market. After this first success we hope to further develop our line-up of original designs.

Whilst growing our supplier base, I realized that Japan is unique when it comes to the number of long-established companies. Although Japan only represents 3-4% of the global population, with 33,000 businesses it is home to around two third of the world’s companies with more than 100 years of history.

Three Challenges Facing Traditional Businesses

Dealing with these companies and talking to their owners, I realized that they increasingly face three challenges:

1. Shrinking domestic markets

Products handmade by artisans are not cheap. With average disposable incomes per household shrinking in the past two decades, less people in Japan can afford such products. The decline in Japan’s population further reduces the market for handmade products at an increasing rate.

2. Lack of young craftsmen and women

I also noticed that many traditional businesses find it increasingly difficult to hire and retain young craftsmen. Many elderly craftsmen retired during COVID. After these experienced craftsmen retired, many craft items could not be produced anymore due to lack of craftsmen or lack of experience. Many Japanese crafts rely on an entire eco-system of craftsmen to make specialized tools and components. This means retiring without successor can impact many other craftsmen who rely on these tool and components.

3. Lack of successors

Every year 2-3 of our suppliers close their business when there is not a suitable successor within the family or their employees. This breaks my heart each time, as a small piece of Japanese culture disappears forever. My wife and I have no children and no other young person in the extended family is interested in the business. The subject of succession to the next generation therefore became highly relevant on a personal level.

To Build Systems that Connect to the Future

I kept thinking about these three challenges for many years and [started developing an idea on how to help preserving the unique culture of traditional companies and artisanal products.

At the center of this concept is my belief that traditional companies and artisans are a major component of a culture’s identity. They are worth being preserved. But to remain relevant, they also need to evolve around a core of techniques and materials. I also strongly believe that in a world of standardized mass production, in contrast people will also cherish handmade products for their unique features and little imperfections. Human beings are more likely to establish a personal connection to items made of natural materials with a beautiful story.

The first step to save businesses without successors is to acquire them when there is still sufficient time for handover and training younger people. The idea is to establish a holding company taking care of finance, marketing, international, IT and other functions, most craftsmen and traditional family business are not good at. The holding company will also establish a global network of companies and customer. This network will grow international sales and provide ideas and feedback of the needs of foreign customers to craftsmen in Japan. The craftsmen can then focus on their craft without worrying on the other functions required to run a company.

This holding company shall be owned by a foundation established by other traditional businesses. Being owned by other family businesses shall ensure that the values and spirit of culture, tradition and long-term orientation remain essential despite managing a business-oriented holding company. The foundation will finance itself by dividends from the holding, membership fees and donations. This income will allow to support research on company longevity, train young craftsmen and educate future owners of traditional business.

Challenges and Possibilities in Recruiting Young Artisans

A core activity will also be to support traditional businesses in recruiting young artisans. Although many young people are not very familiar with Japanese crafts and artisanal products, I am certain that many might be interested in work that allows to work with one’s hand, not having to talk a lot and focusing on making something real for many hours a day. There is a large pool of young people who feel that they do not fit to the corporate world without knowing about traditional crafts and therefore not considering this as their future path.

Nowadays there are countless recruiting sites specializing on IT professionals, hospitality business, part-timers, etc. I believe that it is necessary to establish a matching site specialized on artisanal work to bring together artisanal businesses with potential candidates. Due to the nature of the work, such a recruiting site will have to look very different from conventional sites. It will require more storytelling, pictures and videos and explain how a candidate can evolve over many years. The financial benefits of running such a site are probably too small for the conventional players in this field. The foundation can close this gap and connect traditional companies with young people considering becoming artisans from Japan and other countries.

As a Life Mission

I do not know if I will be able to achieve this before I will retire one day. I found my mission for life and pursuing this goal and moving forward step by step keeps me motivated every day. I also found many people who share the same passion and I am looking forward to expand my network of likewise people.