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Chapter 02. Dreams |
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The next step for Chubei after reaping success
in Nagoya, the center of the Tokai region, was to advance on Osaka,
the center of business in Japan. The "Doshomachi" district, the aspiration
of everyone active in the pharmaceutical industry, was the goal.
Osaka was the center of the Japanese pharmaceutical industry, and
Doshomachi was the center of Osaka. 124 "za", or business associations,
in wholesale and retail business had been created here from the middle
of the Edo period (1603-1867), and business continued to boom even
at the end of the Meiji period (1868-1912). Their unity was firm and
they boasted a social status based on long tradition. In the period
in which the za thrived, they dominated the wholesale pharmaceutical
business from the Kansai region west.
Stores managed by official members of the za were called hondana or
"head offices", and these were concentrated in Doshomachi. Hiranomachi,
Fusimicho and Kawaramachi, the areas around Doshomachi, were lined
with wholesale shops known as wakidana or "subsidiary stores". Of
these areas, Hiranomachi and Fusimicyou had a standing similar to
that of Doshomachi. Here, the families who ran the head offices would
engage in commerce, enjoying the same reputation as in Doshomachi.
 Kobayashi
Daiyakubou Co., Ltd. began in this region in Osaka. In 1912, Kobayashi
Seidaidou advanced into the coveted city of Osaka, establishing Kobayashi
Daiyakubou Friendship Daily Chemicals Co., Ltd., and beginning development
on a nationwide scale of pharmaceutical wholesaling and manufacture.
Kobayashi Daiyakubou Co., Ltd. was thus formed through an amalgamation
of the 2 shops in Nagoya and Osaka. The head office was established
in Hiranomachi, a short distance from Doshomachi, and the Nagoya shop
reopened as a branch office was in 1919.
Always aggressive in business dealings and proactive to a degree not
suggested by his everyday affable nature, Chubei set his sights from
the beginning on entry to Doshomachi.If he could somehow set up business
in Osaka, then he wanted to penetrate the heart of the pharmaceutical
business. However, the "advance to Doshomachi" was to elude
him for various reasons. Thus he turned to Hiranomachi. Yet, this
in no way meant that Chubei was giving up. "Someday when the
timing is right, I'd like to set up shop in Doshomachi, and give business
all that I've got." This was the dream that he bequeathed his
eldest son, Yoshitaro, a dream that was eventually to become a reality.
Chubei was a pioneer of the pharmaceutical industry in Nagoya and
a man of merit, and at the end of the Meiji period Kobayashi Daiseidou
was a private company with a firm foundation. From Yet given the scale
of domestic pharmaceutical distribution, the Tokai region took a backseat
to Osaka and Tokyo. And in the view of Doshomachi, Kobayashi Daiyakubou
was a regional pharmaceuticals manufacturer, no more than a leader
of regional wholesalers. Even today, it is difficult for eager youths
intent on becoming entrepreneurs to establish a startup venture. In
the same way, it was just as difficult to advance from Nagoya to Doshomachi
at the end of the Meiji period. |
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