Shoshaman------

商社マン

Economics from a Novel

Winter 2003

The Cast: Part I

• The opening scene: announcing promotions to the company– Ebisawa Shiro, President, Nissei Corp.– Yamabe Seiji, head of personnel– Ojima, the beserker– Nakasato Michio, the protagonist / Ojima's

"classmate"

interpretation• What is role of company? "god?"• Presumption that Ojima "gone"• Training camp: what is of ultimate value?

– Success in company.

– How do Nakasato & Ojima differ? • One's a winner, one's a (big) loser• Family an appendage to career• Training camp: varied on entry, socialized into a similar patt

ern

• Literary problem: – will Nakasato become like a successful Ojima?

• Can work and life coexist?

The Cast: Part II

• New York: an inspection visit • American Gourmet Company proposal

– Yoshida Shizuo, Nissei America– Tobita Tokihiko, Pres., Nissei America– Kano Taichiro, classmate of Nakasato at N

A• Nakasato Rieko, the "missus"

NY• What is a "trading company" (shosha)?

– Old role: intermediary, here in int'l trade• Buy low, sell high, using superior information

– Also special skills in finance and paperwork / logistics• How handle a bet gone wrong?

– Hide– Face– Shift to others

– Shosha "winter"• J companies better informed, bigger, more skills, handle

directly: Honda isn't just a rural motorcycle maker• Information cheaper in general• Core goods are stagnant markets

• Context– will Nakasato be sidetracked to NY?

• Generational issues– Younger more "open"– Older do quite OK if Nissei merely "gets by"– Contrast of son & father during tennis game

Others

• Key figures in Century Stores interlude– Hozumi Masako, her alter ego and a relucta

nt entrepreneur.– Hatakeyama Shinsaku, Pres., Century Store

s

Hozumi

• Company mentality:– Nakasato vs Hozumi

• She can break away from mold• Can't succeed within, so penalty from exit is low• Relationship

– Initial: seeking information, wanting to set up own business

– Supermarket story• Masako as foil: imaginative as to location• Nakasato: handled operational detail / store layout

– Pulled store layout from visits to factories– Implicit that early to mid-1970s

And more

• Normal people– Inuzuka Keigoro, former boss of Nakasato during C

entury Stores joint venture. Japanese dance as his passion.

– Nukaya Kiichiro, head of Kijima Co. food wholesaler that went bust. A manager without subordinates.

– Natsukawa Tetsuji, a normal "jerk" (Food Dept)– Hoshino– Hozui Michio, a fatherless child– Robert Hancock, a passionate restauranteer