Register · The Tokyo Hardware Guild History (1944)

The Tokyo Hardware Trade Guild — "Guild History" (1944)

An English translation of 『組合史』, the Tokyo Hardware Trade Guild's own institutional history, published April 1944.

Source: 東京金物同業組合編『組合史』 (Tōkyō Kanamono Dōgyō Kumiai, ed., Kumiai-shi / "Guild History"), Tokyo, printed 1 April and published 5 April 1944, 233 pp. plus plates. Guild office: Kanda-ku, Higashi-Kon'ya-chō 21. Printer: Tokyo Kanamono Shinpōsha. The guild was founded in November 1915 (Taishō 4) and dissolved in March 1944; its final general meeting resolved, as its seventh item of business, to compile this very history. Cited in the register as source [s47].

Public domain — a corporate-authored work published in 1944, whose copyright term expired in 1994.

About this edition. This English rendering was produced by reading the original scanned pages — a foxed, right-to-left, vertical 1944 print — and then verified a second time, page by page, against the page images, with particular attention to personal and firm names, dense tables, and figures. It is a careful, image-verified translation, not a professional scholarly edition; the small number of readings the scan cannot resolve are marked [?], and any still-illegible passage [illegible]. Headings are the book's own printed page numbers; the prefaces (序) are paginated separately from the main text. Corrections are warmly welcomed — ben@tokyonomi.com.

Front cover / title page

Vertical, read right-to-left.

The inside front cover is a plain marbled endpaper, and the title page is followed by unpaginated foxed guard-leaves; none carry text. The full printer's colophon (奥付) is not bound in this front-matter run.

Preface — page 1 (序, 一)

Preface by 高岡宣次 (Takaoka Senji), the Fourth Guild Head.

Transcription (vertical, right → left):

序

諺に『十年一昔』と謂ふ。現下、大東亞共榮圏建設の途上、其義當らざるやに見らるべきも、我東京金物同業組合は、歲を閱する三十星霜、所謂『三昔』の幾春秋、けだし短しとせず。其間、初代組長大久保惣左衛門君を組合葬として惜別し、三代組長橋本太吉君の長逝に次で二代組長吉川百太夫君と次々、幽明、境を異にするに至つた。其間又、紆餘曲折、また波瀾層巒の觀ありしと雖も、創立認可當初より我同業組合は、重要物產同業組合法の本義に則り、和衷協力、生產、卸、小賣の全業者、渾然として三位一體化し、萬餘を數ふる取扱品の品質改善、適法向上、價格調整、適正配給に、將た又、商工組合法に據る諸種團體創成に貢獻寄與し、使命を全うして以て解體し得るに至りたるは、欣喜、慶祝に堪へざるものありとす。而して今回、組合史上梓に際し、需めらるゝに應じて敢て玆に一言を序す。

昭和十九年四月　高岡宣次

English:

Preface

There is a proverb: "Ten years makes a bygone age" (十年一昔). At present, on the road to building the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere (大東亞共榮圏), this saying might seem not quite apposite; yet our Tokyo Hardware Trade Guild (東京金物同業組合) has passed thirty years of frosts (三十星霜) — the so-called "three ages" (三昔), many springs and autumns — which is by no means short. In that time we bade sorrowful farewell, with a guild funeral (組合葬), to our First Guild Head, Mr. Ōkubo Sōzaemon (大久保惣左衛門君); and, following the passing of the Third Guild Head, Mr. Hashimoto Takichi (橋本太吉君), the Second Guild Head, Mr. Yoshikawa Hyakudayū (吉川百太夫君), too departed — one after another they crossed into the other world. During that period, though there were twists and turns and scenes like surging waves and serried peaks, our trade guild, from the very time of its founding authorization, in accordance with the essential purport of the Important Products Trade Association Law (重要物產同業組合法), has worked in harmonious cooperation (和衷協力) — producers, wholesalers, and retailers, the whole trade, fused into one body (三位一體) — toward improving the quality of its more than ten thousand (萬餘) handled goods, raising legal compliance, adjusting prices, and ensuring proper distribution; and, further, it has contributed to the creation of various bodies under the Commerce and Industry Association Law (商工組合法), so that, having fulfilled its mission, it has reached the point where it can be dissolved (解體) with honour — a matter of inexpressible joy and congratulation. And now, on the occasion of this Guild History going to press, in answer to the request made of me, I venture to set down here a word by way of preface.

April, Shōwa 19 [1944] — Takaoka Senji (高岡宣次)

Preface — page 2 (序, 二)

Preface by 山口環 (Yamaguchi Tamaki), the Fifth (and then-current) Guild Head — part 1. The page is a florid, partly faint passage; a few characters in the dense central columns remain uncertain and are flagged.

Transcription (vertical, right → left; best-effort):

序

今春[?]で或部隊長が「……竹は真直で折れさうで居てなかなか折れない、割れば破竹の勢」などといつて威勢が良い。大和魂の象徵だ。その氣持で「頑張れ」と部下を督勵した。又、大和本草に「西土の說に竹を以て君子に比さしは、竹は天地の和を稟けて堅貞にして虛心正直にして歲寒と雖其の操を變せざるによりてなり」と。聖戰下に代用品中尊ばれる譯はこうした理論より、幾年生の竹、即資材より見て重位に差し得られるから等と[爭ふ?]。金物屋さんの金物を奪つた者は米英の野望からである。一代粒々仕上げた金物屋さんの店頭から金氣が無くなつた。先祖傳來家[業?]……

日露戰爭後不振の時、先覺協同の契機を見出し組合[?]形成の指導使命の發祥となりまして、組合員[ら][?]の意を[勸/歡]へられ、前歐洲大戰となつて愈其彈力性と强靱な胃の腑に依つて外國文化を急速に吸收同化して業界の基礎を確立するを得、大震火災に遭ふも屈せず、生產、卸、小賣、一致して日……

English (faithful where legible):

Preface

This spring, at [a certain place], a certain unit commander, full of spirit, said something like: "Bambo (竹) stands perfectly straight and looks as though it will snap, yet it does not easily break; and once split, it carries the unstoppable momentum of 'splitting bamboo' (破竹の勢)." It is a symbol of the Yamato spirit (大和魂). In that spirit he urged his subordinates, "Persevere!" Again, the Yamato Honzō (大和本草) says: "The reason the Western teaching likens bamboo to the gentleman is that bamboo, endowed with the harmony of Heaven and Earth, is firm and chaste, humble and upright, and does not alter its integrity even in the year's cold." Under this holy war, the reason bamboo is esteemed among substitute materials (代用品) derives from such reasoning — bamboo of several years' growth can, viewed as a material resource, be ranked highly. Those who seized the hardware dealers' metal did so out of the ambition of America and Britain (米英); the metal has vanished from the shop-fronts of dealers who built up their wares grain by grain over a lifetime. The ancestral family trade (先祖傳來)…

In the slump after the Russo-Japanese War (日露戰爭), [we] found the occasion for enlightened cooperation (先覺協同), which became the origin of the guiding mission that formed the guild; the members were encouraged…; and with the coming of the former European War (前歐洲大戰 — the First World War), by [our] ever-greater resilience (彈力性) and tough constitution [we] rapidly absorbed and assimilated foreign culture and so established the foundations of the industry; and though struck by the great earthquake and fire (大震火災 — the 1923 Great Kantō Earthquake), [we] did not yield — producers, wholesalers, and retailers, united, day… (continues on page 3, completing the idiom 日進月歩, "steady progress day by day")

Preface — page 3 (序, 三)

Preface by 山口環 (Yamaguchi Tamaki) — part 2 (conclusion and signature).

Transcription (vertical, right → left):

……進月歩、感恩に應へんと努力したのであります。然るに飽くなき野望達成に狂奔する米英は、昭和十七年十一月廿六日吾れに宣戰に等しき態度を採り來たつたのであります。組合から工業組合を產み、卸及小賣の商業組合を誕生して統制に入りましたが充分とは申し兼ねて居りました處、商工組合法の制定に依り戰時體制に移行の時となりました。商工組合もこれで元服を一應致したと見ても良いと思ふのであります。奢侈品等制限規則に依ります。鐵、銅製品の死藏品に對しましても昨年重要物資管理營團を通じまして應召を了りましたし、輕金屬に就いても昨年下流法令に依りまして見通しもつきましたので、東京金物同業組合史編纂を致すと成つた譯であります。商工組合法に依る移行組合も成り立ての事故「すめらみくに」に相應しき指導者を戴き且つ一致して感恩に應へられん事を願ふ次第であります。

昭和十九年四月　山口環

English:

…advancing day by day and month by month (日進月歩), [we] strove to repay the Imperial grace (感恩). However, America and Britain (米英), frantic to achieve their insatiable ambitions, on 26 November Shōwa 17 (昭和十七年十一月廿六日, as printed) adopted toward us an attitude tantamount to a declaration of war. From the [trade] guild we gave birth to an industrial union (工業組合), and brought into being commercial unions (商業組合) of wholesalers and retailers, entering the system of controls; yet just as we felt this not yet sufficient, with the enactment of the Commerce and Industry Association Law (商工組合法) the time came to shift to a wartime structure. We may regard the commerce-and-industry union as having thereby "come of age" (元服). Under the Luxury Goods Restriction Regulation (奢侈品等制限規則): as for the dead-stock (死藏品) of iron (鐵) and copper (銅) products, through last year's Important Materials Control Corporation (重要物資管理營團) [we] completed the requisition (應召); and as for light metals (輕金屬) too, by last year's promulgated ordinance (昨年下流法令, as printed) the prospects became clear — and so it came about that [we] undertook the compilation of this Tokyo Hardware Trade Guild history (東京金物同業組合史). As the transition union under the Commerce and Industry Association Law is but newly formed, I desire that we receive leaders fitting for "Sumera-mikuni" (すめらみくに — the Imperial Land), and that, united, we may be able to repay the Imperial grace.

April, Shōwa 19 [1944] — Yamaguchi Tamaki (山口環)

Title-calligraphy plate: 岸信介 (Kishi Nobusuke)

An oval portrait of the inscriber sits upper right.

This plate's date fixes the volume firmly to April, Shōwa 19 (April 1944).

Title-calligraphy plate: 星野直樹 (Hoshino Naoki)

Oval portrait of the inscriber (bespectacled) upper right.

Title-calligraphy plate: 大達茂雄 (Ōdachi Shigeo)

Oval portrait of the inscriber upper right.

The three title-plates are interleaved with blank guard-leaves.

Frontispiece: National Metric-System Convention

A large group photograph (printed sideways), taken on the steps of a public building. Caption (two lines, right → left):

Frontispiece: 20th-Anniversary Celebration (montage of five photographs)

Header (right → left): 創立滿二十週年記念祝賀會／於上野精養軒 — "Celebration Commemorating the Full 20th Anniversary of Founding, held at Ueno Seiyōken (上野精養軒)."

Individual captions:

Frontispiece: 11th Employee Commendation Ceremony

A large indoor assembly photograph (printed sideways). Caption (two lines, right → left):

Frontispiece: outdoor group portrait

An outdoor group portrait of some thirteen men in formal/civilian dress before a stone balustrade and garden. No caption is printed on the plate. [no legible caption]

The frontispiece plates are followed by blank guard-leaves.

Portrait plates — Guild Heads (組長)

Portrait plate — Advisor (相談役)

Portrait plate — Founders (發起人), five portraits

Portrait plate — Founders (發起人), four portraits

Portrait plate — Advisor and former Vice-Heads (元副組長)

Portrait plate — Advisor and immediate-past Vice-Heads (前副組長)

Portrait plate — Vice-Heads (副組長) and immediate-past Vice-Heads (前副組長)

The portrait plates are interleaved with blank guard-leaves, and several are present as duplicate scans of a single printed leaf.

Frontispiece — 組合會正副議長 (Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen of the Guild Council)

Six oval portrait photographs, each captioned with …殿 (an honorific):

目次 (Table of Contents)

題辭 (dedicatory inscription) … front matter (卷頭) 序 (preface) … front matter (卷頭)

Part 1 — 我國金物業の推移發展 (The Evolution and Development of Japan's Hardware Trade) … p.1

Part 2 — 大久保組長時代 (The Ōkubo Chairmanship Era) … p.16

Part 3 — 吉川組長時代 (The Yoshikawa Chairmanship Era) … p.34

Part 4 — 橋本組長時代 (The Hashimoto Chairmanship Era) … p.58

Part 5 — 高岡組長時代 (The Takaoka Chairmanship Era) … p.69

Part 6 — 統制の推進強化 (The Advance and Strengthening of Controls) … p.112

Part 7 — 敬神の美風と互助施設 (The fine custom of reverence for the gods, and mutual-aid facilities) … p.174

Part 8 — 見本市の繁榮と各團體の振興 (The flourishing of trade-fairs and the development of the various bodies) … p.185

Part 9 — 山口組長時代 (The Yamaguchi Chairmanship Era)

Part 10 — 歴代組合役員表 並ニ 組合員現況 其他統計 (Tables of successive guild officers, together with the current state of the membership and other statistics) … p.211

Page 1 (一)

東京金物同業組合史 (A History of the Tokyo Hardware Trade Guild)

Part 1 — 我國金物業の推移發展 (The Evolution and Development of Japan's Hardware Trade) Chapter 1 — 上代より近世迄 (From antiquity to the early-modern age)

Human life began with the cooking of food by fire, and the culture of our race arose from iron. The age of the gods was, together with the Stone Age, an age of iron implements — that is, the age of 金山毘古 (Kanayama-biko). This deity of fire-making is revered as the patron-ancestor of the smith (鍛冶の祖), and has been worshipped in tradition from of old.

To cite a notable instance from antiquity: in the reign of Emperor Monmu (文武天皇) iron was mined — the earliest record concerning iron — but even before that, sand-iron (砂鐵) was already being collected in the 雲伯 (Unpaku, i.e. the Izumo–Hōki) region, smelted in field-furnaces (野爐), and forged into blades (one account holds that the earliest product forged from refined sand-iron was the fish-hook). Our country's hardware history thus originated in native craft; later, materials and techniques were imported from the continent, which spurred its development.

In the Nara court era, along with weapons, considerable progress was made in iron, copper, tin, and farm-tools such as hoes (鍬) and sickles (鎌), and in cooking-vessels such as pots and kettles (鍋・釜). Copper, being more richly endowed in its sources than iron, developed especially. In the reign of Empress Genmei (元明天皇), native copper was discovered at Chichibu (秩父) in Musashi province; the 和銅開珍 (Wadō-kaichin) coin was cast, and the era-name was changed to Wadō. In the thirty-sixth year counting from that year, the great gilt-bronze image of Tōdai-ji (東大寺の金銅像) was already cast, and its grandeur and splendor astonished the continent — a sign of our nation's great capacity to absorb culture.

In the Heian period, iron developed greatly in productive farm-tools and copper in the decorative-craft direction. The splendor of the golden hall of the Hiraizumi temple (奧州藤原氏の平泉寺金堂) of the Northern Fujiwara is, on one side, testimony to the fervent mining of gold in that age.

Page 2 (二)

(continuing Chapter 1) In the Kamakura period, craftsmen of every kind settled under the governance of each feudal lord and made their trades hereditary under his protection. The most eminent of these was the founder-smith 正宗 (Masamune); the specialized division of labor among his ten disciples (正宗十弟子) spread to the various localities best suited by soil and water, becoming thereafter the source of the sword-producing districts. The armor of that era, too, became a refined craft without peer in the world.

Chapter 2 — 江戸時代の業態 (Business conditions in the Edo period)

In the Momoyama era national power surged and the metal industry advanced with it. The castle-building and civil engineering carried out everywhere, and the great shipbuilding for overseas expeditions, were all accomplished through it; the development of mines, likewise, was from the first striking. Turning to overseas trade, there is a record that in Bunmei 15 (1483) of the Warring-States period, 37,000 Japanese swords were exported in that single year. In the Oda era, firearms and gunpowder were imported through Sakai (堺), transforming the warfare of the time; and after the Battle of Sekigahara, Southern-barbarian iron (南蠻鐵) was imported in considerable quantity.

Looking now at the commercial side: in antiquity, commerce began as a by-occupation of farming, and the surplus produce of farm households was peddled to nearby places and later carried on more distant selling-journeys. In time, occasional markets were held; these developed into periodic markets, and further into permanent market-shops. By the Heian period the circulation of coin had gradually grown, forming market-streets; in the Kamakura period the 座 (za, market-guilds) — the organizational form of the market-folk — developed. From the Kamakura through the Muromachi periods, many of the za arose around Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples, in order to receive religious privileges under the warrior government. In that age there were separate za for silk, wheat, fish, ceramics, hoes (鍬), sickles (鎌), and the like; the place-name Kamakura Zaimokuza (鎌倉材木座) is one surviving trace of this.

Ieyasu, like Hideyoshi, prized gold, silver, and the other metals and vigorously promoted mining. He established public za for gold, silver, copper, and coin, and also for measures and scales (枡・秤) and other weights-and-measures, making them organs for the control and management of these trades. Under this system, the operators were licensed, granted numerous privileges, and allowed to make their shares (株) hereditary, while being charged in return with levies and other obligations. In the case of copper, for example, the shogunate appointed the wholesalers' guild as its designated brokers, [regulating] the copper rate…

Page 3 (三)

(continuing Chapter 2) …and set up a 行 (gyō, trade-office) under whose supervision the copper-refining-and-plating business was conducted. These operators were called "the ten men of the guild" (組合の十人衆), a name that remained current until the early years of Meiji. 三谷長三郎 (Mitsuya Chōzaburō) of Nushichō in Kanda ward (神田區塗師町) — forerunner of the present 三谷伸銅所株式會社 (Mitsuya Copper-Rolling Co., Ltd.) — was one such member; and 三崎 (Misaki) and 栗谷 (Kuriya) are also said to have been among them.

Edo's affluence reached its peak in the Genroku era. The accumulation of capital raised the power of the merchant class; the latent strength of the great merchant houses came, in the shadows, to overshadow the authority of the feudal lords great and small. The wealthy wholesalers, moreover, lent out their commercial capital to cottage-industry craftsmen and bound them in dependence. This putting-out system of cottage industry became general from the mid-Edo period onward, and the hardware world was largely of this type.

Osaka, blessed by geography, became the richest commercial city in the land. The rice of Matsumae and the Hokuriku coast was shipped round by the Japan Sea, while the produce of the Pacific side came up the Tōkaidō; both converged on Osaka, which together with the political city of Edo formed the two great centers for the distribution of goods nationwide. To link these two centers, in Genroku 17 (1704; 251 years before the present), 大坂屋伊兵衞 (Ōsakaya Ihei), proprietor of the indigo-cake wholesale house (藍玉問屋) on Nihonbashi Tōrichō (日本橋通町), took the lead in uniting the powerful wholesalers of Edo and founded the 「十組九店」(Tokumi-kyūten). It was formed at the Sumiyoshi Shrine on Tsukudajima (佃島住吉神社), centered on the wholesalers of the Ōdenma-chō (大傳馬町) district. The goods handled by the 十組 at the outset were, as the largest, rice, then lacquerware (塗物), tatami-facing (疊表), sake (酒), paper (紙), cotton (綿), medicines (藥種), sundries (小間物諸式), uchimise (內店), and nails (釘) — ten kinds. About a hundred years later, wholesalers of nine further kinds — iron (鐵), cotton cloth (木綿), oil (油), wax (蠟), paper (紙), cotton (綿), sugar (砂糖), bonito (松魚), and medicines (藥種) — banded together and joined anew, whereupon it came to be jointly styled the 「十組九店」. That nails, too, were prized among these is said to have been because of the great fires that were a feature of Edo. Forged edge-tools (打刃物) were also actively traded east and west.

Page 4 (四)

(continuing Chapter 2) …This may be glimpsed in the documents preserved by 黒田清右衞門 (Kuroda Seiuemon), the last wholesaler of the late-Tokugawa period, an old house holding records spanning the "three hundred-odd years of 三木刃物 (Miki edge-tools)." The Edo nail-iron-copper-goods wholesalers' guild (江戸釘鐵銅物問屋組合) belonged to the "nine stores." By the final years of the 十組九店 its members had increased year by year, numbering several hundred. Among the founders of the Edo hardware wholesale houses were 湯淺七左衞門 (Yuasa Shichizaemon); 今津屋 森岡平右衞門 (Imazuya / Morioka Heiuemon); 河合忠兵衞 (Kawai Chūbei) of Asakusa (淺草); 木屋 加藤伊助 (Kiya / Katō Isuke) of Muromachi (室町); and 大坂屋 富永佐右衞門 (Ōsakaya / Tominaga Sauemon) of Honchō (本町). Amid the turmoil of the end of the shogunate, the 十組九店 — leaving behind only the nail-iron wholesalers, who alone survived into the early years of Meiji — dissolved at some point.

Chapter 3 — 明治初期の業勢 (Trade conditions in early Meiji)

From the middle of the Edo period onward, the goods handled by the operators had broadly sub-divided, and the stages of dealing had grown somewhat specialized into 問屋 (wholesaler), 仲繼 (intermediary), 卸 (jobber), and 小賣 (retailer). The wholesalers formed roughly three lines — nail-iron (釘鐵), pots-and-kettles (鍋釜), and forged goods (打物) — while retail thrived under the general heading of "all hardware" (萬金物), the wholesalers also doubling as retailers. The Mokkō-ya (木瓜屋) of Shiba-Shinmei, famous for the Kawai / me-gumi brawl, had its clearance-sale awls sung of in ditties, and the Kiya's flints (木屋の燧石) were for a time a cash-cow — charming topics, these; and it is a happy thing that the present shops of each of these houses stand on exactly the old sites, every one a pillar of today's hardware world. The Echigoya (越後屋), right next to the Kiya in Muromachi, is said to have drawn the admiration of the whole capital — around the Genroku or Kyōhō era — with its "現金懸値無し" (cash, no mark-up) signboard, and is reckoned the originator of fixed-price selling (正札賣).

The riverbank scenes of Edobashi and Kaiunbashi, and further of Horidome and Koami-chō (小網町) — evoking the prints of 一立齋廣重 (Ichiryūsai Hiroshige) — retained their aspect until about the middle of Meiji; the hardware wholesalers used these canals for shipping, while the hardware shops lined the post-road lanes of Ōdenma and Kodenma. Along the so-called "大門通" (Daimon-dōri, the road to the Yoshiwara pleasure-quarter), and before the Komagata-dō (駒形堂) where the toothpick-shops that were a noted Asakusa product stood in a row, the scene kept its old look; such districts call a hardware shop at once to mind, prospering down to the present with the famous impromptu verse, "Not a day passes without a bell being sold — an Edo spring."

Page 5 (五)

(continuing Chapter 3) …thus material civilization, three to four centuries behind Europe and America, was absorbed at speed; the absorption of scientific products and institutions was most urgent, and the first to be pioneered was the import of finished machinery. Industrial enterprise began with the government arms-works: in Meiji 3 (1870) the 赤羽工作局 (Akabane Works) under the Ministry of Public Works (工部省所管) and its sub-office the 深川セメント製造所 (Fukagawa Cement Works), together with the 品川硝子製造所 (Shinagawa Glass Works), were established; and in Meiji 7 (1874) a British-imported smelting furnace was installed at Kamaishi in Rikuchū (陸中釜石), where Western-style iron-making began. In Meiji 14 (1881) national policy turned toward private enterprise, and the government factories and mines — apart from arms-manufacture — were gradually sold off into private hands. The import of Western iron began in Meiji 18 (1885), starting with nails and extending to iron materials; 森岡平右衞門 (Morioka Heiuemon), 湯淺七左衞門 (Yuasa Shichizaemon), and 梅岡正吉 (Umeoka Masakichi, of the 紀長三谷商店 house) and their fellows were its pioneers.

At this time private enterprise was advancing greatly, and the government, recognizing the need for a guild structure, ordered the formation of guilds by Tokyo-fu decree. Thereby the 東京釘鐵物問屋組合 (Tokyo Nail-Iron-goods Wholesalers' Guild) was renamed the 東京銅鐵物問屋組合 (Tokyo Copper-Iron-goods Wholesalers' Guild, with just over twenty members); and next, its member 佐藤四郎兵衞 (Satō Shirobei) and others initiated the founding of the 東京金物商組合 (Tokyo Hardware Merchants' Guild), covering the whole of Tokyo city and the surrounding districts, which was approved in Meiji 20 (1887) October. Its articles recorded that "the guild is composed of those who buy and sell copper-iron ware and pig-metal (地金) and Western ware and Western pig-metal."

Besides this, there was the regulation-based guild (準則組合) the 東京打刃物砥石問屋組合 (Tokyo Forged-Edge-Tool and Whetstone Wholesalers' Guild). Of the 十組九店 lineage, it took hardware wholesaling as its basis, but powerful marine-products and sundries (荒物) wholesalers such as 森友 (Moritomo) and 駒木 (Komaki) also joined; under the leadership of the proprietor-director of 湯淺商店 (Yuasa-shōten), the stores 森岡 (Morioka), 大久保 (Ōkubo), 富永 (Tominaga), 加藤 (Katō), 井上 (Inoue), 宮川 (Miyagawa), and others were ranged among its members, and its office stood at Tōriabura-chō (通油町).

The commercial-industrial world of early Meiji was like the dawn after a storm; the various shops that had endured like tall trees all stood in a posture of waiting. It was, originally, a plain trade in the necessities of daily life, and the people in it too were tempered into steady characters — an atmosphere peculiar to the trade. For that very reason it was somewhat conservative; but above all the guild took amity and harmony as its aim, and well into the Meiji years the commercial customs, inherited institutions, and old ways handed down from Edo times persisted for a good while.

Page 6 (六)

Thereafter the Japan of the post–Sino-Japanese War period advanced at a bound into an age of preparation for taking the stage as a world-Japan, and the domestic order likewise moved forward together. In Meiji 33 (1900) March, the Important Products Trade Guild Law (重要物產同業組合法) was enacted as Law No. 33, and trade guilds were successively established in various fields; but the hardware world was comparatively late, and the present guild was first born in the tenth year after the law's enactment. A few far-sighted people had already recognized the need to found it some years earlier, but the time was not yet ripe; it was only after the Russo-Japanese War, amid the emphasis on fostering native products and expanding trade that accompanied the heightening of the national fortune, that a band of comrades centered on 大久保惣左衞門 (Ōkubo Sōzaemon) boldly threw themselves into founding a trade guild. At last, on Taishō 4 (1915) November 4, the 東京金物卸商同業組合 (Tokyo Hardware Wholesalers' Trade Guild) came into being.

At that time, in the hardware world, the copper-iron-goods wholesalers' guild was called the "No. 1 group" (一番組), the hardware-wholesalers' guild the "No. 2 group" (二番組), and the [wholesalers'] trade-guild the "No. 3 group" (三番組) — this being according to the order of their founding, which at the same time makes clear the shifts in the trade's circumstances and its process of organization. Taking this period as a dividing line, an age of guild activity set in, with the 東京機械金物商同業組合 (Tokyo Machine-Hardware Merchants' Trade Guild), the 東京最鐵地銅問屋組合, the 江東銅鐵商組合 (Kōtō Copper-Iron Merchants' Guild), and so on.

Chapter 4 — 明治後期の業勢 (Trade conditions in late Meiji)

Forged edge-tools (打刃物). The oldest forged-tool product is the needle (鍼); in the Heian period various other farm-tools appeared. In the Genpei era, the Gikeiki (「義經記」), in the passage on Yoshitsune's journey east, mentions Kawaguchi (川口) in the field…

Page 7 (七)

(continuing "Forged edge-tools") …where the existence of smiths is recorded; and in the late Warring-States era this same circumstance was probably scattered through the villages of Musashino, so that by the Genna era [edge-tools] were being supplied early to the Kantō. Later, as a market grew under the smiths, master-smiths settled; and when Edo's population reached 500,000 and the three provinces 3,000,000, Edo-made goods came to be sought, and Edo's self-sufficiency gradually took shape, so that by the Kansei era Edo had become the great consuming market for metal goods.

From that time down to the early years of Meiji, the founding members of the 東京打刃物砥石問屋組合 (Tokyo Forged-Edge-Tool and Whetstone Wholesalers' Guild) included: 豊吉商店 (Toyokichi-shōten); 鈴木寅吉 (Suzuki Torakichi, a man who exerted himself greatly at the time of the guild's founding); 原田九藏 (Harada Kyūzō), of Gōshū (Ōmi) origin, who made his name in large wares and twin-saws (双鋸); for carpenter's tools (大工道具類), 並木伊八 (Namiki Ihachi) of Honjo; 田中政八 (Tanaka Masahachi) of Shiba-Mita (芝三田); 武藤新吉 (Mutō Shinkichi), who in later years founded the celebrated 鍛方村正會 (Kajikata Muramasa-kai) and was active with the famous "ten great saws" (十大鋸); 鉋并善作 (Kanna Zensaku), of Misaki origin; 松原商店 (Matsubara-shōten), a maker of barber's blades (理容刃物) just then beginning to take up production; 王本 (Ōmoto), a kitchen-knife maker and purveyor to the fish market (魚河岸御用); and the thriving daily-blade shop 鎚山久太郎頭店 (Tsuchiyama Kyūtarō), among others.

In recent times they came to forge practical swords (實用刀劍); these transmitted into the Meiji era the fine discernment of the Edo merchant and the skill of the Edo craftsman. Such masters of an artistic bent were not few — and among them, 千代鶴是秀 (Chiyozuru Korehide), of the swordsmith lineage (刀工の門葉): when in a recent year the forging-trade fellows (鍛方同業者) sought a master edge-tool craftsman [for the trade], the guild's edge-tool section (利器部) presented the beloved smith Chiyozuru of Meguro-Shukuyama (目黒宿山の千代鶴).

Page 8 (八)

(continuing "Forged edge-tools"; then Cast iron, 鐵鑄物) Since the China Incident, with the revival of sword-forging, the traditional craft came once more to bloom in the direction of swordmaking. The [carvings in] ink of 坪仙 (Tsubosen), who was enraptured by the carvings of the Narita Fudō hall (成田不動堂) and applied their designs, now grace the display windows of carpenter-tool shops like flowers; beyond the industrial, the craft-value of such things ought surely not to be wholly forgotten hereafter. In saws (鋸), the younger brother of 中屋久作 (Nakaya Hisasaku) appeared for a time, and around the Russo-Japanese War the great majority of the saw-makers of eastern Japan bore the 中屋 (Nakaya) brand.

The import of Western steel, too, is especially noteworthy. The import of special steel for edge-tools was [begun] through the foresight of 佐兵衞 (Sahei), adopted heir of the saw-merchant 河合佐翁 (Kawai Saō); starting from the Aizu saw sector (會津鋸方面), he strove to spread it to general edge-tools and to every region. The finest domestic iron (和鐵) of the time reached an annual output of 10,000 tons, yet could not meet the daily-mounting demand; and since imported steel, as a material for modern industry, was after all of high economic value, the trend toward nationwide demand for it at once became sweeping. Later, special-agency importers of English, Swedish, German, and American (英・瑞・獨・米) special steels appeared in numbers; but 河合商店 (Kawai-shōten), having already seized the initiative, placed itself among the world's great houses of the trade under the 「東郷ハガネ」(Tōgō Steel) trademark — much as our country leapt forward after the war. It reflected the golden age of imported steel.

Cast iron (鐵鑄物). These goods date from the Edo period, and their development has been intimately bound up, front and back, with Kawaguchi in Saitama (埼玉縣川口). Kawaguchi casting is said to have originated when Hideyoshi, camped before Odawara, was advised by Ieyasu to make use of the convenience of the Arakawa waterway and the ideal casting-sand there. From the Edo period into the early years of Meiji, the craft-names of Kawaguchi casters are to be seen engraved on the dedicatory objects at shrines and temples throughout the Kantō region, from which their prosperity may be inferred. The bulk of their output was, above all, pots and kettles (鍋・釜), braziers (火鉢), and other daily goods, supplied through a dozen-odd 東京鑄物問屋 (Tokyo casting-wholesalers); and on their formation these merged into this guild.

Page 9 (九)

(continuing Cast iron; prelude to aluminium) The members at that time included: 釜七商店 山口孝太郎 (Kamashichi-shōten, Yamaguchi Kōtarō); 田中長藏 (Tanaka Chōzō); 阿部彦四郎 (Abe Hikoshirō); 岩田彦次郎 (Iwata Hikojirō); 津田源右衞門 (Tsuda Gen'uemon); 持田傳七 (Mochida Denshichi); and 永瀨近藏 (Nagase Kinzō). Among them, the family history of 釜七 (Kamashichi) seems to descend in line from the Odawara-casting era: handling Kawaguchi freight, it also directly operated a casting works at Fukagawa Ōshima (深川大島), and the place-name 釜屋堀 (Kamayabori) survives to this day (at Kamayabori the shogunate once ordered it to assay the composition of iron). During the Russo-Japanese War the same works stopped making daily goods to make war goods; and it was around this time, too, that research into enamel-coating (琺瑯引) of castings began there — probably the pioneer of cast enamel in the Kantō. At that time there were the two works of 釜七 (Kamashichi) and 釜六 (Kamaroku); later Kamashichi moved its works to Kawaguchi city, where it remains today.

Aluminium casting, too, was first attempted by iron-casters, and through this connection iron-casters [made] aluminium pots and kettles. The scene at the same shop around the guild's founding — huge brewing-kettles, pots, kettles, and iron pans piled deep by the convenient shipping of the Koami riverbank (小網河岸) — was a grand spectacle. Just after the Russo-Japanese War, the newly flourishing product was heating apparatus (煖房裝置); stoves came in dozens of new kinds, truly presenting a golden age of flooding. [The firm] was also a pioneer of Tokyo-hardware expansion into Hokkaido, and on the other hand opened new ground like its fresh shop-front display, grasping the urban upper-class customer. Meanwhile 梅田仙吉 (Umeda Senkichi) of 銅仙 (Dōsen) did a brisk trade in his Umeda cooking-stove (梅田竈), thriving on new sales devices such as lottery-prize sales, which others then imitated. The proprietor of 釜七商店 at that time was a keen young man who, not missing this chance for new commerce, just after the guild's founding invited customers to Mt. Fuji (富士), where they beheld the sunrise (御來光), cooked with his newly made stove, and tested its temperature, fuel, and efficiency to prove its excellence. He was a promoter of the guild's founding, and it was deeply lamented that he died young just as he was about to accomplish great things.

Page 10 (一〇)

Copper-iron utensils (銅鐵器具). The history of these goods is the oldest; the Edo wholesalers gathered stock from the producing regions — Takaoka (高岡), Kyoto, and the Nambu (南部) and Yamagata (山形) districts — and especially supplied Tokyo households. The tradition and taste for long braziers (長火鉢) and polished copper water-heaters (磨銅壺) made these products the specialty of Tokyo, and the copper-ornament craftsmen (銅錺職方) clustered thickly in the lanes of Daimon-dōri. Among the founding members were: 高岡幸八商店 (Takaoka Kōhachi-shōten); 梅田仙吉 (Umeda Senkichi); 佐藤春吉 (Satō Harukichi); 今村甚藏 (Imamura Jinzō); 盤若支店 (Hannya branch); 田中淸五郎 (Tanaka Seigorō); 吉岡逸次 (Yoshioka Itsuji); 平井喜太郎 (Hirai Kitarō); and others.

高岡商店 (Takaoka-shōten), founded Keiō 1 (1865), is a member of the 東京銅鐵問屋組合. Just after the guild's founding, its devotional Buddhist and Shinto wares among many goods especially caught the eye, and its then-shopmaster 宣次 (Nobutsugu) sat constantly at the counter, showing a clear and ready manner with customers. At that time, when the new aluminium wares and enamel were still of shallow standing, copper goods were the leading role among household hardware. 梅田商店 (Umeda-shōten) also took orders from various regions for temple bells and alarm bells (梵鐘・半鐘). 今村商店 (Imamura-shōten) was of the Osaka line; 盤若商店 (Hannya-shōten) of the Toyama line (富山系); 田中商店 (Tanaka-shōten) was from 高岡商店 (Takaoka-shōten); and 佐藤春吉商店 (Satō Harukichi-shōten) handled all sorts of goods and, being sociable, was devoted to the guild. 平井喜太郎 (Hirai Kitarō) was known for various copper wares and iron kettles; and 吉岡 (Yoshioka) was from the 大久保惣左衞門商店 (Ōkubo Sōzaemon store), a man new, keen, and fond of looking after people, who from first to last gladly took on the labor of mediation for the guild.

Enamel ironware (琺瑯鐵器). This is a new product of the mid-Meiji period and after; its Tokyo originator was 安生慶三郎 (Anjō Keizaburō), proprietor of 淸洲商店 (Kiyosu-shōten) at Tsukishima in Kyōbashi ward (京橋區月島) — forerunner of the present 淸洲商店株式會社. After graduating from Keiō Gijuku (慶應義塾), he crossed to America together with 和田 (Wada) and 武藤 (Mutō), two men who later became great figures in the spinning industry; he returned alone, and devoting himself to domestic enamel production from the standpoint of blocking imports, won early "superior-product" recognition from the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce through pains that wore him to the bone, producing domestic enamelware around the time of the guild's founding.

Page 11 (一一)

Aluminium utensils (アルミニューム器具). The pioneer of aluminium-ware manufacture in Tokyo was 那須鐵之助 (Nasu Tetsunosuke) of Honjo Futaba-chō (本所二葉町). He began at first in Shitaya Nishichō (下谷西町), making chopsticks, ladles, baskets, and other small goods by hand, then moved to Honjo Futaba-chō; next the 橋本製作所 (Hashimoto works) developed from Teppōzu (鐵砲洲) to the Honjo Chitose-chō (本所千歲町) works; and then 鹽田貞壽 (Shioda Teiju) founded the 東京アルミニューム製作所 (Tokyo Aluminium Works) at Nippori (日暮里), while that same district became a cluster-zone for the recycled-aluminium-products industry. On the other hand, 大阪の日本アルミニューム製造所 (Osaka's Japan Aluminium Mfg.) finally opened a Tokyo branch; and the marks — Osaka's Tsuru-maru (大阪の鶴丸印), Nasu's Nigiriya (那須の握矢印), Hashimoto's Taiyō/Sun (橋本の太陽印), and Tokyo Alumi's Shachi (東京アルミの鯱印) — became the star products of the Tokyo market, their year-by-year prosperity making them, in short, the sovereign sellers among household hardware. However, at the time of this guild's founding…

Others included 大塚重吉 (Ōtsuka Jūkichi); 富井彌三郎 (Tomii Yasaburō); and 岡本瀧雄 (Okamoto Takio), of the Kuramae Tokyo Higher Technical School (藏前東京高工) background. Also, the guild member 十一尾商店 (Jūichio-shōten) of Ginza displayed enamel ware among its porcelain and glass (磁器・玻璃硝子) Western tableware, and a Mr. 新賓 (Niibin) of Asakusa Nakamise likewise set out such wares in color. Domestic demand thus began to spread from the Western-tableware side.

There was also an old maker, the 伊勢松工場 (Isematsu Works); and, in a corner of Nihonbashi Tachibana-chō (日本橋橘町), 中村村司 (Nakamura Sonji) was plugging away at enamel square lunch-boxes (琺瑯角辨當箱). Before aluminium ware had yet shown [its awl], it was then called "Seto-glazed stew-pot" (瀬戸引鍋); it caught on splendidly, and after moving to Bakurochō it showed astonishing development that called to mind the great merit of a new invention. Just after the guild's founding, that man's son joined an overseas inspection tour and surveyed the South Seas.

At that time, Osaka products had opened the way into Southeast Asia and the South Seas and their future was promised much; but their advantage of being far cheaper than European goods brought, on one side, the criticism of shoddy mass production (粗製濫造), which tended to choke them. The government therefore conceived an inspection system and recognized the need for a trade guild. The most direct and greatest motive for founding this guild lay in these circumstances.

Page 12 (一二)

Architectural and furniture hardware (建築家具金物). The products of this section — Japanese, blended, and Western styles, with novel styles added — grew extremely diverse; and as the manner of life increasingly took on a Western cast, imports increased in proportion. The great wholesalers largely took sole-agency contracts for foreign goods, while comparatively simple items were manufactured in trial, using foreign catalogues as models. After the Great Kantō Earthquake, with reconstruction building, the level of this trade rose all at once, and Western-style hardware came to the fore.

Among the founding members were: 篠原十四郎 (Shinohara Jūshirō); 佐野初太郎 (Sano Hatsutarō); 上條幸助 (Kamijō Kōsuke); 鈴木直三 (Suzuki Naozō); 川島廣吉 (Kawashima Hirokichi); 手塚守二 (Tezuka Moriji); 中藪春次 (Nakayabu Harutsugi); 武內金藏 (Takeuchi Kinzō); 懸川屋商店 (Kakegawaya-shōten); 半田商店 (Handa-shōten); 藤田長五郎 (Fujita Chōgorō); and 根岸吉松 (Negishi Kichimatsu), proprietor of the 釘萬店 (Kugiman-ten) of Yotsuya. 藤田 (Fujita)'s product line was sliding-door pulls (襖引手) and chest-and-furniture hardware (箪笥家具金物); and apart from these, every shop aimed at new-trade goods and strove to bring out its own individuality.

At that time antimony sundries (アンチモニー雜貨) had opened a considerable market in America, and for this the 東京輸出金屬器組合 (Tokyo Metal-ware Export Guild) had come into being; since 篠原 (Shinohara), an executive of that body, was the vice-chairman (副組長) of this guild in its early period, his contribution to the guild was not small. Both 篠原 (Shinohara) and 懸川屋商店 (Kakegawaya-shōten) were shops that sold antimony products. 佐野 (Sano) had formerly been at the 河合佐翁商店 (Kawai Saō store) as a colleague of 佐兵衞 (Sahei); he went independent as a specialist wholesaler importing wood-screws (木捻子), and, blessed by fortune and a monopolistic position, succeeded at a stroke and was raised to division-head (部長) at the guild's founding. 上條幸助 (Kamijō Kōsuke) was of a notable house of Shinshū-Matsumoto (信州松本); his father was a natural-born inventor, particularly in rubber, and his creation of the domestic eraser (消ゴム) later gave his eldest son 長次郎 (Chōjirō) the basis for becoming a giant of domestic pencil-export during the European War, while to his second son 幸助 (Kōsuke) he gave the patented 上條ゴム車 (Kamijō rubber wheel). Its sales were so brisk that there were cases of patent-infringement, even lawsuits. In later years its deliveries of transport-cart wheels and the like to government offices and great companies reached enormous sums; and the long life of this invention, too, is a measure of its worth.

Page 13 (一三)

(continuing architectural-furniture hardware) 鈴木 (Suzuki), 川島 (Kawashima), 手塚 (Tezuka), 中藪 (Nakayabu), and the 武內 (Takeuchi) family — all vigorous — pressed on into new-trade goods; and because a new organization had been born where there had been no organized body before, their zeal ran high. They drew up section-rules in accordance with the guild's articles, built up a reserve fund, and set aside money for an exchange-meeting fund and a recreation fund. Promptly they held the section's first grand employee-recreation athletic meet at the Senju-Arakawa embankment (千住荒川堤), and a second at Ichikawa Kōnodai (市川國府台), thus recording the beginnings of a movement for the welfare of shop-clerks and of healthful public well-being (健民厚生運動).

Tinplate products (鐵葉製品). Even before Meiji there were operators practising this on a modest scale, but it came to prominence when materials began to be imported in quantity under the name "thin sheet" (薄板). In the lamp age, during the transition from the andon to electric light, lighting fixtures depended enormously on tinplate; and tinplate products — dippers (柄杓), funnels (漏斗), watering-cans (如露), and every sort of daily good — came to enliven hardware shops, sundries shops, and general stores throughout town and country, so their total sales must have been considerable.

The members at the time of founding included 富井彌三郎 (Tomii Yasaburō), 吉川百太夫 (Yoshikawa Hyakudayū), and the 小石川多喜商店 (Koishikawa Taki-shōten). 吉川 (Yoshikawa) was of 富井商店 (Tomii-shōten) origin; later he opened a shop at Koami-chō, and the lamp-related stock laid up in his warehouse became, at a certain juncture, the very basis of a boom in his business — he was known for steady management and, withal, a quick eye for opportunity.

In the mid-Meiji period the tinplate tea-canister (錻力製茶筒) was devised. Art-makie (蒔繪) was applied to it, and the first to popularize it at department stores was 永井梅太郎 (Nagai Umetarō), master of the Ōdō (翁堂) in Shiba. Thereafter the various shops branched into tea-cans (茶罐), nori-cans (海苔罐), sweets-cans (菓子罐), liquid-cans (液體罐), and the like, the uses of the container ever expanding; 松本猪太郎 (Matsumoto Inotarō) and other strong can-makers formed a separate line of their own, but merged into the daily-utensils side and became the guild's "tinplate-products section" (鐵葉製品部). Besides these, strong operators such as 吉田準三 (Yoshida Junzō) joined.

Page 14 (一四)

Wire-mesh products (金網製品). These are broadly divided into "mesh" and "vessels." Formerly most were mesh, much of it in demand for farm sieves; mesh being handmade, the operators were called "craftsmen" (職方), their shops mostly earth-floored with little matted space. The old mesh-house of Tokyo was 網久商店 都築久七 (Amikyū-shōten, Tsuzuki Kyūshichi) of Daimon-dōri, founded in the Genroku era; his shop kept the Genroku-era pattern until just before the Great Kantō Earthquake, with a work-and-storage yard at the front and, through the inner tea-room, a stout earthen storehouse behind. At the time of the guild's founding this shop was the foremost of its field. The mesh wares — rice-cake grills (餅燒), fish grills (魚燒), mouse-traps (捕鼠器), bird-cages (鳥籠), document-holders (文書入), and the like — had ever more varied uses and were handled in hardware and sundries shops; but with the march of the times they came to be supplied for poultry-netting (養雞網) and horticulture, and further for paper-making, pharmacy, the chemical industry, and the demands of mining, and were applied in building methods, so that the face of the field was wholly renewed and manufacture shifted gradually from hand to machine.

The members at the time of founding were 都築久七 (Tsuzuki Kyūshichi), 丹羽久次郎 (Niwa Kyūjirō), 藤平信之助 (Tōhira Shinnosuke), 井桁平次郎 (Igeta Heijirō), 濱口久右衞門 (Hamaguchi Kyūuemon), 紀之國屋 (Kinokuniya), 久保藤友 (Kubo Tōtomo), and others. Worthy of special note: after the Russo-Japanese War, Baron 川崎寬美 (Kawasaki Hiromi) raised the 川崎鐵網工場 (Kawasaki wire-mesh works), engaged the engineer Nasu (那須工學士), and spread reinforced-concrete methods using wire-mesh. The baron, while traveling in Korea, discovered at the ruin of Pyŏkchegwan (碧蹄館) — where 小早川隆景 (Kobayakawa Takakage) had fought hard — a sturdy wall faced with wire-mesh still standing, and from it derived the hint for his patented method: a boon to reconstruction, and now to air-defence building. [The patent method makes] its virtues of earthquake-, fire-, and water-resistance tell in the post-earthquake reconstruction building and civil works, and it is contributing ever more to today's air-defence construction.

Scrap iron (古鐵). Scrap copper and iron suddenly rose right after the Russo-Japanese War. There was a class of men who, carrying the old-dealer's licence, went gathering door to door through the streets; and there were also the big operators who gathered up the collections of such men, or who gathered discarded machinery, rails, and surplus-sold goods widely from every region, and who went so far as to break up great ships. In later years…

Page 15 (一五)

…岡田菊治郎 (Okada Kikujirō), the top taxpayer of Tokyo-fu, and 内田 (Uchida), the starting point of 吾嬬製鋼 (Azuma Steel), are all outstanding men of this field. The members at the time of the guild's founding included: the copper-wholesaler 中尾金八 (Nakao Kinpachi); the old-copper merchant 篠田金藏 (Shinoda Kinzō); 梅田仙吉 (Umeda Senkichi); the scrap-iron merchant 齋藤勇藏 (Saitō Yūzō); 大久保權藏 (Ōkubo Gonzō); and 堅川檀司 (Katagawa Danji) — some seven or eight men. 梅田 (Umeda) was the first-generation head of the section. It was originally at Umeda's urging that the guild set up this section, but since its line of trade was itself of a distinctive character, the section was abolished a year or two later.

Page 16 (一六)

Part 2 — 大久保組長時代 (The Ōkubo Chairmanship Era) (from Taishō 4 November to Taishō 11 November, 1915–1922) Chapter 1 — 同業組合設立經過 (The founding of the trade guild)

After the Russo-Japanese War, with the great rise of national prestige, our commerce and industry increasingly sought to play a part on the world stage; and, [to that end] grounding itself in a firm base, the order of commerce and industry was prepared, so that the development of trade guilds came to be urged. Important trades generally formed guilds, and the hardware world, comparatively late, now hastened to build one.

Namely: Osaka's enamel ironware (琺瑯鐵器) opened the way. Around Meiji 30, export-ware for Southeast Asia and the South Seas grew to just over 200,000 yen (二十餘萬圓); far cheaper than European goods, exports surged. But coarse, slipshod manufacture risked killing the promising export; so the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce sought, by the device of the consultative inquiry (諮問照會), to establish product inspection. For this, Osaka's traders earnestly urged Tokyo's traders to found a guild; Tokyo's side then prepared, and by Taishō 5 (1916) March it was decreed, under Imperial Ordinance No. 123 (勅令第百二十三號), that "goods not passing inspection may not be exported."

Page 17 (一七)

(continuing Chapter 1) …[Unfair competition] was the direct cause that prompted the founding. In the spring of Taishō 3 (1914), the Tōkyō Taishō Exposition opened at Ueno (東京大正博覽會), and the Tokyo Jitsugyō-Kumiai Rengōkai (東京實業組合聯合會) set up its exhibits at the annex Nikka-Bōeki-Kaikan (日華貿易館) by the Shinobazu Pond; among the guilds' exhibits, the individual hardware exhibits also shone. There, 大久保惣左衞門 (Ōkubo Sōzaemon) and 宮川榮三郎 (Miyagawa Eizaburō), the two men then serving as secretaries of the 日華貿易協會 (Japan-China Trade Association), happening to meet 黒田 (Kuroda), reporter of the hardware trade paper, told him the inside story of founding a trade guild and asked Kuroda to handle the preparatory administrative work. Thus their joint resolve was agreed upon. The resolve was carried into immediate action and driven forward with astonishing zeal.

The sympathizers, centered on 大久保惣左衞門 (Ōkubo Sōzaemon), were: 大塚重吉 (Ōtsuka Jūkichi), 中村村司 (Nakamura Sonji), 梅田仙吉 (Umeda Senkichi), 井上善七 (Inoue Zenshichi), 阿部彦四郎 (Abe Hikoshirō), 山口孝太郎 (Yamaguchi Kōtarō), 宮川榮三郎 (Miyagawa Eizaburō), 篠原十四郎 (Shinohara Jūshirō), and 都築久七 (Tsuzuki Kyūshichi); and, resonating with them at the same time: 富永佐右衞門 (Tominaga Sauemon), 吉川百太夫 (Yoshikawa Hyakudayū), 富井彌三郎 (Tomii Yasaburō), 高岡宣次 (Takaoka Nobutsugu), 石田末松 (Ishida Suematsu), 佐藤春吉 (Satō Harukichi), 吉岡逸次 (Yoshioka Itsuji), 中藪春夫 (Nakayabu Haruo), 手塚守二 (Tezuka Moriji), 佐野初太郎 (Sano Hatsutarō), 永井梅太郎 (Nagai Umetarō), 吉田準三 (Yoshida Junzō), and 津田源右衞門 (Tsuda Gen'uemon).

Just at that time the newly rebuilt upstairs parlor of 大久保 (Ōkubo) was made the conference room, where they met twice monthly. Rallying comrades from the whole trade and persuading them with all their might, and aided by 鶴見左吉藏 (Tsurumi Sakichizō), Director of the Industrial Affairs Bureau of the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce, they strove from Taishō 3, and in late July of the following year (Taishō 4) applied for founding-approval.

Page 18 (一八)

(close of Chapter 1) In every age, against every new construction, new and old thought stand opposed and new and old forces collide, so that attempts at obstruction, even sabotage, are the rule, and implementation is never easy. After the application, "one day late" the approval was obtained, and at last the guild with its 150-odd members took shape — on Taishō 4 (1915) November 4, by the directive of the Minister of Agriculture and Commerce 仲小路廉 (Nakakōji Ren). It was indeed the fruit of the sincerity of the promoter-comrades.

Chapter 2 — 組合の構成 (Structure of the guild)

The founding general meeting was held on October 5 at the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce (東京商業會議所); the articles, budget, dues-levy and collection, and founding costs were decided, and officers elected. Its eight structural points were:

  1. Name: 東京金物卸商同業組合 (Tokyo Hardware Wholesalers' Trade Guild)
  2. Office: 日本橋區小傳馬町, c/o 大塚重吉方 (care of Ōtsuka Jūkichi)
  3. Purpose: correcting the abuses of the trade; harmony and cooperation (和衷共同); the promotion of welfare
  4. Officers: 1 chairman (組長), 2 vice-chairmen (副組長), several councillors (評議員), 1 accounting chief (會計主任)
  5. Divisions: divided into nine sections by type of business
  6. Councils: the general meeting (總會) and the councillors' meeting (評議員會)
  7. Accounting: one term of one year, ending the last day of March
  8. Dues: flat, ¥12 per head per year

Page 19 (一九)

(discussion of the model articles) At the time, all the documents were lost in the earthquake, so they cannot be set out in detail now; but in essence the undertakings centered on product inspection (製品檢査), price agreement (價格協定), and the prevention of dumping (濫賣防止), with special emphasis on product inspection. Because the guild, rather than relying on the model articles, drew up its provisions aiming above all at apt implementation, it repeatedly received the authorities' consultation, guidance, and correction on this point. The articles and the proposals were then passed by acclamation, unanimously and without the amendment of a single character.

役員 (Officers):

Office Name
組長 (Chairman) 大久保惣左衞門 (Ōkubo Sōzaemon)
副組長 (Vice-Chairman) 山口孝太郎 (Yamaguchi Kōtarō)
同 (Vice-Chairman) 梅田仙吉 (Umeda Senkichi)
會計主任 (Accounting Chief) 大塚重吉 (Ōtsuka Jūkichi)
銅鐵器具部々長 (head, copper-iron utensils div.) 富永佐右衞門 (Tominaga Sauemon)
鐵鑄物部々長 (cast-iron div.) 高岡宣次 (Takaoka Nobutsugu)
打刃物部々長 (forged-edge-tool div.) 大塚重吉 (Ōtsuka Jūkichi)
琺瑯鐵器部々長 (enamel-iron div.) 篠原十四郎 (Shinohara Jūshirō)
建築家具金物部々長 (architectural-furniture hardware div.) 阿部彦四郎 (Abe Hikoshirō)
アルミニューム器具部々長 (aluminium div.) 吉川百太夫 (Yoshikawa Hyakudayū)
鐵葉製品部々長 (tinplate div.) 富井彌三郎 (Tomii Yasaburō) [faded; read by context]
金網部々長 (wire-mesh div.) 都築久七 (Tsuzuki Kyūshichi) [faded; read by context]
古鐵部々長 (scrap-iron div.) 梅田仙吉 (Umeda Senkichi)

Page 20 (二〇)

(close of Chapter 2; the officer election) The selection of officers had been most carefully arranged in advance. At first 大久保 (Ōkubo) was inclined to put forward the veteran of the trade, 湯淺七左衞門 (Yuasa Shichizaemon), and consulted two or three comrades about it; but Yuasa would not consent, saying, "The future autonomous development of the guild is better entrusted to the rising new forces," and instead pushed Ōkubo back. Meanwhile, with the mediation of 鶴見 (Tsurumi), Director [of the Industrial Affairs Bureau], and others, it became unavoidable that Ōkubo take the chairmanship; he accepted it on the condition that "the vice-chairmen and the officers below them shall be named by me, and take office without objection."

The general meeting (總會) decided the important matters; the councillors' meeting (評議員會) monitored the execution of the guild's business and served at once as the chairman's executive and advisory organ. The dues were flat — ¥1 per head per month, ¥12 per year. As for finances: the fiscal year closed on March 31; income was chiefly dues and other levies; expenditure was chiefly product-inspection costs, with employee-commendation, product-fairs, temporary outlays, and the like. A structure was thus established; all that awaited was good management.

Page 21 (二一)

組合創立祝賀會 (Founding Celebration). After the general meeting, a founding-celebration banquet was held at the Ueno Seiyōken (上野精養軒). The guests that day included the deputy for the Minister of Agriculture and Commerce (the ministry's Industrial Affairs Bureau director), the Tokyo-fu Governor, the Tokyo City Mayor, the president of the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce, 星野 (Hoshino), president of the Tokyo Jitsugyō-Kumiai Rengōkai (東京實業組合聯合會), the joint-heads of both the 東京銅鐵物問屋組合 and the 東京金物問屋組合, the Diet member 高木益太郎 (Takagi Masutarō), the Diet member 關直彥 (Seki Naohiko), and many delegates of allied guilds — a large attendance. Congratulatory addresses were read, and it was a splendid, festive gathering. The next spring's New-Year gathering, held at the Tokiwa-Kadan in Ueno Park (上野公園常盤華壇), was the guild's first grand social.

Chapter 3 — 主なる施設事業 (Principal institutional undertakings)

Product inspection (製品檢査). Product inspection began in the December following the guild's founding. Enamel ironware, architectural, household, and edge-tool goods, and the like were inspected, and goods that passed received a guild inspection-passed stamp. The registered No. 1 passing product was the 上條ゴム戸車 (Kamijō rubber door-roller); also among the first passes was the 赤玉蜻印戸車 (Red-ball Dragonfly-mark door-roller) of 鈴木直三 (Suzuki Naozō); and next, the 千[?] of 阿部彦四郎商店 (Abe Hikoshirō-shōten). Beginning with the 代田火のし (Daida clothing-iron), inspection proceeded in turn over a good many kinds of goods.

Page 22 (二二)

The old inspection regulation was lost in the earthquake; its framework being nearly the same as the current one, the present regulation is given here.

製品檢査規程 (Product-Inspection Regulations)

Inspection-request form (檢査請求書) fields: 品名 (name), 數量 (quantity), 寸法 (dimensions)…

Page 23 (二三)

(fields continued) …容量 (capacity), 量目 (weight), 價格(卸値) (price, wholesale), 特許番號 (patent no.) — "The above is hereby requested for inspection under your guild's inspection regulations. — year / month / day — business premises (營業所) — name (氏名) (seal) — To the Chairman of the Tokyo Hardware Trade Guild (東京金物同業組合長) 殿."

Page 24 (二四)

Pass-certificate (合格證; Mino-size imitation paper, 美濃判模造紙): "The above is certified of superior quality pursuant to Article 17 of the Product-Inspection Regulations. — year / month / day — 1. Name of article — Chairman of the Tokyo Hardware Trade Guild, name (seal) — Inspection-Chief of the Tokyo Hardware Trade Guild, name (seal) — To ____ 殿."

Page 25 (二五)

日本金物同業組合聯合會設立 (Founding of the Japan Hardware Trade-Guild Federation). Since it had been decided that enamel-ironware [export inspection], under the Export-Goods Inspection Rules, would be carried out by a guild-federation, in order to federate with the 大阪金物同業組合 (Osaka Hardware Trade-Guild), 大久保惣左衞門 (Ōkubo Sōzaemon), 大塚重吉 (Ōtsuka Jūkichi), and 中村村司 (Nakamura Sonji), together with 富永佐右衞門 (Tominaga Sauemon), 宮川榮三郎 (Miyagawa Eizaburō), 梅田仙吉 (Umeda Senkichi), and 都築久七 (Tsuzuki Kyūshichi), went down to Osaka and conferred with the Osaka traders; next, a dozen-odd representatives of the Osaka traders came up to Tokyo, and at this guild's office the rules and all important matters were settled, officers decided, and the 日本金物同業組合聯合會 (Japan Hardware Trade-Guild Federation) was established, with its head office in Osaka and a branch set up within the Tokyo guild's office.

價格協定 (Price agreement). Looking back, the boom of the post–Russo-Japanese War period soon passed into a reactionary phase, and around Taishō 3 (1914), when the First World War broke out, the depression was at its worst…

Page 26 (二六)

…so that the guild's price agreement aimed at protecting the trade against price-collapse by fixing minimum prices; but the next year imports were cut across the board. From about Taishō 4 came the war boom; iron prices rose — pig-iron (銑鐵), for example, which had been ¥40–50 per ton, suddenly fetched as much as ¥500 — and, with Southeast Asia and the South Seas as a market in place of European goods, exports surged in Taishō 5 and 6; iron-nouveaux-riches (鐵成金) sprang up in crowds; and the enamel-ironware exports to Southeast Asia and the South Seas grew so brisk, their export value running to several million yen, that in Taishō 6 our country's first anti-profiteering ordinance (暴利取締令) was issued. The guild set maximum selling-prices to curb profiteering and strictly enforced them.

其他の施設 (Other facilities). The spring after its founding, the guild took up the campaign to abolish the so-called "private tariff" (私設關稅) custom, a traditional usage inherited from Edo times, by which Tokyo hardware merchants opening new trade in the provinces were [subjected to private levies]. Seeking the support of the Chamber of Commerce, it issued abolition advisories throughout the country, and the custom was broken. Also, just after the founding, Chairman 大久保 (Ōkubo) was appointed by Tokyo-fu as an executive-committee member of a credit cooperative, and was commissioned by the Tokyo Jitsugyō-Kumiai Rengōkai as a research committee member of its traffic department.

Page 27 (二七)

(exhibitions and office) In the spring of Taishō 3 (1914), after the Tokyo Taishō Exposition opened at Ueno, expositions became fashionable: the Hokkaido Colonization Memorial Exposition (Sapporo, Taishō 7), the Peace Memorial Tokyo Exposition (Taishō 11), the Kyoto Enthronement Memorial Exposition (Taishō 4 autumn), and the World's Fair (萬國博覽會) — the guild arranged for participation in each. In September of Taishō 12, a preparatory meeting for the 50th-anniversary exposition of [Japan's] participation in the World's Fair was to be held, but unexpectedly, on the 1st of that month, the earthquake struck, and the project was regrettably cancelled.

The guild's office was made by converting and borrowing a warehouse of 大塚重吉 (Ōtsuka Jūkichi) at Kodenma-chō, the office room being barely two tatami; the upstairs was an open hall in rentable-room style. On this second floor the guild heard 加藤鯛一 (Katō Taiichi) — a Diet member, then chief editor of the 日本金物新報 (Nihon Kanamono Shinpō) published in Gifu — give a talk on his observations in China (支那觀察談), and 鐡下英麿 (Tetsushita Hidemaro) — chief editor of the 中央金物新報 (Chūō Kanamono Shinpō) published in Nagoya — give a report on the actual state of the Korean hardware trade (朝鮮金物界實況談); this was the guild's first lecture meeting. The second floor was also made vigorous use of, through the zeal of 鈴木 (Suzuki), 川島 (Kawashima), 手塚 (Tezuka), and 中藪 (Nakayabu), for auctions (セリ市) and exchange-meetings of architectural and furniture hardware — it even became a Nō-chant club of the trade's enthusiasts — so that early on, part of the membership conceived the ideal of a new Hardware Hall (金物會館). This building, indeed…

Page 28 (二八)

(close of Chapter 3) A further great feature was that the meetings went smoothly. Chairman 大久保 (Ōkubo) was a master of informal talk — on difficult problems, on nights that wore late, they would face one another knee-to-knee in the warmth of the office and talk it out, a burst of laughter clearing the air; and when the subscription-book for a donation came round, the matter was settled without trouble by the head officer's signature. 佐野初太郎 (Sano Hatsutarō)'s reminiscence of the time — "Ever since the guild was formed…" — is a phrase that well explains the guild's atmosphere.

The first grand employee-recreation athletic meet, for a thousand clerks, was held in the spring of Taishō 5 (1916) at the Futako-Tamagawa riverbed, the meet-committee bustling in preparation half a month ahead and the officers lodging at the Yanagiya there from the night before; with some 500 members' family members besides, all were steeped in the warmth of the guild as one great family. The next spring they held it at Ichikawa in the peach-blossom season — a healthful, family-like scene, and the first record of the kenmin-kōsei (people's welfare) movement. [There was also the metal-section recreation outing at the Senju-Arakawa embankment, with a treasure-hunt — then fashionable — offering a silver watch as first prize, and a 東郷ハガネ (Tōgō Steel) special prize.]

Chapter 4 — 卸と小賣の合同 (Merger of wholesale and retail) 組合擴大と組織變更 (Guild expansion and reorganization). Wholesale and retail traders, though individually closely linked, came, with the advance of the times, to need horizontal ties among themselves — and this all the more from the retailers' own standpoint; so the far-sighted on the retail side had for some time [urged a same-trade guild union].

Page 29 (二九)

Photo plate caption: 卸部・小賣部合同祝賀式 ("Wholesale-division and Retail-division Joint Celebration Ceremony") — group photograph.

The [wholesalers'] guild, observing its good results, wished to unite with the retail combine; judging that, rather than remaining independent, "co-existence and co-prosperity, forming a stronger body" was better, it communicated the intent of a merger to the retail side. The leaders [on the retail side] were 鈴木益次郎 (Suzuki Masujirō), 小原吉五郎 (Obara Kichigorō), 土川太藏 (Tsuchikawa Tazō), 上野鐵郎 (Ueno Tetsurō), 井原作太郎 (Ihara Sakutarō), 野村錄郎 (Nomura Rokurō), 宗意甚藏 (Sōi Jinzō), 宮坂鐵太郎 (Miyasaka Tetsutarō), and 根岸吉松 (Negishi Kichimatsu). The guild at once held an executive meeting to welcome the proposal, and after examining the draft submitted by the retail side, after several rounds of negotiation with the retail-division representatives 鈴木 (Suzuki) and 小原 (Obara), exchanged a memorandum.

覺書 (Memorandum of Agreement):

  1. All retail hardware merchants of Tokyo merge into the 東京金物卸商同業組合.
  2. The articles of the wholesalers' trade-guild are amended.
  3. A retail division is newly established, [organized] by district.
  4. Officers are elected half each from wholesale and retail merchants.
  5. The dues-collection amount is set at ¥0.30 flat, provisionally; the other items are to be decided by consultation on each occasion…

Page 30 (三〇)

(reorganized structure after the merger) Since the "prepared union" had been formed, in Taishō 6 (1917) February the guild resolved on amending its articles and applied for reorganization; the supervising authorities recognized that it suited the actual situation, and in April of the same year the approval was directed. The structure was reorganized as follows.

卸部 (Wholesale Division):

Sect. Division
第一部 銅鐵器具部 (copper-iron utensils)
第二部 鐵鑄物部 (iron-casting)
第三部 雙物部 (double-goods)
第四部 琺瑯鐵器部 (enamel-iron)
第五部 建築家具金物部 (architectural-furniture hardware)
第六部 アルミニューム部 (aluminium)
第七部 鐵葉製品部 (tinplate)
第八部 金網部 (wire-mesh)

小賣部 (Retail Division), by district:

Sect. District area
第一部 本所・龜戸・吾嬬
第二部 深川・月島・大島
第三部 淺草・千住
第四部 下谷・日暮里・三河島
第五部 本郷・小石川
第六部 牛込・四谷・麹町・赤坂・淀橋・中野
第七部 芝・麻布・大崎・澁谷・目黒
第八部 日本橋・京橋
第九部 神田
第十部 品川・大森・蒲田
第十一部 豊島・王子・瀧野川・板橋
第十二部 八王子

Sections 10, 11, and 12 were composed of county areas (郡部) only; the retail division's area was so wide that distribution was difficult, and the section officers struggled, though for these three county sections the control problem was not as great as for the former.

Page 31 (三一)

(division heads after the merger) The sections were further resolved as team-organizations (班組織); thus, by Article 4 of the memorandum, twelve section-heads were chosen as councillors, as listed below.

部長 (Division Heads):

Section Name
第一部長 千代崎彌助 (Chiyozaki Yasuke)
第二部長 大淀英吉 (Ōyodo Eikichi)
第三部長 井原作太郎 (Ihara Sakutarō)
第四部長 宗意甚藏 (Sōi Jinzō)
第五部長 上野鐵郎 (Ueno Tetsurō)
第六部長 宮坂鐵太郎 (Miyasaka Tetsutarō)
第七部長 土川太藏 (Tsuchikawa Tazō)
第八部長 小原吉五郎 (Obara Kichigorō)
第九部長 鈴木益次郎 (Suzuki Masujirō)
第十部長 星野巳之助 (Hoshino Minosuke)
第十一部長 高木新三郎 (Takagi Shinzaburō)
第十二部長 秋葉元七郎 (Akiba Motoshichirō)

A councillor-representative system (代議員制) was adopted — fifteen from the wholesale side and fifteen from the retail, thirty in all — and the division heads were appointed from among the councillors. Within a mere one year and four months of the wholesalers' guild's founding, that retail-hardware merchants of the whole Tokyo-fu area, who had never before had any legal bond, were legally organized, and that wholesale and retail were merged, was a splendid advance in the structure of organized activity. Thereby the guild strengthened its inner power and its outer elasticity, and, meeting the march of the times, achieved a marked expansion in both quality and quantity. And here the guild renamed itself the 東京金物同業組合 (Tokyo Hardware Trade Guild). This marked, in the history of this guild, truly a new stage. Now the existing office had become cramped, and the officers promptly hurried to seek out a place to move to.

Page 32 (三二)

大久保組長の勇退と吉川組長の就任 (Ōkubo's retirement and Yoshikawa's appointment)

As above, such was the outline of the achievements of Chairman 大久保 (Ōkubo)'s era; but that same era was also the post–Russo-Japanese reaction, the "rock-bottom" depression, from Taishō 4 — until, meeting the outbreak of the European War, it began gradually to rise, then leapt with accelerating speed through [Taishō] 5, 6, and 7, bringing on our country's unprecedented golden boom. At this juncture the business world was in full bloom; seizing the chance, 大久保 (Ōkubo), in consultation with 中村村司 (Nakamura Sonji) and other men of means in the hardware trade as shareholders, established at Tsukishima in Kyōbashi ward the enamel-ironware kiln-works (琺瑯鐵器の新窯工場) they had long desired. But once the telegram arrived announcing the conclusion of the European armistice (歐洲休戰條約締結), in a flash — much as those who had once stood at the top of profit now faced it — the recklessly over-founded new steel companies (濫立された新設製鐵會社) began to crumble, with repercussions in every direction.

As purchasing power was absorbed, department stores rose, dealing unavoidable blows to the small-retail sector; yet many concluded that "the department store is an inevitable demand of the times." The rise of consumer cooperatives (購買會), and the shift of farm-tool production toward producers' combines (產組), likewise squeezed the small-retail hardware side.

Page 33 (三三)

(close of the Ōkubo era; Yoshikawa's appointment) In sum, such a tangled, storm-tossed reality was the era of Chairman 大久保 (Ōkubo)'s tenure. The times were just then changing at accelerating speed. Originally, this chairman's devotion to the guild had become a byword — putting his own business second, throwing himself into the fray, he was literally a "front-line commander" (陣頭指揮者). Having, in his nine years in office, managed things well and brought them to a measure of completion, he at last formally tendered his resignation — whether out of a wish to rest while planning a comeback, or in a spirit of modest self-effacement, is more than can be known. The guild, receiving this, was taken aback, and in haste consulted in a councillors' meeting; though it earnestly begged him by every means to reconsider, his resolve was firm. So, upon re-consultation and deliberation, it chose 吉川百太夫 (Yoshikawa Hyakudayū). Yoshikawa was a man who, grounded consistently in a creed of solidity, was known on one side as adept in finance (理財), and on another was a harmonious all-rounder of eight-faceted brilliance (八面玲瓏). Not a man to seek to step forward himself, he now, unable to ignore the unanimous earnest wish of the whole guild, answered it and took on the heavy duty of chairman.

Page 34 (三四)

Part 3 — 吉川組長時代 (The Yoshikawa Chairmanship Era) (from Taishō 11 December to Shōwa 5 April, 1922–1930) Chapter 1 — 大震火災と復興 (The great earthquake-fire and reconstruction) 組合員の被害調査 (Survey of members' damage)

The month after Yoshikawa took office, the whole Kantō was struck by an unprecedented great earthquake-fire (September of Taishō 12, 1923), and he, undaunted, shouldered the heavy responsibility of chairman amid this disaster. At 11:58 a.m. on September 1 the great quake struck; who could have foreseen such a thing? Its scale was beyond measure. According to the Tokyo-City survey, the damage over the whole Kantō region was as follows, and immense:

The intangible losses, of course, are beyond any reckoning. The raging fire sprang up everywhere, covering the whole capital, and the guild office too [was destroyed] as the staff was still at work.

Page 35 (三五)

(continuing) Amid the fire, the two secretaries 澤田 (Sawada) and 平澤 (Hirasawa) hastily gathered up the important documents, loaded a cart full, cut through the crowds pursued by tongues of flame, and stored them in the warehouse of the guild adviser 湯淺七左衞門 (Yuasa Shichizaemon) on the riverbank at Tōriabura-chō (通油町河岸), where they breathed a sigh of relief; but even so, the venerable old earthen storehouse, having endured several hundred years, crumbled before the fierce fire, and by 3:10 p.m. the guild office too was wholly burned. All was lost. Having barely made it home under the martial-law decree (戒嚴令), 澤田 (Sawada) hastily set up a temporary guild office at his own home in Yodobashi-chō (淀橋町), in the county area.

組合員燒失家屋 (Members' Burned-Down Houses):

區別 District 卸部 Wholesale 小賣部 Retail 合計 Total
本所 Honjo 13 46 59
深川 Fukagawa 1 37 38
淺草 Asakusa 15 79 94
下谷 Shitaya 12 55 67
本郷 Hongō 1 5 6
四谷 Yotsuya 1 5 6
赤坂 Akasaka 0 2 2
麹町 Kōjimachi 1 4 5
芝 Shiba 5 22 27
京橋 Kyōbashi 17 26 43
日本橋 Nihonbashi 68 27 95
神田 Kanda 47 27 74
計 Total 181 335 516

The guild office's own damage came to ¥7,000 for the building and ¥1,000 for fixtures, ¥8,000 in all. With the aftershocks not yet stopped and the embers not yet quenched, Sawada and Hirasawa first set about the survey of members' damage. At the aluminium works (アルミニューム製造所) of chairman 那須鐵之助 (Nasu Tetsunosuke), and among those who took refuge at the Clothing-Depot (被服廠), the tragedy of loss of life was beyond words: of over twenty of his store-clerks, more than fifty persons including their families who had sheltered there perished, reaching the great misfortune of eight whole families wiped out; others besides suffered the loss of entire households.

災後の緊急措置 (Post-disaster emergency measures). The temporary office hastened to put in order the data it could gather, and reported to the competent ministry and the supervising authorities, making clear the roster of victims and the sums of damage. (Transport and communications…)

Page 36 (三六)

With communications cut off, visiting the stricken was, needless to say, very difficult. Thus on the 26th [of September 1923] a councillors' meeting was held at Chief Yoshikawa's temporary residence, and a second at the house of 高岡宣次 (Takaoka Nobuji), where the following matters were resolved:

  1. Low-interest financing.
  2. Receipt of condolence-gifts from Osaka traders and others.
  3. Resolution of post-disaster transaction disputes.
  4. Construction of the guild office.

The low-interest financing was intended to supply operating funds to the stricken, through a loan scheme planned by the 東京實業組合聯合會 (Tokyo Business-Associations Federation). Post-disaster transactions were tangled and many-sided, so timely measures were resolved. As for the office, the Osaka traders' condolence money seemed intended for its construction, so it was applied to the building costs, and all matters were entrusted to Chief Yoshikawa.

With severe shortages and soaring prices, the citizens' hardship was immense; with communications and transport not expected to reopen for some time, and bringing goods from other production districts truly difficult, the 東京商業會議所 (Tokyo Chamber of Commerce) and the Tokyo Business-Associations Federation together provided ¥1,000,000 to let traders open a temporary market. From the guild, 大久保惣左衞門 (Ōkubo Sōzaemon), 吉川百太夫 (Yoshikawa Hyakudayū), 湯淺七左衞門 (Yuasa Shichizaemon), 加藤伊助 (Katō Isuke), 高木清 (Takagi Kiyoshi), and 阿部彥四郎 (Abe Hikoshirō) took charge, achieving great effect in supplying emergency hardware. Ōkubo's opening of supply, being far the earliest, drew some unexpected misunderstanding and suspicion from a part of the trade; but these were extraordinary times.

Page 37 (三七)

It became clear that the person in question had harboured no ambition, so the suspicion suddenly thawed; later that person, and others, received letters of thanks from Tokyo prefecture. Next, the guild described the traders' extreme plight and petitioned for relief.

Petition (classical epistolary style): "Although insurance companies have no legal obligation to pay for fires arising from natural disaster and the resulting conflagration, of the 700-odd members of this guild scarcely any escaped the disaster; to settle this matter by mere legal principle, papering over the moment, would mean the great majority of today's commercial and industrial traders falling into utter ruin, and the revival of the Imperial capital's industry could never be hoped for, with fearful unrest of popular feeling arising therefrom. We therefore earnestly and unceasingly request that the insurance companies exert their full power to meet this, and that the government too make its best effort to see the insurance sums paid; weighing the actual circumstances, we humbly petition, jointly signed, that our purpose be adopted.

September, Taishō 12 [1923] To the Prime Minister, Count 山本權兵衞 (Yamamoto Gonbei) [內閣總理大臣 伯爵] 東京金物同業組合 (Tokyo Hardware Trade Guild):

  • Chief [組長] 吉川百太夫 (Yoshikawa Hyakudayū)
  • Deputy Chief [副組長] 阿部彥四郎 (Abe Hikoshirō)
  • Ditto 井原作太郎 (Ihara Sakutarō)
  • Advisor [相談役] 大久保惣左衞門 (Ōkubo Sōzaemon)
  • Ditto 湯淺七左衞門 (Yuasa Shichizaemon)"

Page 38 (三八)

Next, on the pressing problem of "the transport of building materials and essential hardware" [建築資材及必需金物輸送方], a petition was made to the Governor of Tokyo.

Petition (classical style): "Post-earthquake Tokyo, through the earnest cooperation of government and people, has at last secured the safety of food, for which not only the stricken but the general citizenry are deeply grateful. Yet transport has not returned to normal, and goods remain stalled; such transport defects cannot be remedied by this guild's feeble power and must await the authorities' special assistance — we beg your consideration, that goods may be brought into the Imperial capital without hindrance in the shortest time."

遭難殃死者追悼會 (Memorial Service for the Disaster Dead): Having completed these emergency measures, a grand memorial service for the 50-odd killed in the disaster was held on December 15 [1923] at 淺草本願寺 (Asakusa Honganji).

Page 39 (三九)

It was year-end, a dreary cold rain stirring sorrow. Over 300 attended the memorial; Chief Yoshikawa, advisor Ōkubo, the Tokyo Governor's deputy and Home-Affairs Department Chief 百濟 (Kudara), and the chairman of the Tokyo Business-Associations Federation 星野錫 (Hoshino Shaku), among a dozen-odd others, gave heartfelt eulogies, consoling the spirits in a most solemn ceremony.

組合事務所の建築 (Construction of the Guild Office): Amid such busyness, the office building-design and the site-lease negotiation were completed within December; construction began at once and was completed at the end of January, Taishō 13 [1924]. The temporary office in Yodobashi was removed, and on February 1 work began at the new office. Ground floor 21 tsubo, upper floor 15-odd tsubo, total 36 tsubo; construction cost ¥2,960. Most of the cost was met from the Osaka traders' condolence gifts, with over ¥1,000 of members' contributions for furnishings. Herewith the honoured names of the Osaka well-wishers are recorded in lasting gratitude.

Osaka traders' condolence-donor names [大阪業者諸氏の見舞芳名] (gift amounts of ¥200, ¥100, ¥50, etc.): 高尾定七 (Takao Teishichi) · 日本エナメル株式會社 (Nippon Enamel K.K.) · 小田仙太郎 (Oda Sentarō) · 大阪琺瑯株式會社 (Ōsaka Enamel K.K.) · 岡本末藏 (Okamoto Suezō) · 小山彌一郎 (Koyama Yaichirō) · 萬年九平 (Mannen Kyūhei) · 荒井綱次郎 (Arai Tsunajirō) · 合名會社宮崎商店 (Miyazaki Shōten) · 井上琺瑯製造所 (Inoue Enamel Works) · 伊東岩太郎 (Itō Iwatarō) · 板東陸藏 (Bandō Rikuzō) · 東亞エナメル株式會社 (Tōa Enamel K.K.) · 大阪アルミニウム株式會社 (Ōsaka Aluminium K.K.) · 株式會社河野製作所 (Kōno Works K.K.) · 合名會社協和琺瑯製作所 (Kyōwa Enamel Works).

Page 40 (四〇)

Continuation of the earthquake condolence-gift (見舞金) donor roster — hardware firms and individuals (gift amounts of ¥30, ¥20, ¥10, ¥5; the 殿 honorific omitted):

¥30 / ¥20 tier: 小松原梅藏 (Komatsubara Umezō) · 佐野彌助 (Sano Yasuke) · 堺エナメル合名會社 (Sakai Enamel) · 石井清七 (Ishii Seishichi) · 大阪銅器合資會社 (Ōsaka Dōki Gōshi-gaisha) · 合名會社沖津金物店 (Okitsu Hardware) · 玉手市兵衞 (Tamate Ichibei) · 高木喜太郎 (Takagi Kitarō) · 光耀洋行 (Kōyō Yōkō) · 松尾不一郎 (Matsuo Fuichirō) · 合資會社船津製作所 (Funatsu Works, gōshi-gaisha) · 穗村治郎兵衞 (Homura Jirobei) · 三平株式會社 (Sanpei K.K.) · 株式會社ヒシヒラ商會 (Hishihira Shōkai K.K.) · 泉鉛管製造所 (Izumi Lead-Pipe Works) · 池田寅一 (Ikeda Toraichi) · 日本アルミニウム製造所 (Nippon Aluminium Works) · 川舟喜太郎 (Kawafune Kitarō) · 小川善次郎 (Ogawa Zenjirō) · 田中寅一 (Tanaka Toraichi) · 中村理一郎 (Nakamura Riichirō) · 山野商店 (Yamano Shōten).

¥10 / ¥5 tier: 合名會社福田銅器店 (Fukuda Copperware) · 島佐兵衞 (Shima Sahei) · 田島藤次郎 (Tajima Tōjirō) · 今村又一郎 (Imamura Mataichirō) · 井上好三郎 (Inoue Kōzaburō) · 刀禰庄吉 (Tone Shōkichi) · 川口秋吉 (Kawaguchi Akiyoshi) · 田中新右衞門 (Tanaka Shin'emon) · 植木治郎吉 (Ueki Jirokichi) · 山蔭重吉 (Yamakage Shigekichi) · 山村豊次郎 (Yamamura Toyojirō) · 福井精次郎 (Fukui Seijirō) · 荒井安次郎 (Arai Yasujirō) · 合資會社酒井商會 (Sakai Shōkai) · 菅井淺吉 (Sugai Asakichi) · 今村久兵衞 (Imamura Kyūbei) · 長谷川久助 (Hasegawa Kyūsuke) · 西村新二郎 (Nishimura Shinjirō) · 岡田吉五郎 (Okada Kichigorō) · 大宅伊三郎 (Ōya Isaburō) · 橋佐七 (Hashi Sashichi) · 小野彌助 (Ono Yasuke).

Page 41 (四一)

Tail of the donor roster: 津田榮助 (Tsuda Eisuke) · 中西吉三郎 (Nakanishi Kichisaburō) · 上野新次郎 (Ueno Shinjirō) · 齋藤富三郎 (Saitō Tomisaburō) · 衣川敬三 (Kinugawa Keizō) · 北川岩次郎 (Kitagawa Iwajirō) · 大阪金物新報社 (Ōsaka Kanamono Shinpō-sha). Total: ¥2,345 [合計 金貳千參百四拾五圓也].

Chapter 2: Revision of Expense Assessment and Collection [第二章 經費賦課徵收の改正]

Immediately after the conflagration, the citizenry rose as one; on the burnt-out plain, sweat poured like beads, and in the wasteland all was blank self-loss. High and low, rich and poor alike went about in a single shirt or a single unlined garment. Fire-insurance money was not paid, there was no prospect of low-interest financing, and anxious times continued; the collection of accounts depended only on consignments from trade partners. Yet, with the traders' admirable efforts added to national relief — especially the sympathy of traders from the four directions — recovery was unexpectedly hastened.

Amid such conditions, the guild's expense-collection from September of year 12 to March of the next year — seven months — had no means to proceed, and continued in the form of a collection moratorium. But recovery depends first on finances, and seeing this as the moment to establish the guild's finances, the former equal-apportionment was changed to a grade system [等級制度], to take effect from April (the new fiscal year) of Taishō 13. This was decided at the councillors' meeting of February 22, and the application was approved on the 26th.

Taishō 13 [1924] Expense-Assessment & Collection Method [大正十三年度經費賦課徵收法]:

Page 42 (四二)

小賣部の統制 (Control of the Retail Section): In the retail section, the enrichment of substance lagged somewhat, though shops reopened early in rows. Sectional control tended to lag, unavoidably. The guild first addressed Honjo–Fukagawa, the most severely stricken: Chief Yoshikawa summoned the 1st-section chief (Honjo) 千代崎彌助 (Chiyozaki Yasuke) and the 2nd-section chief (Fukagawa) 大淀英吉 (Ōyodo Eikichi) to plan countermeasures, himself running about energetically, urging on the section officers and dispatching guild secretaries for scores of days, until the old state was restored.

Page 43 (四三)

...but through the power of many able men — 土川太藏 (Tsuchikawa Tazō), 中島平次郎 (Nakajima Heijirō), 久保田德藏 (Kubota Tokuzō), 渡邊孫市 (Watanabe Magoichi), 川合基之 (Kawai Motoyuki), and others — all went smoothly. The 8th section (Nihonbashi, Kyōbashi) and the 9th section (Kanda) were wholly burnt-out areas; yet, being the heart of the Imperial capital, 小原吉五郎 (Obara Kichigorō), 野村錄郎 (Nomura Rokurō), 仲松俊雄 (Nakamatsu Toshio), 森信吉 (Mori Nobukichi), 鈴木盆次郎 (Suzuki Bonjirō), 山本滿三 (Yamamoto Mitsuzō), and others devoted themselves to reconstruction, so order was restored in a short time, and the whole guild well displayed the dignity of an Imperial-capital guild.

組合員增減表 (Table of Membership Change), by section, Taishō 13 [1924] – Shōwa 9 [1934]. The wholesale trade-category sections and the retail district sections (第一部–第十二部) were tabulated by year. The table runs from p. 43 (sections 銅器部 through 第三部) onto p. 44 (第四部 through 第十二部 and the total). The densest interior counts are transcribed at the limit of a foxed scan; cells that cannot be confidently resolved are marked [?].

Section T13 T14 T15 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6 S7 S8 S9
銅器部 copperware 45 44 38 38 39 37 34 35 39 38 40
鑄物部 castings 13 13 12 12 11 11 9 10 10 8 8
利器部 edge-tools 37 37 37 61 61 61 60 72 72 72 80
琺瑯部 enamel 21 23 20 20 19 18 21 19 19 16 19
建築家具部 building & furniture hardware 78 79 71 73 64 58 53 64 65 65 60
アルミ部 aluminium 11 11 10 [?] 11 11 12 12 [?] [?] [?]
錻力部 tinplate (buriki) 14 15 14 15 17 18 26 23 23 23 23
金網部 wire netting 41 46 36 30 28 23 20 19 20 17 17
古鐵部 scrap iron [?] [?] 6 5 2 0 0 0 0 0 0
雜器部 sundries — — 19 18 23 25 23 23 32 37 38
第一部 35 35 53 50 45 44 33 33 30 31 31
第二部 27 24 27 23 22 22 17 20 20 25 22
第三部 65 98 74 64 56 44 36 32 35 36 33

(Sections 錻力部 "tinplate/buriki" and 雜器部 "sundries" confirm the narrative: the sundries section was created in Taishō 15, and the scrap-iron section drops to nil from Shōwa 4, its abolition in Shōwa 3.)

Page 44 (四四)

Continuation of the Table of Membership Change (右 / right table), retail district sections 第四部–第十二部 and the total:

Section T13 T14 T15 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6 S7 S8 S9
第四部 66 64 52 49 50 42 40 36 42 42 44
第五部 58 55 54 50 48 37 31 31 33 30 30
第六部 62 62 62 60 57 51 43 41 42 44 45
第七部 50 49 56 52 47 47 41 43 44 45 46
第八部 54 49 43 45 39 38 34 24 27 25 27
第九部 53 51 43 38 35 36 29 22 25 22 22
第十部 14 11 12 12 14 12 [?] [?] [?] [?] [?]
第十一部 16 18 [?] [?] [?] [?] [?] [?] [?] [?] [?]
第十二部 8 8 8 8 8 8 9 8 8 8 8
計 (total) 771 797 770 783 741 676 620 609 647 648 681

等級制變遷表 (Table of Grade-System Changes), persons by grade, Taishō 13 [1924] – Shōwa 10 [1935] (left table). The upper grades hold steady for the first years, then decline; cells not confidently legible are marked [?].

Grade T13 T14 T15 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6 S7 S8 S9 S10
一等級 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
二等級 20 20 20 20 20 18 18 16 12 12 12 13
三等級 30 30 30 30 30 28 26[?] 26[?] 26[?] 23[?] 20[?] 22[?]
四等級 25 25 24 24 24 20 20 20[?] 18 20[?] 20[?] 22[?]
五等級 50 50 48 48 48 46[?] 46 46 [?] [?] [?] [?]
六等級 471 471 480 474 467 447 303 330 349 330 278 305

Page 45 (四五)

Chapter 3: Land Readjustment and the Rebuilding of the Office [第三章 區劃整理と事務所再築]

One great change the earthquake-fire brought was that large-city planning, which had never left the paper-plan stage, was now carried into execution at a stroke: a Reconstruction Bureau [復興局] was set up and ¥700 million was spent to renew Tokyo's face. Thus the guild office too, four or five years later, moved about 50 metres from its former site to face 昭和大通 (Shōwa-dōri) — the great trunk road piercing from Shinagawa to Senju, familiar now, but then astonishing even sophisticated Tokyoites with its great width, complete paving, separated roadways, roadside greenery, rotaries and the like. To harmonize with this new scene, fireproof Western-style buildings, standing-style shops replacing sitting-style, and Western dress replacing kimono — the whole mode of life was transformed in a single leap, with great effect on the goods trade too.

Now the office at last set about preparing its rebuilding. The hardware trade then enjoyed a reconstruction boom, so large contributions came from each officer and section, and the building costs were raised with little difficulty. The councillors' meeting was convened, and 坂井善作 (Sakai Zensaku), 上條幸助 (Kamijō Kōsuke), and 川島廣吉 (Kawashima Hirokichi) were named building committee-members. They had the contractor 大黑米次郎 (Ōguro Yonejirō) design it. Begun July 12, Shōwa 3 [1928], after 5 months' work and at a cost of ¥2,450, it was completed on October 15. Beforehand, the guild temporarily borrowed the second floor of the shop of member 高橋章藏 (Takahashi Shōzō); it moved to the new office on October 19, where 50-odd officers gathered and, after the committee's construction report, held a completion celebration.

Page 46 (四六)

Chapter 4: Product Inspection [第四章 製品檢査]

Tokyo's enamelled-ironware factories were all burned in the earthquake-fire, but bravely recovered; exports began the next year, Taishō 13 [1924], sending washbasins (foremost), toilet-bowls, cups, bowls, bottles and the like to the South Seas, China, and North America. That year's inspections: 11 times at 7 places; passed goods 126 crates, 8,238 items, with a defect rate of 2%, better than Osaka (7%). In Taishō 14: 290 crates, 19,497 items, with no failures. In Shōwa 2 [1927]: 286 kinds, 69 crates, 603 items, all passed. In Shōwa 2 the 日本琺瑯鐵器工業組合聯合會 (Japan Enamel-Ironware Industrial Union Federation) was formed, and on March 16 the 日本金物聯合會 (Japan Hardware Federation) was dissolved, the inspection work moving to the industrial-union federation. Incidentally, on December 11, Taishō 13 [1924], the guild was granted ¥800 as a subsidy for the export-product inspection business, continued yearly thereafter. Domestic-demand inspection, suspended for a while, was resumed from September, Shōwa 4 [1929] with revised inspection regulations. (The core of the current regulations noted in the Ōkubo-chief-era chapter derives from this revision.)

Chapter 5: Clerk Commendation [第五章 店員表彰]

The clerk-commendation ceremony held its first in Taishō 5 [1916], the year after the guild's founding, and three times during the Ōkubo chief era. At first it was proposed to weight the criterion on exemplary good conduct, but as such assessment is difficult, it was decided to commend long-serving, superior, devoted persons.

Page 47 (四七)

(Photograph, upper half: an interior hall with arched windows and figures. Caption: "從業員表彰式（於商工獎勵館）" — "Employee Commendation Ceremony (at the Commerce & Industry Encouragement Hall).")

The 4th ceremony was held in Taishō 14 [1925] at the Commerce & Industry Encouragement Hall: 4 persons of 20+ years' service, 4 of 15+ years, 10 of 10+ years, a total of 25. The 5th, in Shōwa 2 [1927] at the same place, commended 37 superior clerks of 10+ years' service. The 6th, in Shōwa 3 [1928] at the same place: 46 of 10+ years, 11 of 15+ years, 4 of 20+ years, a total of 61. The small number at the 5th was due to the earthquake's effects. Each subsequent round grew grander. The standard was later set at 7+ years, in view of the times. In the Takaoka chief era, clerks who opened new independent shops were given privileges such as exemption from the guild-admission confidence-fee [組合加入信認金免除], deepening the meaning of the commendation. As guild expansion came to embrace the whole of commerce and industry, "clerk commendation" [店員表彰] was renamed "employee commendation" [從業員表彰].

Page 48 (四八)

從業員表彰規程 (Employee Commendation Regulations):

Page 49 (四九)

Chapter 6: The Holding of the Tokyo Hardware Product-Review [第六章 東京金物品評會開催]

Held in November, Shōwa 3 [1928], at the Prefectural Tokyo Commerce & Industry Encouragement Hall; the particulars were as follows.

東京金物品評會規則 (Tokyo Hardware Product-Review Rules):

Page 50 (五〇)

Bylaws of the Tokyo Hardware Product-Review, Articles 6–14:

Page 51 (五一)

Bylaws, Articles 15–16: advisors may be chosen by resolution of the councillors; the councillors deliberate on important matters; the secretaries attend to general affairs under the Chairman's orders; the association's business is handled at the office of the Tokyo Hardware Trade Guild.

Application was made on October 8; approval was ordered on October 15, and at the same time the following 9 persons were commissioned as judges. Except for the chief judge, all are traders.

There were 59 exhibitors and 1,227 exhibits; after judging on the 20th and 21st, the results were announced as follows.

優良賞 (Superior Prize — 5 persons): product → maker

Product Maker
銅鍍金ヒートン (copper-plated screw-hook/eye) 鈴木眞三 (Suzuki Shinzō)
ビスネヂ (screws, "bis-neji") 林晉吉 (Hayashi Shinkichi)
ライオン南京錠 (Lion padlock) 湯淺七左衞門 (Yuasa Shichizaemon)
ゴム車 (rubber caster/wheel) 上條幸助 (Kamijō Kōsuke)
玄關錠 (entrance lock) 石原義之助 (Ishihara Yoshinosuke)

優功賞 (Merit Prize — begins here; continues on p. 52): product → maker

Product Maker
亞鉛引八番線網 (zinc-coated No. 8 wire-netting) 緒方新一郎 (Ogata Shin'ichirō)
追入ノミ (oire-nomi, bench-mortise chisel) 名取正勝 (Natori Masakatsu)
堀込錠 (mortise lock) 川島廣吉 (Kawashima Hirokichi)
理想釜 (ideal pot) 橋本太吉 (Hashimoto Takichi — the future guild chief)
ニューム釜 (aluminium pot) 大熊三郎 (Ōkuma Saburō)
ノミ (nomi, chisel) 湧井精一 (Wakui Seiichi)
絞出洗袖 (wringer/washing fixture) 吉川百太夫 (Yoshikawa Hyakudayū)
湯沸 (kettle) 那須アルミニューム製造所 (Nasu Aluminium Works)

Page 52 (五二)

Continuation of the First Product-Review results. The printed summary gives the overall tally as Superior Prize 5, Merit Prize 12, Commendation 14 — total 31; accordingly the first four pairs below complete the Merit Prize [優功賞] list, and the remaining fourteen are the Commendation [褒狀] winners.

優功賞 (Merit Prize — continued, 4 persons): product → maker

Product Maker
銅壺 (copper water-pot) 武內商店 (Takeuchi Shōten)
大久保鋏 (Ōkubo scissors) 柴田眞左衞門 (Shibata Shinzaemon)
銀杏葉 (ginkgo-leaf ornament) 宮川榮三郎 (Miyagawa Eizaburō)
花立 (flower stand/vase) 高岡幸八商店 (Takaoka Kōhachi Shōten)

褒狀 (Commendation — 14 persons): product → maker

Product Maker
茶瓶 (tea kettle) 帝國琺瑯製作所 (Teikoku Enamel Works)
鋸 (nokogiri, saw) 清水金作 (Shimizu Kinsaku)
強水器 (nitric-acid/"strong-water" vessel) 矢野幸次郎 (Yano Kōjirō)
ベビーバス (baby bath) 宮內準五郎 (Miyauchi Jungorō)
鉋 (kanna, plane) 鈴木寅吉 (Suzuki Torakichi)
鉋 (kanna, plane) 武藤勘助 (Mutō Kansuke)
窓金物 (window hardware) 吉野幸雄 (Yoshino Yukio)
眞中丸落シ 中藪春次 (Nakayabu Harutsugu)
瓦斯燵網 (gas foot-warmer mesh) 小森梅太郎 (Komori Umetarō)
カクエン網 小林新三郎 (Kobayashi Shinzaburō)
鉈 (nata, hatchet) 小黑菊太郎 (Oguro Kikutarō)
大正口拔 石川敬次郎 (Ishikawa Keijirō)
寫眞バット (photographic tray) 大久保惣左衞門 (Ōkubo Sōzaemon)
釘壓 (nail-set/clincher) 佐藤邦夫 (Satō Kunio)

As above, Superior Prize 5, Merit Prize 12, Commendation 14 — a total of 31. On the 22nd and 23rd the exhibition was opened to public viewing, with unexpectedly huge attendance; on the 23rd at 3 p.m., at the same hall, the award-presentation ceremony was held — the Governor presented the awards, followed by the Governor's address, the Chairman's address, guests' congratulatory speeches, and the awardees' representative reply; a banquet followed, with over 400 attending. At that time the government was most intent on import-restriction and the encouragement of domestic products; and for Tokyo, its post-earthquake wounds not yet healed and needing extra effort to recover its sales channels, the guild boldly held this substantial, meaningful, and unprecedented event aimed at real benefit to the industry.

Page 53 (五三)

Second Tokyo Hardware Product-Review [第二回東京金物品評會]: In the severe depression of the time, officialdom and public alike worked earnestly for recovery, yearned for the rise of domestic products, and the traders too freshly awakened and strove to raise quality; after the exhibition noted above, the trade's standing gradually improved. Yet, seeking further research and reform in production technology, taste-adaptation, and practical economic value, in Shōwa 6 [1931] the Tokyo Hardware Product-Review was held at the guild office. Though smaller in scale than the previous exhibition, it overflowed with zeal. Exhibitors 54; exhibits 1,602 items; Superior Prize 7, Merit Prize [有功賞] 18, Commendation [褒狀] 23.

Chapter 7: The Various Other Facilities [第七章 其他の各施設]

部の新設と廢止 (Establishment and Abolition of Sections): In Taishō 15 [1926] a sundries section [雜器部] was newly set up, composed of dealers in household sundries not belonging to other sections. In Shōwa 3 [1928] the scrap-iron section [古鐵部] was abolished, as its relation to the guild was no longer needed.

功勞者表彰 (Commendation of Meritorious Persons): In Taishō 13 [1924], letters of appreciation and silver cups were presented to 阿部彥四郎 (Abe Hikoshirō) and 大塚重吉 (Ōtsuka Jūkichi), meritorious persons since the guild's founding.

紛議解決 (Dispute Resolution): In Taishō 13, 11 cases concerning claims for accounts-receivable; in Shōwa 2 [1927], 13 likewise, and 3 concerning transactions; such disputes had previously been rare.

Page 54 (五四)

博覽會等出品 (Exhibition Entries):

講演會 (Lectures):

視察見學 (Study Visits):

Page 55 (五五)

金物見本市 (Hardware Trade-Sample Fair): From March to June, Taishō 14 [1925], for two days each month, a hardware trade-sample fair sponsored by guild volunteers was held at the Tokyo Commerce & Industry Encouragement Hall. This was the germ and precursor of the Tokyo Prefectural Commodity Sample Fair described separately.

Chapter 8: The General State of Business Conditions [第八章 業況一般の態勢]

The matchless boom of the European War [WWI] could be called a windfall, yet such shelf-drop wealth led people into arrogance and indolence — until finally Viscount Shibusawa [澁澤子爵] was moved to lament that "the earthquake was Heaven's chastisement [震災は天譴也]." Still, the great blow of the earthquake for a time awakened people and roused the spirit of reconstruction; and reconstruction-rebuilding spurred the hardware trade into a busy phase too. Especially conspicuous were building sheet-materials [建築薄材], carpenter's tools [大工道具], and building and furniture hardware [建築家具金物類]; household fittings also had to be newly furnished — goods that had to be brought in entirely from other regions. On the other hand, much reorganization of shop structures occurred, so many clerks became independent at this time. In the retail sector, exchange-meetings [交換會] sprang up in each ward; the guild created new sections; and each shop diversified the lines it handled, its management becoming multi-pronged. As related later, the 東京金物靑年同志會 (Tokyo Hardware Youth Comrades' Association) was born in July, Taishō 13 [1924], and around the same time the 金友會 (Kinyū-kai) and others. But as recovery took shape, this second effort had to stand firmly on the industrial base and advance in earnest. Yet just as Tokyo, bearing billions in reconstruction costs, had barely risen, depression set in; by the autumn of Taishō 15 [1926] the Shōwa economy sank ever deeper, reaching an extreme by Shōwa 3 [1928].

Page 56 (五六)

...worsening, with bank failures and shop bankruptcies continuing across the land, until finally 36 nationwide liquidation-banks had to be counted. The effect on the hardware trade was great: it showed plainly in the flux of membership — in Shōwa 2 [1927], against 78 new members there were 113 business-closures; those submitting to product-inspection came to nil; dues-arrears increased, and non-payers appeared. For the guild likewise, consolidation of operations and reform of finances had to be fundamental.

On the other hand, management-rationalization, efficiency, the protection, encouragement and patronage of domestic products, and import-restriction were the themes of the times — the result being the age of expositions, the age of lectures, the age of trade-sample fairs. Speaking of lectures, one recalls the vogue for self-cultivation moral-talk meetings [修養講話會] then current in the trade — a vogue running parallel to economic decay and the corruption of hearts. Behold the dubious bars, cafés, the dance craze and jazz din row on row; manners were painted a single shade of Anglo-American culture; ideologies of right and left clashed; labour disputes mounted daily; and incidents of clerks' misconduct were rumoured everywhere. Spiritual revival was the fundamental need. At this juncture each shop prepared its own cultivation moral-talk meetings:

Yet the pressing immediate problem thrown directly at the commercial-industrial world was the revival strategy, and the most conspicuous of these was the department-store countermeasure.

Page 57 (五七)

The Retirement of Chief Yoshikawa and the Inauguration of Chief Hashimoto [吉川組長の退任と橋本組長の就任]

This situation had been outlined in the "Ōkubo chief era" section; it was now welling up from underground and beginning to erupt on the surface. In short, looking back today, that time was the very peak of our country's capitalism in full flower.

Resolve in use, and the running of the organization, await the man. Some anticipate the times, some follow them and bring out their excellence; that Chief Yoshikawa, inheriting the pioneering, vigorous skill of Chief Ōkubo, dealt with this trying, austere era as a steward of the defensive type — all agreed this was the right man in the right place. In sum, Chief Yoshikawa, over more than eight years [八ケ年餘], handled all the post-earthquake measures, established the guild's finances, and cooperated with the management-rationalization movement; having achieved a measure of merit, he honourably retired amid general goodwill, judging it a time for renewal.

One point to add: Yoshikawa trusted his hometown friend 澤田梅吉 (Sawada Umekichi) as secretary-general and made full, skilful use of that secretary-general's planning; Yoshikawa's tenacious, firm character — yielding outwardly yet mastering the hard — was most fitting for a leading position in such an age. As an advisor, the seasoned ability of 今澤政五郎 (Imazawa Masagorō), manager of 湯淺商店 (Yuasa Shōten), assisted him; and after resigning the chieftainship, Ōkubo, made advisor, took an interest in federation politics and was taking part under 武藤山治 (Mutō Sanji), head of the 實業同志會 (Jitsugyō Dōshikai, Business Comrades' Association). At Yoshikawa's formal tendering of resignation, the two deputy chiefs 高岡 (Takaoka) and 土川 (Tsuchikawa) decided to nominate 橋本太吉 (Hashimoto Takichi) — a notable figure in political circles and a director of many business companies. Through advisor Ōkubo they earnestly requested his service and fortunately obtained his consent; thus, after the following procedures, Chief Hashimoto's tenure of responsibility came to be seen.

Page 58 (五八)

Part Four: The Hashimoto Chief-of-Guild Era [第四編 橋本組長時代]

(From May, Shōwa 5 [1930], to August, Shōwa 8 [1933].)

Chapter 1: The Commercial-Industrial World in Deep Depression [第一章 不況深刻の商工界]

Chief Hashimoto's tenure was the shortest of all, yet this period was the pivotal axis-time of our nation's historically unmatched great transition — politics, economy, industry, and culture all in crisis, truly at the summit of national hardship. Viewed economically: since the Shōwa 3 [1928] panic, stagnation and depression spread comprehensively, and Shōwa 5 [1930] showed the most severe aspect. The government met it with the bold lifting of the gold embargo [金解禁] and thorough austerity, then with the re-banning of gold exports [金輸出再禁止] and an inflation policy — agonies within a short span. This showed plainly in the commodity markets: e.g., the iron market in Shōwa 6 [1931] fell to the unprecedented low of a ¥58 round-bar base; then in Shōwa 7, with export rise after the gold-export re-ban and swollen military spending from the Manchurian Incident, prices budded to a ¥66 low, and by Shōwa 8 rose to ¥97. Not only steel but general base-metal materials followed this line. Yet small and medium commerce could not escape the mire; looking back now, that time was the moment between darkest night and dawn. Guild management, too, was no easy matter, and Hashimoto bore the heavy duty of guild leadership in this transition. Thus unprecedented phenomena appeared — members unable even to pay their dues came forth in succession, and in the flux of membership a great many unprecedented business-closures.

Page 59 (五九)

組合員增減 (Change in Membership):

Year 卸 Wholesale 小賣 Retail 計 Total
Shōwa 6 (1931) 256 369 625
Shōwa 7 (1932) 276 333 609
Shōwa 8 (1933) 283 398 681

The depression deteriorated and withdrawals appeared; closures were many on the retail side. Yet the increase in wholesale-section members, though it seems a contradiction, resulted from store-reorganization producing clerks who separated and became independent. With the economy worsening and the ethics of the trade declining, countermeasures for the promotion of small and medium commerce and industry, and for the prevention of dumping and improper competition, became urgent. The Japanese merchant's way [商人道] is no different from the samurai way [武士道]; the merchant's way lies in the advancement of commercial morality. Chief Hashimoto — having at his own shop drunk a bitter cup from a counterpart's dishonesty and negligence — happened at a press-corps tea-gathering to speak of writing a pledge (as of old, when a man could not repay a debt, he would offer to be laughed at before others). He deeply cared about this on assuming the chieftainship, a glimpse of which is shown in his later facilities-measures.

Page 60 (六〇)

The guild's enumerated undertakings (seven items):

  1. Product inspection.
  2. Commendation of the guild's meritorious members and of model employees.
  3. Control concerning the hiring of employees.
  4. Holding of research visits, trade-sample fairs, product-reviews, and lecture meetings relating to the trade.
  5. Solicitation of, and clerical handling of, entries to domestic and foreign expositions and fairs.
  6. Survey and report of domestic and foreign business conditions.
  7. Such other undertakings and facilities as are deemed necessary to attain the guild's purpose.

These seven items, needless to say, are all to be accomplished through self-governing control.

Chapter 2: The Basic Revision of the Articles [第二章 定款の基本的改正]

The first task at hand was the revision of the guild's articles [定款]. The articles, carried on unchanged for ten-odd years since the guild's founding, could not fit the drastically changed present reality; so, as a trade guild, it would fully utilize the Trade-Guild Law to correct abuses, set out in concise clear terms the objective undertakings immediately practicable, and establish a permanent, flexibly mobile structure responsive to future trends — and so a draft rewriting almost the entire articles was prepared. For its deliberation, the two deputy chiefs 高岡 (Takaoka) and 土川 (Tsuchikawa) were summoned to the guild office; despite the intense summer heat, grudging even a moment's rest, over several days they examined clause by clause the voluminous 130-odd articles, and an orderly, gapless code was completed. The chapters: (1) General Provisions; (2) Admission and Withdrawal; (3) [Members' rights and duties]...

Page 61 (六一)

...(members' rights and duties); (4) Officers and Staff; (5) Meetings; (6) Delegate elections; (7) Accounting; (8) Execution of business; (9) Trade-suspension and breach-penalties; (10) Arbitration and conciliation; (11) Dissolution. Chapter 6 in particular is detailed, and an exhaustive code was fixed for the execution of business. Later, in the Takaoka chief era, new items were added to the business list: "control concerning transactions," "matters concerning price agreements," "matters concerning standardization," and "brokerage of transactions and debt-collection" — showing the expansion of guild control; indeed the present articles derive from this general revision, and the guild has carried on with the current articles.

Chapter 3: The Movement to Prepare Nationwide Metric-Law Implementation [第三章 メートル法全國實施準備運動]

Next, in quick succession, the achievement the chief raised under his front-line command was the preparation for metric-law implementation. At that time, management-rationalization and efficiency were emphasized by officialdom and public alike as the basic path of industrial promotion, and here standardization [規格統一] was stressed; weights and measures were to be converted to the metric law. Standardization had early been carried out at the Industrial-Products Standardization Investigation Committee; e.g., for wire the old gauge-numbers had been abolished a decade-plus earlier though not generally adopted, and for sheet-metal thickness several gauges — Japanese, American, British, and others — were in use, so that everyday-life measurement was all the more complex. And with this metric-law grace-period ending June 30, Shōwa 9 [1934], only three years remained, yet no preparation was being made. Experts worried greatly; among the guild officers, 富永佐右衞門 (Tominaga Sauemon), a leading figure [重鎭] of the edge-tool world, at every opportunity urged urgent preparation — for the edge-tool and implement trade [利器又は工具界], with its myriad varieties, especially foresaw the difficulty of this work. Sure enough, at a traders' gathering in the New Year of Shōwa 6 [1931], the 慶長會 (Keichō-kai) — this society of 湯淺 (Yuasa), 森岡 (Morioka), 河合 (Kawai)...

Page 62 (六二)

...加藤 (Katō), 富永 (Tominaga), and 阿藤 (Atō) — all great wholesalers [大問屋] continuing unbroken from the Edo period — joined by the 岡谷東京支店 (Okaya Tokyo Branch), this fellowship group [親睦團體] took the initiative. First, to fix the measurement standards as the basic requisite for implementation, they entrusted the work to 湯淺商店 (Yuasa Shōten), whose director 今澤政五郎 (Imazawa Masagorō) took charge. (Imazawa was called the "living dictionary [活字引] of the hardware world," and was especially an expert of the edge-tool world [利器界の精通者].) He devoted himself with sleep-and-meal-forgetting zeal; to fit production, sales, and demand, combining the complex and various products that differ by locality, he fixed at a stroke the measurement standards for over 1,300 items of edge-tools and implements [利器工具千三百餘點], printed them in a booklet, and distributed it to the trade and to related parties generally to seek their approval. Taking up this plan as the guild's own, in February, Shōwa 6 [1931], the chief asked traders nationwide to come to Tokyo to confer; all districts gladly agreed. On April 23–24 of that year, the First Convention was held at the Prefectural Tokyo Commerce & Industry Encouragement Hall.

Attending unions (representatives, 70-odd persons): 三條金物同業組合 (Sanjō Hardware Union) · 越前打双物同業組合 (Echizen Forged-Blade Union) · 堺利器同業組合 (Sakai Edge-Tool Union) · 三木金物販賣同業組合 (Miki Hardware Sales Union) · 播州金物販賣同業組合 (Banshū Hardware Sales Union) · 關打双物同業組合 (Seki Forged-Blade Union) · 南部鐵瓶製造組合 (Nanbu Iron-Kettle Manufacturing Union) · 橫濱金物同業組合 (Yokohama Hardware Union) · 京都金物同業組合 (Kyoto Hardware Union) · 大阪金物同業組合 (Osaka Hardware Union) · 日本琺瑯鐵器工業組合聯合會 (Japan Enamel-Ironware Industry Union Federation) · 近畿琺瑯鐵器工業組合 (Kinki Enamel-Ironware Industrial Union) · 名古屋銅鐵金物商同業組合 (Nagoya Copper-Iron-Hardware Merchants Union) · 東京金物同業組合 (Tokyo Hardware Union) · 東京琺瑯鐵器工業組合 (Tokyo Enamel-Ironware Industrial Union).

Officials present [臨席]: 橋川司亮 (Hashikawa Shiryō), Director of the Central Weights-and-Measures Inspection Office of the Ministry of Commerce & Industry; 佐野 (Sano) and 神澤 (Kanzawa), two MCI officials [屬]; 長沼政五郎 (Naganuma Masagorō), Chief of the Tokyo Prefectural Weights-and-Measures Section [權度課長]; the MCI engineer 北條時恒 (Hōjō Tokitsune); and the technician 栗原義春 (Kurihara Yoshiharu).

Under Chairman Hashimoto [橋本座長], the proceedings advanced swiftly and all passed as drafted; the bylaws being established, the 金屬製品メートル法實施準備全國聯合會 (National Federation for the Preparation of Metric-Law Implementation for Metal Products) was formed. Its resolution and declaration follow.

Page 63 (六三)

宣言 (Declaration) of the National Federation (First Convention):

Preamble: "We, on the basis of the revised Weights & Measures Law promulgated on April 11, Taishō 10 [1921], promote the metrication of the nation's metal products and aim to complete it within the important-industry grace-period of the law's implementation."

"The unification of weights and measures, in overturning an inveterate custom of some 1,800-odd years, is a difficulty among difficulties; yet whether it is carried out or not greatly affects the development of the nation's industry. Therefore the government has decreed its revision to the metric system — surely a fitting measure. However, to implement it across our country's many products and quickly achieve its effect is no easy task; above all, our metal goods, differing by production district, vary endlessly in shape and dimension, so that even the point to be measured is hard to choose; moreover, with progress, striking new products appear, so that a single district's agreement cannot fully realize the law's effect. Therefore we hold this meeting to fix, by trade, measurement standards conforming to the metric system, and together to seek standardization. We hereby so declare.

April 23, Shōwa 6 [1931] — National Federation for the Preparation of Metric-Law Implementation for Metal Products."

Thereafter, implementation-preparation progressed steadily nationwide; later, in Shōwa 8 [1933] in Tokyo, over 20 kinds / 300-odd items of edge-tools [利器], building-hardware [建築金物], and wire-netting [金網類] were added to the already-fixed item list, and nationwide joint implementation came about. The Second Convention was held on April 19, Shōwa 7 [1932] in Tokyo; the Third Convention on April 4, Shōwa 8 [1933] in Osaka. However, afterward — triggered by the famous metric-rebuttal [メートル反駁] in the Imperial Diet by Viscount 岡部長景 (Okabe Nagakage) — public opinion gradually turned...

Page 64 (六四)

...and the two positions — sole adoption of the metric system versus joint use of the metric and shaku-kan systems — stood opposed, and in the end the government came to decree that the implementation grace-period, put in force in December of the previous year, Shōwa 8 [1933], be extended by a further five years. Prior to this, Hashimoto, chairman of the Federation [聯合會々長], had petitioned the Minister of Commerce & Industry regarding promotion of the metric law, seeking to exhaust the opposing arguments. However, upon the issuing of this extension decree, the Federation had no choice; it decided to wind up its work for the time being, and on April 7, Shōwa 9 [1934], held its Fourth General Meeting in Aichi prefecture, whereupon the Federation was dissolved for the present. In the declaration issued at that meeting it made clear its firm resolve on this issue.

宣言 (Declaration): "We, anticipating that by completing the industry's implementation-preparations within the first grace-period of the metric law we would obtain a satisfactory settlement, established this Association in Shōwa 6 [1931] together with the various bodies and volunteers of the nation's production districts. Since then we held earnest conferences in Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya; though our meetings numbered only four, our results were most excellent — we established measurement standards for over 300 kinds of products and more than 1,200 items, and went on to fix their specification standards. Thereupon the outline of the metric-law preparation work we had anticipated at the outset was carried out, and the purpose of this Association was here achieved. Accordingly, pursuant to Article 22 of the bylaws, we dissolve this Association as of June 30, Shōwa 9 [1934]. Nevertheless, implementation of the metric law is an extremely difficult great undertaking owing to many circumstances; to make its execution smooth, close linkage of the nation's production districts is all the more urgent. The five-year extension of the grace-period was ordered by Imperial decree on December 27 of last year, and was by no means occasioned by the foolish arguments of a faction of opponents. Were the linkage among us to slacken on account of the extension, the achievements of years would come to naught and our efforts be in vain; indeed, no misfortune to the industry would be greater than this..."

Page 65 (六五)

Close of the Declaration: "...though this Association dissolves, we shall keep in all the closer contact, cooperate with one another through the various organs, and so strive for the implementation of the metric law."

June 30, Shōwa 9 [1934] — National Federation for the Preparation of Metric-Law Implementation for Metal Products.

Chapter 4: The Guild's Other Facility and Institutional Projects [第四章 其他の各施設事業]

製品檢査 (Product Inspection): During the roughly three years of this metric campaign, the machine, chemical, and metal industries generally converted to the metric law, and copper, rolled-copper, and other metal goods likewise moved to the metric system in this period, so that at present the shaku-kan system is used jointly only in the sphere of household wares. In Shōwa 6 [1931] the 東京琺瑯鐵器工業組合 (Tokyo Enamelled-Ironware Industrial Union) was founded, and the inspection function was transferred to that union. As for the various other products, the submitted inspection items, reflecting the deepening economic depression, fell off markedly under the guild's open system, until by about Shōwa 8 [1933] they had come practically to nil.

Page 66 (六六)

(Photograph, upper half: an interior hall scene, figures on a platform before an audience, with a banner. Caption: "東京金物品評會賞狀授與式（於商工獎勵館）" — "Tokyo Hardware Product-Review Certificate-of-Award Ceremony (held at the Commerce & Industry Encouragement Hall).")

商標蒐集 (Trademark Collection): In view of the increasing tendency to trademark and patent infringement, as a preventive measure, in Shōwa 7 [1932] the guild compiled a collection-register of the trademark registrations held by members, together with their utility-model (實用新案) registrations, and kept it on hand at the guild office for reference. At the same time it distributed this not only to members but to the nation's manufacturers and dealers of metal goods, and thereby made clear the trademark rights and new-design/utility-model-patent rights held by its members.

物價調査 (Price Survey): As the evil of price-dumping (濫賣) was conspicuous, in Shōwa 7 [1932] wholesale-price survey committee members were selected from among the guild membership; they surveyed the various commodities every month, notified members of their selling prices and index figures, and thereby sought the control and stabilization of market prices.

店員表彰 (Commendation of Shop-Clerks): As of Shōwa 6, those with 10+ years' continuous service numbered 45; 15+ years, 9; 20+ years — 60 model clerks in all were commended. In Shōwa 8, 7 of 10+ years, 12 of 15+ years, 40 of 20+ years...

Page 67 (六七)

...and 3 more — in all 62 model shop-clerks were commended.

組合創立滿十周年記念運動會 (Sports Meet Commemorating the Guild's 10th Anniversary of Founding): In early summer, Shōwa 6 [1931], to commemorate the 10th anniversary, a grand athletic meet was held at 鶴見花月園 (Tsurumi Kagetsu-en); the entire membership, dressed up with ingenuity, vied with spirit in the contests and amused themselves the whole day.

博覽會出品 (Exhibition Entries): In Shōwa 6 [1931] the guild exhibited at the Kanazawa City-sponsored Industry & Tourism Exposition [產業と觀光博覽會], at the Invention-Association-sponsored 4th Invention Exposition [第四回發明博覽會], and at the Tokyo City-sponsored Metric-Law Dissemination & Home-Culture Exposition [メートル法普及及家庭文化博覽會]; and in Shōwa 7 [1932] it gathered the exhibits of the Manchuria National Products Exhibition and various countries' product exhibitions and displayed them at the guild office, and also exhibited at the International Women's & Children's Exposition [萬國婦人子供博覽會].

講演會開催 (Holding of Lectures): In Shōwa 6 [1931], for the cultivation of shop-clerks and combined with the aim of supplementing commercial practice, lectures were held once a month in each guild section; in Shōwa 7 three lectures were held for the membership:

  1. "On the Current-Situation Economy" [時局經濟に關して] — lecturer: 葛瀨鈊次郎 (Kuzuse ?-jirō), president of the 中外商業新報社 (Chūgai Shōgyō Shinpō).
  2. "On the Temporary Monetary-Debt Conciliation Law" [金錢債務臨時調停法に就て] — lecturer: the attorney 加瀨英二郎 (Kase Eijirō).
  3. "Strategies for Shop Prosperity" [商店繁榮策] — lecturer: 上野陽一 (Ueno Yōichi), director of the Efficiency-Improvement Institute [能率增進所長].

Page 68 (六八)

視察見學 (Observation Tours): In Shōwa 6 [1931] the guild had Secretary-General Sawada [澤田組合書記長] lead a study-group to survey the production conditions of the Kansai production districts and the actual state of market dealings. In Shōwa 7 [1932] a study-group was led to tour the Shibaura Works [芝浦製作所] and the two factories of Nippon Kōkan K.K. [日本鋼管株式會社].

陳情 (Petitions): Besides the already-noted petition concerning "implementation of the metric law," in Shōwa 7 [1932] the following were petitioned:

  1. "Revision of the railway-transport regulations" [鐵道輸送規則改正方] — to the Minister of Railways, the Director of the Transport Bureau, and the Director of the Tokyo Railway Bureau.
  2. "Abolition of the telephone metered-rate system" [電話度數制撤廢方] — to the Minister of Communications and the relevant authorities.
  3. "Rejection of the Temporary Monetary-Debt Conciliation bill" [金錢債務臨時調停法案否決方] — to the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce & Industry and the Tokyo Business-Associations Federation [東京實業組合聯合會].
  4. "Promotion of the Tokyo Harbour construction plan" [東京港修築計畫促進方] — to the Minister of Home Affairs.

第一回珠算競技大會 (First Abacus-Calculation Competition): The cultivation of the environment must be broken through, and this reflected upon from within. Just as there was talk of measures against department stores and of comparative considerations, so the rationalization and efficiency-improvement of management was most emphasized about this time. In management, efficiency-raising is the central driving force; therefore, within the guild too, the establishment of night-school supplementary training and other matters became pending questions, awaiting only the right moment. The abacus competition, in its significance, is the first such record in the guild's history...

Page 69 (六九)

...of both shopkeepers and shop-clerks — one may see how much enthusiasm and sympathy there was for such an event; herewith the scene is described.

The meeting was held on Saturday, May 20, Shōwa 8 [1933], at 6 p.m., at the 十思小學校 (Jisshi Primary School), 1-chōme Kodenma-chō, Nihonbashi Ward. Entries: 27 shops, 48 members. In attendance were Deputy Chief 高岡 (Takaoka); 石田 (Ishida), the guild's accounting chief; and, from 湯淺商店 (Yuasa Shōten), 今澤政五郎 (Imazawa Masagorō), 坂井善作 (Sakai Zensaku), 手塚守二 (Tezuka Moriji), 森信吉 (Mori Nobukichi), 廣森傳吉 (Hiromori Denkichi), 久保慶太 (Kubo Keita), and others. Primary-school pupils of Honjo–Fukagawa also attended as spectators in numbers. The instructor was 川村寬治 (Kawamura Kanji), soroban-abacus lecturer at the Tokyo Dental College and other universities, a first-rank authority in the field. Before the contest, the entrants practised with a record he had cut; at the appointed 6 p.m. the Chief gave the opening address, and after the instructor's explanations and cautions, from 7 o'clock the tense contests began.

The winner's cup was presented by Deputy Chief Takaoka to young Mr. Kaneko amid the hall's unanimous applause. The instructor praised these contestants' lightning skill as beyond his expectations.

Chapter 5: The Retirement of Chief Hashimoto and the Inauguration of Chief Takaoka [第五章 橋本組長退任と高岡組長の就任]

At such a time of national hardship, the anxious concern of thoughtful men in and out of government was no small thing. At that time, Railway Minister 江木 (Egi) in particular raised the great banner of national-product promotion and import-restriction, and, to set an example by his own conduct, made the Ministry's rolling-stock materials and its whole equipment of domestic manufacture. Responding to this, dealers such as 湯淺商店 (Yuasa Shōten) took up new enterprises even at some sacrifice, for the authorities urged that domestic products be favoured even if somewhat unsatisfactory. Tokyo prefecture, too, set out to protect and encourage domestic products and went so far as to budget subsidies; and the semi-official Commerce & Industry Encouragement Hall [商工獎勵館] extended the Tokyo Trade-Sample Fair to cover the whole nation...

Page 70 (七〇)

...holding these fairs at various places and extending them further overseas. Deputy-Director 矢野 (Yano), successor to Mr. 早崎 (Hayasaki), personally led the delegation to the South Seas and held an exhibition on official travel; and the Tokyo Business-Associations Federation sponsored a touring exhibition of superior domestic products by rail within the country — all of these were expressions of the movement. In response, the guild member 那須アルミ製造所 (Nasu Aluminium Works) never missed a single overseas trade-sample fair anywhere, going as far as America; and 橋本製作所 (Hashimoto Works) specially dispatched its manager 松本義一 (Matsumoto Giichi) to inspect the South Seas. Next, a party including the proprietor of the enamelled-ironware 松橋工場 (Matsuhashi Works) and others inspected Shanghai. Also, 山口環 (Yamaguchi Tamaki) crossed to Manchuria as one of Tokyo prefecture's exhibitor-representatives at the first Mantetsu-sponsored trade-sample fair.

About this time the 理化學研究所 (Institute of Physical & Chemical Research) obtained results in the surface-coating processing of aluminium, which spurred the development of aluminium-processing, then meeting a rising fortune; at the same time, from the standpoint of national defence, a plan for domestic alumina production was being pressed between officials and private parties. At that time Hashimoto, having given up his aspiration toward a seat in the assembly, had a separate patriotic ambition and placed his hopes especially on the aluminium industry — one expression of which was that, from his own factory, he released superior goods such as the 太陽印 (Sun-brand) aluminium "ideal pot" [理想釜]. Notably, by a notice dated May 24, Shōwa 7 [1932], the Home Minister of the day, Suzuki [鈴木內相], permitted the merger into Tokyo of 82 towns and villages across five counties, and Tokyo prefecture that very day put urban administration into effect — a guild response to which was also anticipated.

Thus the chief inwardly intended great things for the trade guild; but unluckily, from about the summer of Shōwa 7 [1932], a year or two after his inauguration, he came increasingly to rely on medicines and withdrew to recuperate at his private residence in Komachi, Kamakura. So Secretary-General Sawada [澤田書記長] came and went each time to receive his instructions on important guild matters, while 高岡 (Takaoka) and 土川 (Tsuchikawa) handled the practical affairs. Secretary-General Sawada, a man of pure, simple diligence most interested in the study of guild theory and a disciple of 茅原華山 (Chihara Kazan), already held a delegate's seat and voiced guild opinions without reserve, and took part in self-government as a ward-assembly member. After Hashimoto's resignation he became a guild adviser (囑託), with Secretary Hirasawa [平澤書記] taking over the work in his place. Hashimoto, commissioned by the Central Industrial Association, inspected Manchuria and on returning strongly advocated promoting the establishment of commercial unions. Takaoka was at the time a Tokyo prefectural-assembly member...

Page 71 (七一)

...and, as a committee member, was active; he paid deep attention to the promotion of small and medium commerce and industry, and, serving as deputy chief, wholeheartedly admired Chief Hashimoto's character and insight.

And, regrettably, Hashimoto's illness worsened and at last would not permit him to remain in his post; on July 3 of year 18 [printed 十八年七月三日] he formally resigned. (The printed text reads 十八年, "year 18"; the context — the appreciation letter below dated Shōwa 8, and the Part Five header giving Takaoka's era as beginning August, Shōwa 8 — makes this Shōwa 8 [1933]. Both are shown.) Unavoidably, a guild meeting was held and a successor-selection committee was formed; Deputy Chief Takaoka was nominated, and in the by-election of July 12, 高岡 (Takaoka) became Chief, and 坂井善作 (Sakai Zensaku), head of the edge-tools section [利器部長], succeeded Takaoka as deputy chief.

At the retirement of this fine chief, all the guild members could not bear the feeling of parting. On August 11, the two deputy chiefs 岡村 (Okamura) and 坂井 (Sakai) together visited his sickbed in sympathy and presented a letter of appreciation.

感謝狀 (Letter of Appreciation): "This guild, newly born in the hardship of founding amid the Great Earthquake of the mizunoto-i year of Taishō [1923], had by the early Shōwa years put its form in order. Yet unless a thorough renovation were added to its various regulations, there were things unsuited to the needs of the time. At this juncture you were recommended and became Chief; you first set the guild's articles in order and made clear its footing, corrected abuses, avoided troubles, and sought to simplify the administration; and, following the clerical business closely, its record was renewed day by day. Further, you worked for the advancement of the revised Weights & Measures Law, extending its reach to the nation's production districts, organizing the National Federation for the Preparation of Metric-Law Implementation for Metal Products, and, presiding over it, gave measurement standards to over 300 kinds of products — thus accomplishing an imperishable great work for the industry. Reflecting that the present is a time of national hardship and much business, there is no little that the industry's affairs would ask of you; yet, being ill, you leave your post. We cannot bear our boundless feeling of parting and our inexhaustible admiration; herewith we present a humble commemorative gift and express our deep sense of gratitude.

July 12, Shōwa 8 [1933] To Mr. 橋本太吉 (Hashimoto Takichi) 高岡宣次 (Takaoka Nobuji), Chief of the 東京金物同業組合 (Tokyo Hardware Trade Guild)."

Page 72 (七二)

Part Five: The Takaoka Chief-of-Guild Era [第五編 高岡組長時代]

(From August, Shōwa 8 [1933], to November, Shōwa 16 [1941].)

Chapter 1: Work to Expand the Guild [第一章 組合擴充工作]

The economic world's severe depression at last began, from about Shōwa 9 [1934], to show in some quarters a faint gleam of upturn; yet for the general small and medium commercial-industrial world the depression was rather spreading and penetrating deeper. As a recovery-and-revival measure, the trade guild came onto the agenda. That is, in August, Shōwa 9 [1934], under the sponsorship of the Tokyo Business-Associations Federation, the representatives of its 25 affiliated unions assembled and debated the "retail-restriction question." Indeed, the depression's effects at that time were especially acute on the retail side; already the Ministry of Commerce & Industry's Retail-Improvement Committee [小賣改善委員會] was advancing its studies and had concluded that the greatest cause lay in the over-abundance of traders — and this federation too took up restriction. Summarizing the opinions on the floor, the measures were: (1) qualification-restriction by a fixed number of years in business; (2) a security-deposit system; (3) distance-restriction with the approval of the competent authorities; (4) an approval system from special viewpoints such as public health and sanitation. The intent of (2) and (3) was what Takaoka had long cherished. Yet no clear, concrete plan emerged from any quarter. Now Takaoka — who held that immediate practice was urgent, rather than hesitating in debate — submitted his private plan for business-distance-restriction by self-governing control, which he had earnestly conceived, to the guild councillors' meeting of October 12, explained its outline, and won unanimous sympathy. Just then, on November 4–5, a National Trade-Guilds Convention aimed at amending and strengthening the Trade-Guild Law was held, sponsored by Osaka, at the Nakanoshima Public Hall [中之島公會堂], with 1,200 representatives of over 300 unions assembling. Chief Takaoka, attending, submitted two proposals: (1) that a distance-restriction provision be enacted within the Trade-Guild Law; (2) the establishment of a Central Association of Trade Guilds [同業組合中央會]. Both being weighty matters, they were not resolved then but deferred to a later date, and he was commissioned as a special investigation committee-member...

Page 73 (七三)

...and returned to Tokyo. Intending first of all to put the plan into real practice within the guild he led, Takaoka quietly worked out a detailed plan amid his duties; and, come the New Year, on January 9 of Shōwa 10 [1935], as agreed at the wholesale-section officers' meeting, the Chief, Deputy Chief, and all the wholesale-section officers worshipped at the Meiji Shrine; at 4 p.m. he attended the guild New-Year general meeting held at 幸樂 (Kōraku) in Akasaka, and there, following the report on the previous year's business results, disclosed his business-distance-restriction proposal, intimating that — since this November happened to mark the full 20th anniversary of the guild's founding — it would be a good opportunity to realize it. Thereafter he advanced his preparations step by step according to plan: as the first task he organized a new sectional system as a requisite for guild expansion, and in March appointed a committee to prepare the establishment of the new sectional system. The section officers and the directors took this on and undertook the solicitation of non-members. Thus in April a membership-solicitation letter was issued to a total of 1,600 persons — non-members and members alike — across the whole of Tokyo prefecture.

The solicitation letter spoke of the guild's past and present, expounded its future, and repeatedly argued the absolute urgency of self-governing control; it also set out in detail the guild program to be put in force at once henceforth. In language plain and courteous, yet vigorous and spirited, it made the guild spirit intelligible to anyone and was enough to move anyone. Its full text is given here:

"On the Occasion of the 20th Anniversary of the Guild's Founding — an Appeal to the Hardware Dealers of the Metropolis" [◎組合設立滿二十周年に際し都下金物販賣業者に懇ふ]:

"Our 東京金物同業組合 (Tokyo Hardware Trade Guild) was founded in Taishō 4 [1915] and, having since then a 20-year history, holds one of the foremost records among the metropolitan guilds. The fixed undertakings it carries on — namely (1) inspection of members' manufactured goods; (2) commendation of the employees that members engage; (3) disposition of dishonest employees [不正從業員の處分]; (4) inspection of production districts and sales channels; (5) holding of product-reviews or exhibitions, and exhibiting; (6) holding of lectures or training sessions; and (7) disaster mutual-aid facilities — and, besides these, such other undertakings as from time to time are needed to advance members' interests; and its results, gradually attained, have been favourable, so that long-established merchants steadily increase and keen new traders successively join, the present strength being as in the following table (appended separately). In the metropolis there are about 2,560 traders in the trade, and, adding the department stores, markets, and sundries-dealers who also handle hardware, no fewer than roughly 3,000 in all; and to these..."

Page 74 (七四)

...by comparison, this ratio is a mere 2-wari-4-bu (24%). This is because the guild's structure was, from its founding, planned with the old city (舊市) as its center. However, with the recent amalgamation of the 84 surrounding towns and villages (近郊八十四ヶ町村の合併), Greater Tokyo (大東京) was built, and a great transformation came about in every direction. Before that, what we loosely called the "county districts" (郡部) — apart from a few prosperous spots — scarcely required the guild's regulatory reach, so recruitment there had been pursued only loosely.

But to leave things as they are is now impossible: first, for the advancement of the members' interests, and second, for the carrying out of the guild's business. As it happens, this year marks the full twentieth anniversary of the guild's founding (組合創立より滿二十周年), and we shall hold its commemoration. I thought that the most meaningful thing to do on this occasion would be to bring the whole city's traders into the guild and to seek our shared welfare together. We will therefore first renew the guild's structure and reorganize its departments. By "reorganizing the departments" I mean building up a system of one ward = one department (一區を一部). Hitherto, for topographical and other reasons, two, three, or four wards were combined into a single department, but this proved inconvenient in practice. So, except for a few unavoidable areas, the twenty wards of the new city (新市二十區) will each be made into one department, in order to strengthen the solidarity of the traders in each. The details are given separately (別記).

As to how effective a one-ward-one-department structure is: it aids the functioning of the guild and is convenient for control; and it advances the members' interests. These two points are inseparable, like the two wheels of a cart...

Page 75 (七五)

So the guild makes each ward into one department, places a department head (部長) over it to handle that department's business, and raises suitable, able persons as secretaries (幹事)... Things that an individual cannot do alone — and the full benefits of membership — can thereby be enjoyed. For example: restricting the opening of new shops (新規開店業者の制限), and preventing unfair competition and dumping (不當競爭や亂賣の防止).

The ratio of hardware shops to the whole city's households is about one in 330 (約三百三十分の一) — that is, one shop is allotted to 330 households. The hardest-pressed trades are the liquor shop (酒屋) and the confectioner (菓子屋), because theirs are consumable goods... Whereas hardware goods, once bought, last several years... so even if their ratio is somewhat high, they can get by through diligence. Yet new shops keep springing up... Against a shop whose purchasing power is already reduced, a newcomer's flood of openings brings common ruin (共倒れ) and runs counter to mutual coexistence and prosperity (共存共榮).

Page 76 (七六)

[The chairman's circular continues.] He argues that unfair competition cannot be suppressed by any single force; only wholehearted cooperation can solve such problems. He urges all traders to join the Tokyo Hardware Trade Guild (東京金物同業組合に加入). As one of the undertakings commemorating the full twentieth anniversary of the founding (創立滿二十周年の記念事業), the guild is establishing the department system (部制の確立). He notes that the guild has no power to compel membership and, except in special cases, will not resort to the law; that fulfilling one's duty and protecting mutual welfare accords with "Heaven's dispensation" and with "humanity's highest morality."

Page 77 (七七)

[Close of the chairman's circular, with signature:]

"...and you may, I believe, rest easy about the future. I repeat my hope that, on this occasion, you will join this guild as a member and stand at the forefront of the trade.

April [—], Shōwa 10 (昭和十年四月　日) [April 1935] Tokyo Hardware Trade Guild, Chairman Takaoka Nobutsugu (東京金物同業組合組長　高岡宣次) [宣次; reading approximate] To all fellow traders (同業者各位)"

Chapter 2 — Membership Recruitment Campaign (第二章 加入勸誘運動)

This circular (移檄) indeed drew storm-like sympathy and response; every department rose up in a vigorous campaign, and each committee member — paying his own expenses and his own lunch (自費手辨當) and putting his own business second — went calling house to house. The first to act were those in the Kōtō (江東) direction, where committee members Yajima Eikichi (矢島榮吉), Kōda Morichika (幸田守親), Nakamura Bungorō (中村文五郎), Fukushima Bunkichi (福島文吉), Maeda Takujirō (前田宅次郎), Arai Yasuo (荒井保雄) and more than ten others joined hands and opened the way... with such zeal that, it is said, the scene looked as if guns might fly.

Thus in Honjo ward (本所) alone, the existing 16 members were joined by 31 new ones, reaching 47. Such scenes doubtless appeared everywhere in the new-city area, and every department was expanded to two or three times its former size.

The wholesale division (卸部) responded likewise: first, Saitō Yōzō (齋藤要藏), head of the sundries department (雜器部々長), took the lead, and with several others went out at dawn and returned at dusk with such zeal that the department's existing 13 members leaped to 180. This department swept up the non-member handlers of goods that fell under none of the copper, iron, or sheet-metal departments... Other wholesale departments likewise expanded. New members reached 282 by 20 May, and 760 by 20 June. And the founding assemblies of the departments under the new department system were held one after another.

Page 78 (七八)

Retail division (小賣部) — founding-assembly dates and venues:

Department (ward) Date Venue
1st dept (本所區) and 24th dept (城東區) 15 May 龜戸町菊水 (Kameido-chō, Kikusui)
10th dept (品川區) 9 June 料亭見晴 (restaurant Miharashi)
17th dept (淀橋區) 11 June 淀橋倶樂部 (Yodobashi Club)
28th dept (足立區) 13 June 千住幸手屋 (Senju, Satteya)
13th dept (荏原區) and 14th dept (目黒區) 23 June 洗足會館 (Senzoku Kaikan)
15th dept (澁谷區) 17 June 圓山雲仙閣 (Maruyama, Unzenkaku)
2nd wire-mesh-sieve dept (第二金網篩部; special dept within the retail division) 24 June 芝浦いけす (Shibaura, Ikesu)
20th dept (板橋區) 2 July 池袋旭屋 (Ikebukuro, Asahiya)
19th dept (豊島區) 20 July 池袋町會事務所 (Ikebukuro town-council office)
16th dept (世田ヶ谷區) 22 July 玉川柳屋 (Tamagawa, Yanagiya)
21st dept (瀧野川區) 29 July 飛鳥山野村屋 (Asukayama, Nomuraya)
11th dept (大森區) and 12th dept (蒲田區) 8 Aug 大森つるや (Ōmori, Tsuruya)
22nd dept (王子區) 10 Aug 王子榎町倶樂部 (Ōji Enokichō Club)
23rd dept (荒川區) 3 Sept 荒川遊園本家茶屋 (Arakawa amusement park, Honke-jaya)

Wholesale division (卸部):

Department Date Venue
Sundries dept (雜器部) 27 June 本鄉區湯島魚十 (Hongō ward, Yushima, Uojū)

Page 79 (七九)

[Tail of the preceding schedule:] Enamel-ironware department (琺瑯鐵器部) — 9 July (角筈辨天閣 / Tsunohazu, Bentenkaku).

Chapter 3 — Development of the Control System (第三章 統制體制整備)

New department system, as of 10 October 1935 (新部制　昭和十年十月十日現在). Columns: department / prior members (舊員數) / new members (新員數) / total (計) / head (部長).

Wholesale (卸部) and retail (小賣部) departments with heads:

Department Head (部長)
銅鐵器具部 (copper-iron implements) 吉岡逸次 (Yoshioka Itsuji) — prior 34 + new 9 = 43
鐵鑄物部 (iron castware) 山口環 (Yamaguchi Tamaki)
利器工具部 (edged tools & implements) 武藤勘助 (Mutō Kansuke) — prior 7 + new 4 = 11
琺瑯鐵器部 (enamel ironware) 松橋九八郎 (Matsuhashi Kuhachirō)
建築家具金物部 (building & furniture hardware) 川島廣吉 (Kawashima Hirokichi)
アルミニューム器具部 (aluminium ware) 那須アルミニューム製造所 (Nasu Aluminium Mfg)
鐵葉製品部 (sheet-metal/tinware products) 富井彌三郎 (Tomii Yasaburō)
金網部 (wire netting) 井桁平三郎 (Igeta Heizaburō)
雜器部 (sundries) 齋藤要藏 (Saitō Yōzō)
第一部 (1st retail dept) 矢島榮吉 (Yajima Eikichi)
第二部 中村文五郎 (Nakamura Bungorō)
第三部 松下茸藏 (Matsushita [Chao?]zō) [given name uncertain]
第四部 石川宇吉 (Ishikawa Ukichi)
第五部 須田勝一郎 (Suda Katsuichirō)
第六部 宮坂鐵太郎 (Miyasaka Tetsutarō)

The table also prints, for each department, the prior members (舊員數), new members (新員數), and total (計). Two fully legible examples: 銅鐵器具部 — 34 + 9 = 43; 利器工具部 — 7 + 4 = 11. The remaining per-department figures are printed but too foxed to transcribe with confidence.

Page 80 (八〇)

New department system (continued) — retail departments 7 through 28, heads (部長):

Department Head
第七部 久保田德藏 (Kubota Tokuzō)
第八部 岡田清次郎 (Okada Seijirō)
第九部 森田[信?]吉 (Morita [Shin?]kichi)
第十部 星野巳之助 (Hoshino Minosuke)
第十一部 平林茂吉 (Hirabayashi Mokichi)
第十二部 櫻木芳國 (Sakuragi Yoshikuni)
第十三部 寺西治郎 (Teranishi Jirō)
第十四部 宮野[?] (Miyano [—])
第十五部 藏野直一 (Kurano Naoichi)
第十六部 河野[?]郎 (Kōno [—]rō)
第十七部 平塚藤三郎 (Hiratsuka Tōzaburō)
第十八部 伊藤[三五?]郎 (Itō [Sango?]rō) [cf. p.97: 伊藤三五郎]
第十九部 高木[?]郎 (Takagi [—]rō)
第二十部 平田[?]祐 (Hirata [—]suke)
第二十一部 磯貝[?]助 (Isogai [—]suke)
第二十二部 牧[?]平 (Maki [—]hei)
第二十三部 松永龍藏 (Matsunaga Ryūzō)
第二十四部 福田杏吉 (Fukuda Kyōkichi)
第二十五部 未定 (undecided)
第二十六部 未定 (undecided)
第二十七部 未定 (undecided)
第二十八部 橋本寅藏 (Hashimoto Torazō)

(Each department's membership figures are also printed in three bands but are mostly too degraded to transcribe reliably.)

Page 81 (八一)

New department system (concluded) — further retail departments:

Department Head
第二十九部 師岡忠助 (Morooka Chūsuke)
第三十部 未定 (undecided)
第三十一部 未定 (undecided)
第三十二部 未定 (undecided)
第二金網篩部 (2nd wire-mesh-sieve dept) 山崎銀三 (Yamazaki Ginzō)

The retail-division totals printed at the foot of the table: prior members (舊員數) 687 + new members (新員數) 899 = total (計) 1,586.

Thus the expansion was fully accomplished, and to press on with control preparations, an evaluators' meeting (評議員會) was held on 25 August [1935] at Shibaura Umeya (芝浦梅屋) to deliberate business-distance restriction (營業者の距離制限), prevention of over-concentration (濫立防止), price agreement (價格協定), standard unification (規格統一), and trade improvement (取引改善), and to carefully draft the proposals; then on 12 October a re-convened evaluators' meeting at the guild office, where all was passed as proposed; and on 22 October a guild assembly (組合會) was held, again at Shibaura Umeya, for deliberation. Present that day were the following:

Officers: Chairman Takaoka (高岡組長); Vice-chairman Okamura (岡村副組長); Accountant Ishida (石田會計); Assembly Chairman Ueno (上野組合會議長); Vice Assembly-Chairman Kamijō (上條副議長).

Councillors and attendees (names and firms): 正木定太郎 (Masaki Teitarō), 松本武男 (Matsumoto Takeo), 藤森傳吉 (Fujimori Denkichi), 山崎貞一郎 (Yamazaki Teiichirō), 川北政吉 (Kawakita Masakichi), 小川忠作 (Ogawa Chūsaku), 狩野隆英 (Kanō Takahide), 津田源右衞門 (Tsuda Gen'emon), 平矼太郎 (Hira[?]tarō), 岡谷合資會社 (Okaya & Co., Gōshi-gaisha), 新實善一 (Niimi Zen'ichi), 小林昇三 (Kobayashi Shōzō), 若生文二 (Wakō Bunji), 飯島房次郎 (Iijima Fusajirō), 吉野幸雄 (Yoshino Yukio), 日本アルミ製造所 (Nihon Aluminium Mfg), 乾水吉東京支店 (Inui Mizukichi, Tokyo branch), 高木金藏 (Takagi Kinzō), 宮塚甚助 (Miyazuka Jinsuke), 緒方新一郎 (Ogata Shin'ichirō), 新居清作 (Nii Seisaku), 中島安太郎 (Nakajima Yasutarō), 小田五郎 (Oda Gorō), 廣井藤吉 (Hiroi Tōkichi), 深澤榮五郎 (Fukazawa Eigorō), 石川廣吉 (Ishikawa Hirokichi), 河野金物店 (Kōno Hardware Store), 福島章吉 (Fukushima Shōkichi), 山村武雄 (Yamamura Takeo), 大木清太郎 (Ōki Seitarō), 月村初五郎 (Tsukimura Hatsugorō), 渥美文三 (Atsumi Bunzō), 岩瀬榮一 (Iwase Eiichi), 小澤榮一 (Ozawa Eiichi), 山崎長治 (Yamazaki Chōji).

Page 82 (八二)

At the appointed time, Chairman Takaoka opened the meeting; Assembly Chairman Ueno took the chair; and on that basis, as to the matter of amending the articles of association, Chairman Takaoka explained each article in detail to the whole body. Questions came in turn from Ogawa Chūsaku (小川忠作), Ōki Seitarō (大木清太郎) and others, and the chairman answered. In particular, Mr. Ōki's keen, probing questions and the seasoned, fluent, clear answers of secretary-general Hirasawa (平澤書記長) held the audience rapt. Thus, as below, the original proposal was approved by the assembly, and application for approval was at once made to the competent authority.

Articles-of-association amendments adopted at the assembly (定款變更條項):

  1. Add to Article 6 as items 5–8: supervision of transactions (取引ニ關スル取締); matters of price agreement (價格協定ニ關スル事項); matters of standard unification (規格統一ニ關スル事項); brokerage of transactions and of debt-collection (取引並ニ代金取立ノ斡旋).
  2. Delete the old Article 8 and newly provide: Article 8 — To guarantee transactions among members and to promote mutual interest, the guild collects a membership-guarantee deposit (信認金) of 100 yen per member. Exceptions, where the deposit may be reduced or remitted: (a) an employee of a member who, retiring in good standing, joins the guild; (b) where the chairman deems reduction or remission necessary. The deposit is refunded when a member loses his qualification.
  3. [Continued as Article 8-(1) on the next page.]

Page 83 (八三)

[Continuing the amendments:] Those seeking to join the guild must file — together with the prescribed deposit, via their department head — their business location, line of business, trade name and personal name, and date of birth (for a corporation, the representative's name and date of birth).

  1. After the old Article 78, newly establish the following clauses:
    • (a) Article 79 — A member may not trade with a non-member peer within the district.
    • (b) Article 80 — A member may not, at the request of a non-member peer within the district, trade with a [fellow] member under his own name [i.e. act as a front for a non-member].
    • (c) Article 81 — The guild agrees the sale prices of the goods its members handle, for the product types listed below.

Price-agreement product types (價格協定品種):

  1. Aluminium-sheet products (アルミ板製品; standard goods of the Provisional Bureau of Industrial Rationalization): hot-water pot (湯沸), teapot (急須), lunch box (辨當函), tea canister (茶入), kettle (釜), water bottle (水筒), cup (コップ, coffee-bowl shape), pan (鍋), steaming pot (假蒸器).
  2. Aluminium castware (アルミ鑄物製品; same standard): kettle (釜), pan (鍋), hot-water pot (湯沸).
  3. Enamel ironware (琺瑯鐵器製品; same standard): wash basin (洗面器), cup (コップ, coffee and cylindrical shapes), lunch box (辨當函), tea canister (茶入), pan (鍋), hot-water pot (湯沸).
  4. Copper and brass products (銅眞鍮製品; same standard): wash basin (洗面器), wash tub (タラヒ), 臺重能[?] (fire shovel / ash pan?), copper pot (銅壺), hot-water pot (湯沸), egg pan (玉子燒, with and without lid), spoons and forks (スプーン及フォーク).
  5. Building hardware (建築金物): round nails (丸釘).
  6. Other goods whose prices fluctuate sharply from time to time.

[There follow the opening provisions on the price-agreement committee — e.g. Article 83: price-agreement committee members are selected by the chairman and commissioned after the approval of the evaluators' council.]

Page 84 (八四)

[Statutory amendments, continued — officers and committees.] The price-agreement committee is appointed in two classes: 5 from among the control-committee members, and 5 from interested parties (利害關係者) [learned and experienced persons]. The committee, by mutual election, chooses one chairman and one vice-chairman; term of office is 2 years (re-election permitted; a member filling a vacancy serves out the predecessor's remaining term). Further provisions amend the old Articles 84 (filling vacancies), 85, 86, 87 (special-circumstance pricing), 88, and 89 (uniform pricing where setting prices individually is difficult), renumber the old Articles 79/80, and so on. Mostly administrative.

Page 85 (八五)

[Tail of the statutory amendments:]

  1. The old Article 86 is amended to provide penalties (過怠金) of 10 to 500 yen for: trading with a party under a trading-suspension order; employing a person under disciplinary action; exporting or attempting to export un-inspected goods; or violating Articles 16, 79, 80, or 88.
  2. After the old Article 91, a new article: "For the execution of control business, the guild places 42 control-committee members (統制委員四拾貳名); control matters are provided for separately." (End.) 22 October, Shōwa 10 (昭和十年十月二十二日) — Tokyo Hardware Trade Guild.

The intra-district member/non-member trade-ban provision and the other control measures were unprecedented anywhere in the country — a landmark new institution that drew the supervising authorities' attention... The whole membership pushed it forward with unanimous zeal, and it became a focus of national attention among trade bodies.

Anniversary donations (toward the 20th-anniversary celebration and the 9th employee-award ceremony held the same day):

Donations from all quarters totalled ¥2,285; the guild added to this to reach ¥3,300 for the celebration and the 9th employee-award ceremony.

Page 86 (八六)

The 20th-Anniversary Commemorative Celebration (創立二十周年記念祝賀會)

8 November — this very day was the day of the founding twenty years earlier, and it is also the annual festival day of the Kanayama Shrine (金山神社) enshrined at the guild office [Kanayama being the tutelary deity of metalworkers]. On this auspicious morning at 8 a.m., the chairman and some thirty-odd officers gathered at the office and held the solemn Kanayama festival, then proceeded to the ceremony hall.

At the celebration hall, Ueno Seiyōken (上野精養軒), the officers turned out in full: reception staff 48, guest staff 5, hall staff 11 — a total of 87 — each with his assigned duty, awaiting the opening. At 10 a.m. the ceremony began with Vice-chairman Okamura (岡村)'s opening words, and the chairman read his address.

Address (式辭): "On the occasion of welcoming the full twentieth anniversary of this guild's founding, honored by the presence of our distinguished guests and the assembly of our fellows, to be able to hold this commemoration is a joy beyond our restraint... In the early Taishō years, the depression bewildered men's minds and bred many ills in the trade... this was indeed this very day, November, Taishō 4 (大正四年十一月ノ本日) [November 1915]..." [The classical address continues on the next page.]

Page 87 (八七)

[Close of the chairman's address:] "...Here, commemorating the twentieth anniversary of the founding and holding this celebration, and ever pressing forward toward our goal with our sixteen hundred devoted members (一千六百ノ肉彈), I set down my sentiments as this address.

8 November, Shōwa 10 (昭和十年十一月八日) Tokyo Hardware Trade Guild, Chairman Takaoka Nobutsugu (東京金物同業組合組長　高岡宣次)"

Thereupon the chairman presented, to the following 28 meritorious members (組合功勞者二十八氏), letters of thanks and commemorative gifts (silver and wooden cups):

富永佐右衞門 (Tominaga Sauemon), 都築久七 (Tsuzuki Kyūshichi), 上野鐵郎 (Ueno Tetsurō), 小川忠作 (Ogawa Chūsaku), 木下力 (Kinoshita Chikara), 清洲商店 (Kiyosu Shōten) / 關根要次郎 (Sekine Yōjirō), 加藤伊助 (Katō Isuke), 宮坂鐵太郎 (Miyasaka Tetsutarō), 山口環 (Yamaguchi Tamaki), 森信吉 (Mori Shinkichi), 平林茂吉 (Hirabayashi Mokichi), 吉岡逸次 (Yoshioka Itsuji), 松橋九八郎 (Matsuhashi Kuhachirō), 久保田德藏 (Kubota Tokuzō), 矢島榮吉 (Yajima Eikichi), 須田勝一郎 (Suda Katsuichirō), 岡田清次郎 (Okada Seijirō), 那須アルミニューム製造所 (Nasu Aluminium Mfg), 富井彌三郎 (Tomii Yasaburō), 石川宇吉 (Ishikawa Ukichi), 松永龍藏 (Matsunaga Ryūzō), 上條幸助 (Kamijō Kōsuke), 川島廣吉 (Kawashima Hirokichi), 井桁平三郎 (Igeta Heizaburō), 鈴木眞三 (Suzuki Shinzō), 平塚藤三郎 (Hiratsuka Tōzaburō), 矢野幸次郎 (Yano Kōjirō). (清洲商店 and 關根要次郎 are listed as a paired cell — firm and proprietor; the roster totals 28.)

[Employee awards:] After inspection-committee chairman Okada Toshio (岡田敏雄)'s inspection report, award certificates, medals, and commemorative gifts were conferred. The awardees: Miyagi Kōnosuke (宮城江之介), employee of the Kameyama Kyūtarō shop (龜山久太郎商店), with 40 years 1 month of service; next Furui Masazō (古井政藏), employee of the Niwa Kyūjirō shop (丹羽久次郎商店), with 32 years 8 months; then those with 20-plus years (22 persons), 15-plus years (33), and 10-plus years (33) — a total of 174 awardees.

Page 88 (八八)

[Photograph, caption:] "Grave-visit to the late Ōkubo Sōzaemon (故大久保惣左衞門氏墓參); former vice-chairman Sakai Zensaku (元副組長坂井善作氏)."

The chairman's earnest exhortation ended; the guests' congratulatory addresses followed in turn; Miyagi Kōnosuke (宮城江之介) answered on behalf of the awardees; and Vice-chairman Sakai (坂井) declared the close. The guests who delivered congratulatory addresses that day were:

After the ceremony, a grand standing-buffet reception was held in the great hall below; the wide hall, with no room to stand even an awl, teemed with 2,500 attendees — truly magnificent.

Then at 1 p.m., the officers lined up their cars and, to console the spirits of the guild's deceased contributors and to report the guild's present state, visited the graves — beginning with Ōkubo Sōzaemon (大久保惣左衞門) at Jōsokuji in Koishikawa ward (小石川區常速寺), and including 橋本太吉 (Hashimoto Takichi), 阿部彥四郎 (Abe Hikoshirō), 梅田仙吉 (Umeda Senkichi), 山口孝太郎 (Yamaguchi Kōtarō), 篠原十四郎 (Shinohara Jūshirō), 井原作太郎 (Ihara Sakutarō), 土川太藏 (Tsuchikawa Tazō), 大塚重吉 (Ōtsuka Jūkichi), 井上善七 (Inoue Zenshichi), 中村村司 (Nakamura Muraji), 宮川榮三郎 (Miyagawa Eizaburō) — and so the commemorative celebration auspiciously concluded.

Page 89 (八九)

Decision on the Important Control Regulations (重要統制規程決定)

Shōwa 10 [1935] ended in great busyness; welcoming Shōwa 11 [1936], on 9 January, at the New Year banquet held at Akasaka Kōraku (赤坂幸樂) — with the Tokyo governor, officials, and the heads of related hardware associations as guests, and the whole membership assembled — Chairman Takaoka took the dais and, after the congratulatory words, deeply thanked all for the past year's success in strengthening the guild through everyone's cooperation... and pledged, in the face of launching an epoch-making new institution unmatched among the nation's trade guilds, to tighten solidarity and redouble effort... Now all awaited only the approval of the articles amendment.

By March, new members already numbered over 1,000 (一千有餘名); with some still not joined, it was resolved to make a final recruitment push and, where unavoidable, to act decisively. In April and May, demands for prompt approval flooded in and members kept increasing, while each department set provisional measures (e.g. withholding goods) toward non-members.

Although the articles amendment was not yet approved — since it would have to be implemented at once upon approval — the evaluators' meeting (評議員會), the guild assembly (組合會), the wholesale senior/vice dept-head meeting (卸部正副部長會), the retail senior/vice dept-head meeting (小賣部正副部長會), the control committee (統制委員會), and their joint meetings — formal and informal — met almost daily through June and July, repeatedly deliberating the important control regulations until they were settled.

Thus the long-awaited approval came on 21 July [1936], and the key regulations under the new articles were established: (1) control committee, (2) transactions, (3) prices, (4) deposit (信認金). Of these, (1) was decided first; (2), (3), and (4) were settled in the control committee. The control-committee members were decided at the same time; then on 10 July the control officers (統制役員) were decided.

Page 90 (九〇)

The control-committee rules were enacted on 10 July; the transaction rules and the deposit rules were both enacted on 1 November. They are as follows.

Various Control Regulations (統制ニ關スル諸規程)

1. Rules on control-committee members (統制委員ニ關スル規定):

Page 91 (九一)

[Control-committee rules, continued.] Art. 6's list: (1) oversight and supervision of the implementation of all the guild's control regulations; (2) matters of encouragement or disciplinary disposition arising therefrom; (3) all other matters necessary to execute its duties and powers. Art. 7: the control-committee chairman convenes the committee at the chairman's request, or when he deems it necessary, or on the request of two-thirds or more of the members. Art. 8: the committee chairman presides. Art. 9: the meeting is not opened unless at least half the quota is present in each of the wholesale and retail divisions. Art. 10: resolutions require the agreement of two-thirds of those present; the joint wholesale-retail control committee (卸・小賣聯合統制委員會) elects its chairman by mutual election, with 3 members selected from each of the wholesale and retail divisions. Articles 11–15: on the chairman representing and executing, protection and defense against infringements, minutes with signatures, and referral of disciplinary matters to the evaluators' council within 10 days. Administrative.

Page 92 (九二)

[Standard-mark (標章) rules, Arts. 16–19:] The committee chairman's handling where a disposition contravenes or falls short of the committee's resolution; the chairman may convene the guild assembly on his request (Art. 17); squad meetings may be held (Art. 18); matters outside these rules are handled under the guild's articles (Art. 19).

2. Regulations on Transactions (取引ニ關スル規程)

Page 93 (九三)

[Standard-mark rules, Arts. 6–8:] The mark may not be lent, transferred, or let to another for use (Art. 6); on loss or theft it must be reported for reissue, at cost (Art. 7); violation of Arts. 2, 3, or 6 is disciplined by committee resolution (Art. 8).

3. Price-Agreement Regulations (價格協定ニ關スル規程)

Page 94 (九四)

[Price-agreement committee rules.] Appointment is in two classes: 5 from among the control-committee members, and 5 interested parties (利害關係者). The control-committee members are chosen by mutual election; the interested parties are commissioned by the chairman (Art. 3). The committee, by mutual election, chooses one chairman and one vice-chairman (Art. 4); term 2 years, re-election permitted (Art. 5). The committee meets monthly, and at any time the chairman deems necessary (Art. 6); the committee chairman presides (Art. 7); the guild chairman convenes it (Art. 8); resolutions are minuted and reported, with the signatures of the chair and of two or more attending members, to the control-committee chairman (Art. 9). Art. 10 — the basis for calculating an agreed price: (1) raw-material price; (2) production wages; (3) materials and attached costs; (4) the handling fee the wholesaler or retailer is to receive.

Page 95 (九五)

Retail Control Districts (小賣部統制區域)

1. Central squad (中央統制班): 3rd dept (淺草區), 4th dept (下谷區), 5th dept (本郷區・小石川區), 6th dept (牛込區・四谷區・麹町區・赤坂區), 7th dept (芝區・麻布區), 8th dept (日本橋區・京橋區), 9th dept (神田區). [The 2nd wire-mesh-sieve dept and saw-trade dept (鋸業部) members within this squad belong here.]

2. Jōnan/South squad (城南統制班): 10th dept (品川區), 11th dept (大森區), 12th dept (蒲田區), 13th dept (荏原區), 14th dept (目黒區), 15th dept (澁谷區), 16th dept (世田ヶ谷區). [Same special-dept note.]

3. Jōsei/West squad (城西統制班): 17th dept (淀橋區), 18th dept (中野區・杉並區) [continued].

Page 96 (九六)

Retail Control Districts (continued)

3. Jōsei/West squad (城西統制班), concluded: 29th dept (八王子市).

4. Jōhoku/North squad (城北統制班): 19th dept (豊島區), 20th dept (板橋區), 21st dept (瀧野川區), 22nd dept (王子區), 23rd dept (荒川區). [The 2nd wire-mesh-sieve dept and saw-trade dept members within the squad belong here.]

5. Kōtō squad (江東統制班): 1st dept (本所區), 2nd dept (深川區), 24th dept (城東區), 25th dept (向島區), 26th dept (江戸川區), 27th dept (葛飾區), 28th dept (足立區). [Same special-dept note.]

Control Committee — Wholesale Division (統制委員　卸部)

(The wholesale department heads:)

Page 97 (九七)

(Wholesale control committee, concluded:)

Control Committee — Retail Division (小賣部) — department heads, 1st through 29th:

Dept Head Dept Head
第一部 荒井保雄 (Arai Yasuo) 第二部 石川廣吉 (Ishikawa Hirokichi)
第三部 名取正勝 (Natori Masakatsu) 第四部 石川宇吉 (Ishikawa Ukichi)
第五部 須田勝一郎 (Suda Katsuichirō) 第六部 岡野安五郎 (Okano Yasugorō)
第七部 栃木龜吉 (Tochigi Kamekichi) 第八部 小山金太郎 (Koyama Kintarō)
第九部 山本滿三 (Yamamoto Mitsuzō) 第十部 渡邊忠平 (Watanabe Chūhei)
第十一部 平林茂吉 (Hirabayashi Mokichi) 第十二部 櫻木芳國 (Sakuragi Yoshikuni)
第十三部 小田雄三 (Oda Yūzō) 第十四部 萩原兼一 (Hagiwara Ken'ichi)
第十五部 秋元德次郎 (Akimoto Tokujirō) 第十六部 池田鐵五郎 (Ikeda Tetsugorō)
第十七部 平塚藤三郎 (Hiratsuka Tōzaburō) 第十八部 伊藤三五郎 (Itō Sangorō)
第十九部 鴻森多介 (Kōmori Tasuke) 第二十部 野口春吉 (Noguchi Harukichi)
第二十一部 岩倉孝仁 (Iwakura Takahito) 第二十二部 稲田吉平 (Inada Kichihei)
第二十三部 熊倉芳次郎 (Kumakura Yoshijirō) 第二十四部 福島章吉 (Fukushima Shōkichi)
第二十五部 丸山川吉 (Maruyama Kawakichi) 第二十六部 石原好太郎 (Ishihara Kōtarō)
第二十七部 中島留太郎 (Nakajima Tometarō) 第二十八部 橋本寅藏 (Hashimoto Torazō)
第二十九部 木下晋次郎 (Kinoshita Shinjirō)

Page 98 (九八)

Special departments (concluded): 2nd wire-mesh-sieve dept (第二金網篩部) — 山崎銀三 (Yamazaki Ginzō); ditto (same dept group) — 長澤美之 (Nagasawa Yoshiyuki), 太田勝巳 (Ōta Katsumi), 川尻久左衞門 (Kawajiri Kyūzaemon).

Control Division Officers (統制各役員)

Joint Control Committee (聯合統制委員)

Squad leaders (班々長) and deputies (副班長):

Joint committee members, by division:

In September the control members designated the squad leaders and deputies; the Central, Jōnan, Jōsei, Jōhoku, and Kōtō squads were duly fixed; and it was decided first of all to enforce the ban on transactions between members and non-members.

Page 99 (九九)

The control members' duties are heavy: advisory to the chairman, yet also the active enforcers. Thus on 25 September, a general meeting of the wholesale officers was held at Koishikawa Keikei-kan (小石川豊溪會館), along with meetings of the retail officers of each squad, to settle the behind-the-scenes arrangements; then the articles, the key clauses, the control regulations, and the explanatory booklet were dispatched; on 15 October, letters requesting cooperation in the guild's control enforcement were sent to 30 related guilds across the country; and the guild prepared the member mark and poster (shown below), posting them at shops, and prepared the individual member badges.

[Plate: "Part of the control regulations document" (統制規定書ノ一部)] — a Special Notice (特別告知) from the Tokyo Hardware Trade Guild (東京金物同業組合), showing Article 79 (a member may not trade with non-member peers in the district), Article 80 (procedure where a member wishes to trade with a non-member), and dated 1 November, Shōwa 12 (昭和十二年十一月一日) [1 Nov 1937].

Badge (徽章): characters in gold, on a black cloisonné (七寶) ground, with the serial number engraved on the reverse.

Thus as of 30 November, membership reached 3,813 (組合員數三千八百十三名); on 4 December a joint meeting of the councillors and all the control members was held, completing every preparation for implementing control.

Business-Distance Restriction (營業距離制限) — implemented 1 June, Shōwa 13 [1938]

Among the control measures, the one that struck most fundamentally at the evils of the time is the business-distance restriction. As already touched upon, the greatest cause of the decline of small and medium commerce is...

Page 100 (一〇〇)

This survey [of the previous page's theme] belongs to Shōwa 10; since then the trade's numbers have further increased, and the fact that non-members still exist shows that the true figure does not appear in the survey. At any rate, by this survey a retail hardware shop's customers number, on average, one shop per 330 households; the shops with the lowest ratio are in Kanda ward (216 households) and the highest in Katsushika ward... each ward differing; and one wholesaler is allotted to about six retail shops.

Relation of Tokyo's Household Count to Guild Members (central wards)

Columns: department / district / households (世帯數) / retail members (小賣部組合員數) / households per member (組合員一名ニ割當テタ世帯數).

Dept District(s) Households Retail members Households/member
第一部 本所區 54,459 124 439
第二部 深川區 64,554 141 458
第三部 淺草區 59,980 133 451
第四部 下谷區 39,009 106 368
第五部 本郷區・小石川區 55,302 110 503 [printed ratio unclear]
第六部 麹町區・赤坂區・四谷區・牛込區 41,271 138 299
第七部 芝區・麻布區 24,882 115 216
第八部 日本橋區・京橋區 42,886 83 517
第九部 神田區 55,099 100 551

(Central-ward retail members total 950.)

Page 101 (一〇一)

Relation of Tokyo's Household Count to Guild Members (outer wards and special departments)

Note: household figures are from the Shōwa 10 (1935) national census; member figures are from the end-of-January, Shōwa 12 (1937) survey.

Departments and districts:

Each ward's 1935 household count and January-1937 member count are tabulated beside its department; the special departments (2nd wire-mesh-sieve, saw-trade) cover the whole city. The per-ward figures are printed but, owing to the degraded and offset table layout, cannot be paired to each department with confidence.

Page 102 (一〇二)

Wholesale Division (卸部) — establishments by department

Department Count
銅鐵器具部 (copper-iron implements) 47
鐵鑄物部 (ironware / castware) 10
利器工具部 (edged tools & implements) 100
琺瑯鐵器部 (enamel ironware) 56
建築家具金物部 (building & furniture hardware) 93
アルミニューム器具部 (aluminium ware) 29
鐵葉製品部 (sheet-metal / tinware) 24
金網器部 (wire netting) 11
雜器部 (sundries) 108
バケツ部 (buckets) 32
Total (計) 510

This survey belongs to Shōwa 10, and since then the trade has grown further; with non-members also present, the true figure exceeds the survey. By it, each retail hardware shop's customer base averages 364 households per shop; the lowest ratio is in Kanda ward (216 households) and the highest in Katsushika ward (1,111 households), each ward differing; and one wholesaler is reckoned to serve about six retail shops. (Discussion follows on the decline of small/medium commerce — rising competition, department-store ascendancy, consumer cooperatives, public markets, and shrinking sales days — and on the growing need for self-control.)

The guild therefore submitted the "Business-Distance Restriction Proposal" (營業距離制限案) to the April evaluators' meeting; it was resolved and referred to the guild assembly, which, after careful deliberation, named as the drafting committee for the formal proposal — from the wholesale division — 田中清五郎 (Tanaka Seigorō), 坂井善作 (Sakai Zensaku), 川島廣吉 (Kawashima Hirokichi), 松本圭司 (Matsumoto Keiji), 齋藤要藏 (Saitō Yōzō); and from the retail division [continued].

Page 103 (一〇三)

[Continuing the drafting committee:] from the retail division — 久保田德藏 (Kubota Tokuzō), [—]藏一郎 ([surname uncertain] Zōichirō), 箕輪末吉 (Minowa Suekichi), 高木房次郎 (Takagi Fusajirō), 福島章吉 (Fukushima Shōkichi) — ten persons in all were raised; and this committee established and set to work the Tokyo Hardware Federation (東京金物聯盟會) described below.

Regulations of the Tokyo Hardware Federation (東京金物聯盟會々則)

Page 104 (一〇四)

[Federation regulations, Arts. 8–14 — officers' duties and procedures.] The president manages, assisted or deputized by the vice-presidents; the secretaries, under the department heads, handle general affairs (Art. 8); honorary members and advisers may be recommended, in two classes, through the department-heads' council's approval (Art. 9); provisions on meetings, resolutions, and minutes (Arts. 10–12). Art. 13: for one who would newly open, relocate, open a branch, sub-branch, agency, or sales floor near a member's retail shop, the minimum distance is reckoned from the edge of the [existing] shop and is 100 meters in a straight line (直線百米). Art. 14: the distance may be shortened where (1) two or more members with businesses within the minimum distance of the opener consent; (2) there is a redevelopment under the city plan or an equivalent relocation [continued].

Page 105 (一〇五)

[Federation regulations, Arts. 15–23, and supplementary provisions.] A member who learns of someone intending to open or relocate within the basic distance must report at once to his department head (Art. 15); the department head, on receiving the report, at once investigates on the spot, convenes the department officers' meeting, and by its resolution advises the opener to change the site (Art. 16); if the opener does not comply with the advice, he is treated as a non-member (Art. 17); members may not trade with a non-member (Art. 18); a member who knowingly trades with a non-member, or does so under another's name, is dealt with by resolution of the department-heads' council (Art. 19); a member transferring his business must file jointly with the transferee through his department head (Art. 20); violation penalties are set separately by the department-heads' council (Art. 21); for the time being the federation levies no membership dues, its expenses being met by donations (Art. 22); when a member manufacturer or wholesaler would trade with a newly opened or relocated business, he does so only after his department head has confirmed that person to be a member (Art. 23). The supplementary provisions then begin.

Page 106 (一〇六)

[Supplementary provision] Art. 24: where a wholesale business newly opens or relocates, it is allowed to do so adjacent (next door or opposite) only to an existing wholesaler handling the same goods. Enacted 1 June, Shōwa 12 (昭和十二年六月一日) — Tokyo Hardware Federation (東京金物聯盟會).

[Photograph, caption:] "Session to explain the guild control regulations (組合統制規定說明會)."

Thus this restriction — setting the minimum distance for a new opening at 100 meters (距離最短を百米) — came into force on 1 June. Several days before, on 24 and 25 May, at the Tokyo Federation hall (東京實聯會館), a conference was held, attended by all members of the 10 wholesale departments and the heads of the 33 retail departments — some 300 persons in all — and with one accord they firmly pledged to press forward with this landmark undertaking.

Thus, on 28 June, the first "Joint Wholesale-Retail Control Committee (卸、小賣全統制委員會)" was convened, and took up six "incidents" (事故六件) — cases of "trouble arising from new openings and relocations" — arising under the guild's control since the previous December. Present that day were Chairman Takaoka (高岡組長); the two vice-chairmen Okada and Okamura (岡田・岡村兩副組長); Accountant Ishida (石田會計); adviser Yoshikawa (吉川相談役); wholesale control chairman Tominaga (富永卸部統制委員長); wholesale control vice-chairman Namikawa (浪川卸部統制副委員長) [continued].

Page 107 (一〇七)

...retail control chairman Ishikawa (石川小賣部統制委員長) [Ishikawa Ukichi], retail control vice-chairman Fukushima (福島小賣部統制副委員長) [Fukushima Shōkichi] and the other control members — 23 in all — attended; secretary-general Hirasawa (平澤書記長) explained each incident; then the members of the departments where incidents had arisen recounted the circumstances; and after successive deliberation, chairman Ishikawa said: "This is the guild's first control incident and a very grave matter, so especially careful deliberation is needed; let us raise a special committee to draft a handling plan and refer it again to the full control committee" — which was carried unanimously. The special committee elected comprised: the wholesale control chairman and vice (2); the retail control chairman and vice (2); the joint control members (6); each squad leader (5); the heads of the departments where incidents arose (4); and the heads of unrelated departments (3).

Thus at the special committee of 2 July, a handling plan was drafted, and a further special committee was held on the 10th of the same month... The plans were deliberated from proposal No. 1 through No. 6, but agreement did not come easily; finally, on the advice of committee member Yamamoto (山本委員) — "let us raise 5 new special committee members, add the chairman and vice-chairman, entrust the decision to that body, and seek the chairman's ratification" — the matter was so entrusted, and at the resulting special committee the following day, the 11th, the measures below were taken. The nine guild members who had supplied goods to non-members were given warnings urging reflection, and were again cautioned that any future trading with a non-member peer, or with one whose guild-admission procedure was incomplete, would incur a penalty (過怠金) of 10 to 500 yen; and the following six persons were publicly noticed as non-members connected to the incident: 岡武夫 (Oka Takeo), 澤田幸奥 (Sawada [Yukioku?]) — both of Kamata (蒲田); 島田 (Shimada), 筒井直治 (Tsutsui Naoji) — both of Suginami (杉並); 井越末吉 (Ikoshi Suekichi) — Toshima ward (豊島區); 中村正 (Nakamura Tadashi) — Oku (尾久).

Page 108 (一〇八)

At this time, the retailers of the thirteen wards of the Jōsei (西/城西) area — Ushigome (牛込), Yotsuya (四谷), Kōjimachi (麹町), Akasaka (赤坂) in the old city (舊市域); and Setagaya (世田ヶ谷), Yodobashi (淀橋), Nakano (中野), Suginami (杉並), Toshima (豊島), Itabashi (板橋), Takinogawa (瀧野川), Ōji (王子), Arakawa (荒川), Adachi (足立) in the new city (新市域) — were rallied together, and, as a flanking organization to answer to and cooperate with the trade guild's activity and to tighten the retailers' own solidarity and strengthen control, the Tokyo Hardware Retailers' Comrades' Association (東京金物小賣商同志會) was formed. In June 1937 it issued a document entitled "Respectfully announcing to the Tokyo hardware wholesalers (謹んで東京金物卸業者各位に告ぐ)," which, as the matter at hand, pointed out the following nine persons as "malicious parties among those who, ignoring the guild's existence, opened in defiance of it or refused to join," and declared that "henceforth their supply of goods and their transactions are suspended," calling for their reflection and warning:

三橋多喜蔵 (Mitsuhashi Takizō) — 世田ヶ谷區; 山口商店 (Yamaguchi Shōten) — 高田馬場; 筒井商店 (Tsutsui Shōten) — 荻窪; 島田商店 (Shimada Shōten) — 荻窪; 井越末吉 (Ikoshi Suekichi) — 池袋; 橋本君太郎 (Hashimoto Kuntarō) — 長崎; 古本初江 (Furumoto Hatsue) — 板橋區; 三井末一 (Mitsui Sueichi) — 瀧野川區; 中村正 (Nakamura Tadashi) — 尾久.

Next, in October of the same year, the control committee for handling violation matters raised a special committee of five — from the wholesale division 遠藤善十郎 (Endō Zenjūrō) and 齋藤要藏 (Saitō Yōzō), and from the retail division 加藤鐵次郎 (Katō Tetsujirō), 秋元德次郎 (Akimoto Tokujirō), and 渡邊忠平 (Watanabe Chūhei) — and this committee ruled clearly, applying the articles as they stood. Namely:

  1. Against 8th-dept member Nakamura Masagorō (第八部員 中村政五郎), who had supplied goods to a non-member, and 13th-dept member Kaiguchi Shōsaku (第十三部員 海口正作), a related party, a penalty (過怠金) was levied for breach.
  2. Shōwa Shōkai K.K. (株式會社昭和商會), the Kantō direct-sales outlet of the Takada Aluminium Works (高田アルミニューム製作所), opened in Ningyōchō, Nihonbashi ward, was decided and publicly noticed as a non-member.

Page 109 (一〇九)

A further point worth noting is that on 23 June the federation regulations were revised, as below, so as to make Article 14 and the rest fit the actual situation, giving them markedly greater flexibility.

Revision of the Federation Regulations (聯盟會々則改訂)

(There follows an analysis: these violation incidents were a natural phenomenon of Greater Tokyo's unplanned, disorderly suburban expansion — new ground, full of pioneering vigor, where new businesses sprang up competing with abandon and without any prior organization — and they underscore the need for control; elsewhere all was calm and the control's effect was fully achieved.)

Page 110 (一一〇)

...In short, this locally anticipated and quite natural dispute might, when burdened with distorted criticism, have had its commotion exaggerated and raised wave upon wave; sensing this, still greater effort was put into self-control.

Thus the Jōsei affair was more or less settled within the year; but the matter of approving the guild membership of Numa Kinji (沼金治) of Shimomaruko (下丸子) in Kamata ward (蒲田區), in that same ward, unexpectedly grew into a derivative problem and, after the incident arose, dragged on through seven or eight months of dispute, carried over to the following May, Shōwa 13 [1938].

Over this matter the efforts of the chairman and the guild officers and the control members to resolve it were extraordinary. In particular, the pains of vice-chairman Okamura (岡村副組長), who came forward himself to resolve it, deserve note; and control member [—]藏一郎 ([surname uncertain] Zōichirō) and 12th-dept head Hirabayashi Mokichi (第十二部長 平林茂吉) and others played the leading role in the mediation. The dispute arose from misunderstanding and discord of opinion, compounded by blind feeling. The outline of the matter is as follows:

In connection with Mr. Numa's admission, the department officers resigned en masse, and so the dues of the department's members went unpaid from November, Shōwa 11 [1936], to December, Shōwa 12 [1937]. The guild asked the former 12th-dept head Sakuragi Yoshikuni (元第十二部長 櫻木芳國) [to help], and on the other hand had secretary-general Hirasawa (平澤書記長) visit each household; as a result, out of all 96 department members, 47 were in arrears (九十六名中、四十七名の未納者), and these were given, by written notice, a reconsideration period until the 25th and asked to pay their overdue dues. [The guild resolved to treat the arrears-members as non-members in trade, with a notice dated 8 April, and asked the wholesalers' cooperation.] Happily, by May the department members all came to understand, paid in their overdue dues, and returned to the guild — a happy ending (大團圓) reached at the last, after a hair's-breadth crisis.

Page 111 (一一一)

...and told them so. In short, the Kamata incident (蒲田事件, Kamata jiken), which for a time had escalated into a dispute between the guild and one of its sections, cut to the point where the guild's very standing was called into question (正に組合として鼎の軽重を問はるる), and was indeed a grave affair. It was made plain that the key to its resolution lay in the apparatus and management that brought the Trade-Association Law to life, and in the enthusiasm of the members, aglow with the spirit of solidarity and cooperation. In particular, there was surely not one person in the whole guild who did not spare words of praise for the indomitable will and courage of Guild-head Takaoka (高岡組長, Takaoka). Indeed, in this Kamata affair, the difficult problems along the road of carrying out self-regulation (自治統制, jichi tōsei) came, for the moment, to present the appearance of having been comprehensively exhausted; and to have broken through this difficult problem may truly be called the triumphal song of the controlled general advance.

Even so, from other viewpoints there remained many problems requiring resolution ahead. Here the guild, advancing a further step, pledged on this occasion to put its internal footing ever more in order, so as to overcome the hard road of small-and-medium commerce and industry, and to hold aloft the guiding torch — and the loftiness of that aspiration could of itself be glimpsed.

Chapter 4: Various Measures (第四章 各般の施設)

Viewed by business conditions, the several years of Shōwa 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 (1933–1937) saw the trade fall into a deep valley of severe depression, show signs of a slight upturn in year 10, advance gradually in year 11, and trace a V-shaped curve; then, when the China Incident broke out in July of year 12 (July 1937), the situation became a national upheaval that transcended mere business conditions — so the many and varied events of that period need no restating now. That is, upon Mr. Takaoka's assumption of the guild-headship, the guild concentrated its main strength on self-regulation (自治統制) as a depression countermeasure, as stated above; and in all its other facilities likewise it strove along this line.

Page 112 (一一二)

Part 1: Condolences for Disasters in the Various Districts (其一 各地罹災見舞)

In April of Shōwa 9 (1934) the misfortune of the great fire that burned down the whole of Hakodate city (函館市) befell them, so the guild promptly raised condolence money and, through the Tokyo-fu government and the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry (東京商工會議所), sent a solemn message of sympathy. Again, on 20 September of the same year, the Kinki (近畿) region was struck by a great storm, and the Hanshin–Sakai area (阪神堺) suffered a rare calamity. Recalling how, at the time of the Great Kantō Earthquake and fire, the sympathy of the fellow-traders of that region had been deeply and vividly felt, and partly to repay that gratitude, Guild-head Takaoka, accountant Ishida (石田會計, Ishida), and advisor Yoshikawa (吉川相談役, Yoshikawa) hurried west together, visited the stricken households of the Hanshin–Sakai district, and presented condolence money.

Standardization and Simplification (規格統一單純化)

On 10 January Shōwa 9 (1934), the following members were appointed to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry's Temporary Industrial-Rationalization Bureau, Aluminium-Products Simplification Committee (商工省臨時產業合理局アルミニューム製品單純化委員; 20 members in all):

On the 12th, a plenary committee meeting was held at the official residence of the Minister of Commerce and Industry. Incidentally, to curb defective goods, the Kantō Aluminium Industrial Association (關東アルミニューム工業組合) decided that, from June of Shōwa 12 (1937), member-makers manufacturing within the association's district would affix an association-prescribed certification stamp (證紙) to each unit of eight product types: kettle, water-boiler, teapot, lunch-box, vegetable-container, pot, milk-pan and cup (釜・湯沸・急須・辨當箱・菜入・鍋・ミルクパン・コップ). On 10 May, the Enamel-Ironware Simplification Preparatory Committee (琺瑯鐵器單純化準備委員會) met at the guild office under the supervision of a Tokyo-fu oversight official.

Page 113 (一一三)

On the 14th of the same month, concerning the simplification of copper and brass products (銅眞鍮製品單純化), handled through the officials of the Industrial-Rationalization Bureau, the first committee meeting was held — with the guild head and deputy head, together with committee members Yasuda (安田), Nasu (那須), Yoshioka (吉岡), Tanaka (田中) and Saitō (齋藤) — and six product types were decided upon: 盥 [?] (tarai, basin), 洗面器 (senmenki, washbasin), a copper vessel [豪重眶?, unresolved], 銅壺 (dōko, copper hot-water urn), 玉子燒 (tamagoyaki, egg-pan) and 湯沸 (yuwakashi, water-boiler); these were put into effect from 1 June of the same year (Shōwa 9).

Unified Document Format; Fixed Payment Date (書式統一・支拂期日一定)

On 19 July Shōwa 9 (1934), an extraordinary councillors' meeting standardized members' invoices and bills to 5 sun 8 bu tall × 4 sun 2 bu wide, written horizontally, to take effect from 1 January of year 10; and at the councillors' meeting of 12 October of the same year, the transaction-billing cut-off between members was fixed at the 20th. To make this widely known, a prize slogan-competition was held, and the first prize went to "貳拾日で締めて月末拂、堅く守らう金物業者" ("Close on the 20th, pay at month-end — let us hardware traders keep to it firmly"), by Ms. Matsunori Yasuko (松則泰子), staff of the Nasu Aluminium works (那須アルミ所員).

Enforcement of Accurate Measurement (計量精確の勵行)

Members decided to handle only goods marked with the accurate net dimensions, volume, weight and quantity, putting this policy into effect from April of year 11 (1936); each member was to notify its manufacturers and suppliers, and the guild also widely urged traders throughout the country and other guilds to do likewise and to cooperate with the guild's intent.

Registration-Objection Trial (登錄異議審判)

In Shōwa 10, regarding the can (鑵) for which Mr. Umino (Unno) Kama'ichi of Shizuoka city (靜岡市海野鎌一) had filed an application, the guild — with Mr. Nago Kannosuke of the Yuasa shop (湯淺商店名古勘之助) as witness — filed an objection asserting the guild's position...

Page 114 (一一四)

...was carried through; and the other five cases were likewise all resolved as the guild had maintained. Again, after Mr. Tamada of Osaka (大阪玉田) registered a new-design lock (錠前新案) in September of year 12, the guild filed an objection and the application was cancelled. Registration-infringement was frequent at the time, and this measure contributed greatly to the protection of patent rights.

Installation of Patent Gazettes (特許公報類の備附)

In December of year 10 (1935), to clarify members' patent rights and to serve as reference material, the guild purchased and kept at the office the Japanese Government Registered-Trademark Compendium (classes 6, 7, 8) (日本政府登錄商標大全〔六・七・八類〕), trademark announcements, the patent gazette, patent-invention specifications, utility-model announcements, and other related books.

Hardware-Merchant Management Study Group (金物商經營研究會)

On 25 June Shōwa 11 (1936), the first session of the above-titled group was held at the Kodenma-chō Jisshi School (小傳馬町十思學校), with 250 attendees. Mr. Akiyama U-shizō [秋山于四三; given-name reading uncertain], chief clerk (主事) of the Commerce-Industry Section of the Tokyo-fu Economic Department, and Mr. Ueno Yōichi, director of the Efficiency Research Institute (能率研究所々長上野陽一), lectured on modern, rational management guidance; and the prefecture-filmed picture "Shop Renewal" (「商店更生」) was shown, which was greatly enlightening. The second session was held for the Jōnan control-group; the third and fourth sessions likewise drew great praise.

Petitions and Talks on Transport (運輸に關する陳情と懇談)

In March of year 11 (1936), railway special small-lot handling was changed to home-delivery handling, and metal pots and kettles (金屬製鍋釜) were raised 50 % as miscellaneous goods. As this was unbearable, the guild petitioned the Railway Minister to exclude them from the surcharged goods. Separately, on the matter of railway freight charges and freight-classes, the Japan Hardware Federation (日本金物聯合會) and also this guild petitioned; and various studies of transport continued thereafter.

Page 115 (一一五)

...so the necessity was keenly felt, and on 16 April a round-table was held at the guild office. Yokoo Teruyuki of the Transport Section of the Tokyo Railway Bureau (東京鐵道局運輸課横尾輝之) and Yokoyama Taisuke, chief of the freight-dispatch section of Akihabara Station (秋葉原驛發送貨物係主任横山泰助), were invited; on the day all section-members of the wholesale divisions and about fifty direct-dispatch shop clerks gathered. This round-table yielded great, directly substantial results.

Revision of the Guild-Dues Accounting Method (組合費收支方法の更改)

Formerly, to strengthen the sections, the guild had made section-dues a special account of each section; but from March of year 12, the guild collected the section-dues together with its own, and apportioned expenditure to the sections in proportion to income. The assessed collection at that time totalled 13,788 yen.

Tenth Employee Commendation Ceremony (第十回店員表彰式)

On 13 May Shōwa 12 (1937), the tenth ceremony was held at the Tokyo Prefectural Commerce-Industry Promotion Hall (東京府立商工獎勵館). Among the guests were Section-chief Shimojima of the Commerce-Industry Section, deputising for the Tokyo governor (東京府知事代理霜島商工課長), and Mr. Kadono Jūkurō, chairman of the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry (東京商工會議所會頭門野重九郎). Amid splendid entertainment, at 2 p.m. sharp Vice-guild-head Okada (岡田副組長) declared the ceremony open; after the inspection report by inspection-committee chairman Okamura Mitsuzō (精査委員長岡村光造), the following were commended: 16 persons with 20 or more years' continuous service, 30 with 15 or more, 141 with 10 or more, and 208 with 7 or more. Commendation certificates and prizes were awarded, and the ceremony closed with the reply of the recipients' representative, Mr. Deguchi Yoshitarō, staff of the Katsumi factory (勝見工場所員出口由太郎); hosts and guests then shared a table. The number commended was unparalleled in recent times, and the proprietors' congratulatory gift money that day came to 500 yen (五百圓).

Page 116 (一一六)

Part 2: National-Defence Contributions and Soldier Welfare (其二 國防獻金と軍人援護)

On 7 July Shōwa 12 (1937) the China Incident broke out; the next month, on 21 August, the guild held an emergency councillors' meeting, promptly economized on guild expenses as far as possible, drew funds from them, and made the contributions recorded below.

Prayer Festival for Lasting Military Fortune (武運長久祈願祭)

The next day, a prayer-festival for the lasting military fortune of the enlisted members was held before the Kanayama Shrine (金山神社) enshrined at the guild office, solemnly performed with a Kanda Shrine (神田神社) priest officiating. Thereupon the guild head, deputy head and advisors, divided into four teams, visited the homes of enlisted members and their heirs, carrying protective amulets of Kanayama-hiko-no-mikoto (金山昆古命御護札) and comfort-goods. Ever since, the lasting-military-fortune prayer-festival has been continued at the annual rite of 8 January each year, after which each section head, representing the guild, has made it a custom to visit bereaved families down to the present. Following the guild, each section too made contributions; one fine example was that of the head of the 23rd section, Matsunaga Ryūzō (第廿三部長松永龍藏), and seven other volunteer section-members, who abruptly cancelled their planned excursion and contributed 150 yen to the Army Ministry and 150 yen to the Navy Ministry. The Enamel-Ironware Industrial Association (琺瑯鐵器工業組合) also donated 100 yen to the Navy Ministry. On 27 December Shōwa 13, at the wholesale-division head/deputy-head round-table, year-end...

Page 117 (一一七)

...abolishing New-Year gift-exchange in favour of national-defence contributions, and this was put into practice. The above sums were taken in person to the Army and Navy Ministries as contributions by Guild-head Takaoka and Vice-head Okada (高岡組長・岡田副組長).

Regulations of the Guild and its Sections (組合と各部の規定)

Across the two months of July–August Shōwa 12 (1937), 25 members and shop-clerks were sent to the front in North China (北支); the guild gave 3-yen congratulations and expressed its goodwill. 1) Upon the enlistment of a member or a member's eldest son, 3 yen was presented as a mark of congratulation. 2) When there was an enlistee, immediate notice was to be given to the section head or the guild office. Each section likewise agreed to express its goodwill as follows:

Thereafter each section newly made its own section flag, strove to welcome home its enlistees, and the guild and each section held an annual prayer-festival for lasting military fortune...

Page 118 (一一八)

...sending comfort-goods to the battlefield, not neglecting condolence-visits to bereaved families, abolishing seasonal gift-exchange or cancelling New-Year banquets and applying those funds — offering home-front sincerity, down to the present.

Full Participation of Metal-Products Traders (金屬製品業者全的加入)

Establishment of the Wire-mesh-Sieve Section (金網篩部設置). Among hardware retailers, the wire-mesh retailers differ in business character from general hardware retailers and had hitherto stood outside the guild. To make it easier for wire-mesh retailers to join and to regulate the trade, the councillors' meeting of June Shōwa 10 decided to set up a Second Wire-mesh-Sieve Section (第二金網篩部) within the guild's retail division. The founding general meeting was held on 24 June at the Shibaura "Ikesu" (芝浦いけす); section rules were drafted, and the following were elected officers:

New Saw-trade Section (鋸業部新設). More than 300 specialist saw retailers (鋸專門販賣業者), hitherto outside the guild, united this summer and held a founding general meeting at the Nakano Nihon-kaku (中野日本閣); a Saw-trade Section (鋸業部) was newly set up in the guild's retail division, with section head Ishiguro Kisaburō (石黑喜三郎) and deputy head Shimamura Mitsuhiro (島村光洋) elected, to regulate the saw trade and promote members' welfare.

New Bucket Section (バケツ部新設). Next, 32 makers and sellers of plated buckets and flat-plate buckets set up a section in the wholesale division. On 22 February Shōwa 12, the founding general meeting was held at the "Kamachō" restaurant in Ōjima-chō, Jōtō-ku (城東區大島町料亭釜長), and the following took office: section head Fujioka Kiyoshige (藤岡清茲); deputy heads Katsumi Mitarō (勝見巳太郎) and Sasaki Hideo (佐々木榮雄); accountants Horikawa Yoshirō (堀川賀郎) and Kasakura Tokuaki (笠倉德明). On 18 April, upstairs at the Ōjima Credit Union, an employee-commendation ceremony was held and 58 persons were commended.

Page 119 (一一九)

Bucket Industrial Association established. Also in August, a Bucket Industrial Association was established by 7 plated-bucket makers. Aluminium Section expanded: around this time the section was expanded at a stroke to 31 members. Enamel-Ironware Section member-increase: 14 enamel-base makers (琺瑯生地製造業者) newly joined.

Epoch-Making Facilities of the Wire-mesh Section (金網部の劃時代施設)

Formerly, the special traders — that is, as already noted, the wire-mesh-sieve retailers — had the Second Wire-mesh Section set up within the guild; but as the district was too wide for easy control, it was divided into three districts, one section per district (applied for 23 April Shōwa 12, approved 4 June):

Next, in August, the Wholesale Wire-mesh Section (卸金網部) set out to unify the mesh-count and dimensions of wire-mesh products; after repeated consultation with the Tokyo City Weights-and-Measures Section (東京市權度課) and securing the method of implementation, and with the approval of the Tokyo Hardware Trade Guild, this was enforced from 1 November. By way of preparation, on 7 October at the shop of section head Niwa (丹羽部長), the chief inspector of the Ueno union and all the section officers gathered; in particular Mr. Satō Kiuemon, an official of the Tokyo-fu Commerce-Industry Section (東京府商工課屬佐藤喜右衛門), attended, and the dimensions and mesh-width of the various products carried into each shop were examined...

Page 120 (一二〇)

...were strictly inspected. Meanwhile Guild-head Takaoka notified the Osaka and Nagoya associations and sought their implementation; and the Tokyo mayor, through the governors of Osaka-fu and Aichi-ken, conveyed the same. Since wire-mesh products had hitherto been made by tradition and by each maker's self-interest, their dimensions and mesh were chaotic and various; so section head Niwa Kyūjirō (丹羽久次郎), deputy section head Ogata Shin'ichirō (緒方新一郎) and former section head Igeta Heizaburō (井桁平三郎) travelled to the Osaka Hardware Trade Guild (大阪金物同業組合, the production centre), the Kyoto Hardware-Merchants' Trade Guild (京都金物商同業組合) and the Nagoya Copper-and-Iron Merchants' Association (名古屋銅鐵商組合), and after repeated negotiation concluded a three-association joint-implementation agreement. A standardization poster was displayed at each shopfront. The cost of this standardization came to 1,762 yen, met by members' share of 612 yen, donations of 700 yen, and a Tokyo-fu subsidy of 450 yen.

Wire-mesh Product Standardization Regulations (金網製品規格統一規程)

Article 1. This association unifies the standards for wire-mesh products made by its members.

Article 2. The standardized products are as follows (the mesh-count to be noted by actual metric measurement):

  1. Poultry wire-mesh (養鷄用金網): width 1 m 10 cm; length in three types — 15 m 16 cm, 18 m and 30 m.
  2. Hexagonal wire-mesh (龜甲形金網): widths 1,820 mm (6 shaku), 1,510 mm (5 shaku), 1,210 mm (4 shaku) and 910 mm (3 shaku); length 15 m 16 cm; mesh 9 mm (3-bu) and 12 mm (4-bu)...

Page 121 (一二一)

  1. Mortar wire-mesh (モルタル用鐵網): mesh at an actual-measured width of 1,820 mm (6 shaku), length 3,640 mm (12 shaku). The shape of the certification mark (at actual size) is as shown at left.

Article 3. A standard-unified product must have passed the guild's product inspection.

Article 4. A pass-certification mark (合格證明標) is affixed to each guild-inspected passing product; however, for mortar wire-mesh only, the mark is affixed per bundle — one bundle of five 6-shaku × 12-shaku rolls, or one bundle of eighty rolls.

[Certification seal: the "Tokyo Hardware Trade Guild — Wire-mesh Fixed-Length Pass-Certification Mark" (東京金物同業組合 金網定尺合格證明標), a round seal reading 金網定尺證明 around the character 東.] Note: where a marked product falls short of the fixed length, preserve the actual item, enclose this tally, and send it to the Tokyo Hardware Trade Guild office; on the reverse of the certification mark, the maker's cipher (製造業者ノ符號) is to be recorded.

Article 4-1. The actual cost of the pass-certification mark is collected.

Article 5. The effective date is from 1 November this year; however, factory production is to begin from 1 October.

Article 6. After this standard takes effect, unsold leftover wire-mesh products are to be marked with their actual-measured dimensions.

Article 7. Members are not to handle members' wire-mesh products that lack the guild's inspection-pass mark "F" (エフ).

Article 8. As for products of other-guild members, members are to handle only those marked with net quantity in accordance with this standard. — Shōwa 12, 12 September.

Page 122 (一二二)

Installation of a Metal-Hardness Testing Machine (金屬硬度試驗機備付)

As a joint-facility subsidy, the sum of 467 yen was granted to the guild in August of Shōwa 12. The metal-hardness testing machine purchased from the Tokyo Weighing-Machine Manufacturing Company (東京衡機製造會社) was installed at the office on 13 September, and product inspection began the same day. Inspection-committee chairman Ueno Tetsurō (組合檢査委員長上野鐵郎) and all the inspectors attended; in particular, engineer Ōe Tokutarō of the metal-testing laboratory of the Yuasa Shichizaemon shop (湯淺七左衛門商店金屬試驗所技師大江德太郎) attended and kindly explained the machine's use, method and effect. The passing goods that day were twelve kinds from five shops:

The guild intended henceforth to sharpen its facilities further and strive at inspection, and even to establish a Metal-Industry Joint Research Institute (金屬工業共同研究所).

Personnel News (人事消息)

On 1 May Shōwa 11 (1936), wholesale-price survey committee member Niimi Zen'ichi (卸物價調查委員新實善一) set out on a tour of Europe and America, the guild commissioning him to survey overseas market conditions. On 3 June, the former guild secretary-general Sawada (澤田前組合書記長), who had been recuperating for two months after a Manchuria tour, unfortunately passed away; all mourned deeply. In the autumn of that year, the following members were elected ward-assembly councillors: Kubota Tokuzō (久保田德藏) [Azabu, 1st term]; Ishikawa Ukichi (石川宇吉) [Shitaya ward, 2nd term]; Yazawa Kōzaburō (矢澤耕三郎) [9th section, 2nd term]. The guild-sponsored trainee member Ōki Seitarō (大木淸太郎) graduated top of his class from the Tokyo City Commerce-Industry Management-Instructor Training Institute.

Page 123 (一二三)

Part 6: Advancing and Strengthening Controls (第六編 統制の推進強化) — Chapter 1: The Lightning Downpour of Control-Ordinances (第一章 統制法令の電擊雨下)

In retrospect, the Manchurian Incident became the cause of a munitions boom, revived steel that had fallen to an unprecedented bottom, and bred price inflation. Around Shōwa 11 (1936) — just as in the era of the First European War for our country — the resurgent golden boom aroused price surges; and especially as the storm-clouds of the Second European War (which began in September of year 14) drew near, anticipatory imports stirred up further price surges. Thus, in January of year 12, the government implemented import-exchange control and thereby blocked imports. For a country like ours, which relied on imports for most of its munitions, its production-expansion materials, and its export-goods raw materials, this was indeed a grave economic upheaval: here the country broke free of dependence on overseas supply and took its stand on self-sufficiency and a semi-wartime system — that is, it became the forerunner of economic control. Then, at the end of July of that year, the China Incident broke out, and control-ordinances were issued one after another.

In September the Temporary Funds Adjustment Law was enforced and the Munitions-Industry Mobilization Law was activated; in October the Temporary Import Measures Law concerning import and export goods was promulgated and enforced the same day. By this, those directly and greatly affected were aluminium, enamel-ironware (琺瑯鐵器), copper and brass (銅眞鍮), antimony and the like — the use of metals being severely restricted at once. Then, on 20 October, the Steel-Structure Construction-Permit Rules (鐵鋼工作物築造許可規則) were enforced, requiring a permit for any construction of 50 tsubo or more per building-plan. Our army won continuous great victories and took the enemy capital, Nanjing...

Page 124 (一二四)

...advanced and strengthened; and just on the first anniversary of the China Incident, on 1 July Shōwa 13 (1938), the Steel-Distribution Control Rules (鐵鋼配給統制規則) were enforced. Originally scheduled for April, but as organizing the industrial associations was no easy task, enforcement was carried out in July; and as the first round, over the three months from July to September, steel was allotted to each industrial association.

Copper had already been restricted from November Shōwa 12 for roofs, decorative walls and building use; pig-iron-casting restriction came on 25 April (year 13); on 1 May year 13 a further tightening was ordered, extending to many fine items such as window glass, handrails and stairs, and to many kinds of household sundries and daily goods; restricted items extending to the fine details of household daily utensils were designated and enforced on 15 May; on 15 July the use of non-ferrous metals — lead, zinc, tin and antimony — was restricted; and on 15 August steel-product manufacturing-restriction was enforced, extending to 131 item-types, including stationery, cosmetics and decorative metal-fittings (文房具・化粧品・裝飾金具等百卅一種目). Thus, in the end, barely more than half of the traditional product-kinds survived. Amid all this, a bolt from the blue over the traders' heads was the enforcement of the steel-allocation-coupon system (鐵鋼割當切符制), by which the guild too, in keeping with the authorities' directives and the materials-mobilization plan, was fundamentally and completely transformed.

Chapter 2: Establishment of the Various Industrial Associations (第二章 各工業組合設立)

Alongside the steel-distribution allotment, each kind of maker using iron and steel as raw material was directed to join its respective industrial association, or — where none existed — to establish one for each product-kind; traders belonging to it could obtain iron and steel only by receiving a consumption-quantity allotment at fixed intervals through that association. The authorities urgently directed this guild to establish the industrial associations; the guild promptly drew up the outline, designated eight associations to be established as separately noted, and handled all the establishment formalities within the trade guild. These are outlined separately below.

Page 125 (一二五)

...for a provisional period, with the expenses borne by the guild; it sent the industrial-association membership-application forms to all guild members, set the application deadline at 25 March, 4 p.m., and aimed at swift establishment. Meanwhile, in consultation with Tokyo-fu, notice was sent to the heads of the 35 wards, per the purport of steel-consumption control, with related documents attached, so that those qualified to join each industrial association being established by this guild would apply.

At this time the guild's full-throttle activity, and the busyness of its senior officers, were beyond imagination; around this time the office hired several specialist clerks and, with auxiliary staff, over 30 persons in all. The diligent devotion of secretary-general Hirasawa (平澤書記長), who directed the actual work on the front line, made every officer marvel. The section officers too were extremely busy with running about and consultation; and by the end of June, as planned, everything was fully prepared, proceeding as follows.

Those qualified to join were members of the Tokyo Hardware Trade Guild who make various metal products using iron and steel as raw material (those with subcontractors and those supplying materials being likewise qualified). The investment was 50 yen per share for each association, with holdings limited to between 1 and 50 shares; but in share amount, the Tokyo Shovel Industrial Association was established at 200 yen/share, the Tokyo Enamel-base Industrial Association at 100 yen/share, and the Tokyo Flat-plate Bucket Industrial Association at 100 yen/share.

Tokyo Shovel Industrial Association — Founding General Meeting (東京シャベル工業組合創立總會) (approved 7 June)

Led by factory-owner Yasuda Gorō (安田工場主安田五郎), makers of shovels and scoops (シャベル及スコップ) united; the fellow traders cooperated in preparation, and on 3 April Shōwa 13, 2 p.m., the founding general meeting was held at the "Suzukō" restaurant in Kamezawa-chō, Honjo (本所龜澤町鈴幸料理店). By unanimous recommendation, founding-representative Yasuda Gorō took the chair and declared the meeting open; the matters of the association bylaws, the business plan, and the founding costs and their amortization were deliberated in turn and decided per the original draft; the following took office as officers. A celebration banquet followed; the newly-appointed chairman Yasuda Gorō gave his inaugural address; secretary-general Hirasawa, deputising for the guild head, gave a congratulatory address; and the banquet was fully enjoyed, closing at 8 p.m.

Officers:

Page 126 (一二六)

Tokyo Enamel-base Industrial Association — Founding General Meeting (東京琺瑯生地工業組合創立總會) (approved 1 June)

Mr. Matsuhashi Kuhachirō, head of this guild's enamel-ironware section (當組合琺瑯鐵器部長松橋九八郎), became founding representative; the consenting members reached 35; and the founding general meeting was held on 6 April Shōwa 13, 10 a.m., at the "Miyoshi" restaurant in Kameido-chō (龜戸町みよし料理店). From the Tokyo Oxygen Union, directors Suzuki and Itō (鈴木・伊藤幹事) attended, and from the Tokyo Enamel-Ironware Industrial Association, director Anjō (安生理事). Chairman Matsuhashi presided; the new chairman, Arai Yasuo (新井泰夫), took office; then, after the inaugural address by the new chairman and a congratulatory address by deputy guild-head Okada (岡田副組長), director Anjō Kōhei of the Tokyo Enamel-Ironware Industrial Association (東京琺瑯鐵器工業組合理事安生孝平) led three cheers, and the meeting closed at 1 p.m.

Officers:

Tokyo Steel-plate Products Industrial Association — Founding General Meeting (東京鈑力製品工業組合創立總會) (approved 8 June)

By the efforts of the founders and preparatory committee, preparations were made, and the founding general meeting was held on 26 April Shōwa 13, 2 p.m., at the Nishimachi Kaikan, Nishi-machi, Shitaya-ku (下谷區西町西町會館); over eighty members attended, with Guild-head Takaoka present. Founding representative Matsumoto Inotarō (松本猪太郎) gave the opening address and reported the founding course; the chairman-selection was referred, and by unanimous agreement the guild's advisor, Yoshikawa Hyakudayū (東京金物同業組合相談役吉川百太夫), was decided upon; after secretary-general Hirasawa explained the steel-distribution matter, Yoshikawa took the chair and the agenda items were referred and decided...

Page 127 (一二七)

Agenda: 1) decision on the bylaws; 2) founding costs and their amortization; 3) business plan; 4) officer election.

For the fourth item, the election of directors and auditors, after discussion it was decided to select seven screening-committee members (銓衡委員七名) to make the appointments; the chairman named the screening committee. As a result of the screening, Matsumoto Inotarō became chairman; managing director Akabane Yagoji (赤羽彌吾司), representing the officers, gave the inaugural address; guest Guild-head Takaoka gave the founding congratulations; then chairman Yoshikawa declared the Tokyo Steel-plate Products Industrial Association established and closed the meeting at 4 p.m.

Officers:

Tokyo Building-Furniture Hardware Industrial Association — Founding General Meeting (東京建築家具金物工業組合創立總會) (approved 17 June)

The founding general meeting was held on 27 April Shōwa 13, 10 a.m., at the guild office; over sixty joining members attended, with deputy guild-head Okada (岡田副組長) present from the guild. Founding representative Suzuki Shinzō (鈴木眞三) gave the opening address; the chairman-selection was discussed, and by unanimous agreement founding representative Kawashima Hirokichi (川島廣吉) was decided upon; after secretary-general Hirasawa explained the steel-distribution control outline, Kawashima took the chair and reported the founding course in detail. Agenda: 1) association bylaws; 2) founding costs and their amortization; 3) business plan; 4) officer election.

Page 128 (一二八)

For the fourth item, the election of directors and auditors, it was decided to select five screening-committee members (銓衡委員五名) and entrust everything to them; the chairman named Mr. Suzuki and four others, and as a result of the screening the following were elected directors and auditors. Then Mr. Kawashima, representing the officers, gave the inaugural address; guest deputy guild-head Okada, representing the guild, gave a congratulatory address; thus the Tokyo Building-Furniture Hardware Industrial Association was formed and the meeting closed at 1 p.m.

Officers:

Tokyo Cutlery and Edge-Tools Industrial Association — Founding General Meeting (東京利器工具工業組合創立總會) (approved 17 June)

From early March, establishment preparations began; but as the related tradesmen were very numerous, time and mediation were needed. By the utmost efforts of founder Tominaga (富永) and others, the founding general meeting was held on 28 April Shōwa 13, 2 p.m., at the guild office; founders and over ninety persons attended, with Guild-head Takaoka and secretary-general Hirasawa present from the guild. Founding representative Sakai Zensaku (坂井善作) gave the opening address and reported the founding course; the chairmanship was discussed, and by unanimous agreement Tominaga Sauemon (富永佐右衛門) was chosen; Tominaga took the chair. Agenda: 1) bylaws; 2) founding costs and their amortization; 3) business plan; 4) officer election.

Page 129 (一二九)

For the fourth item, after discussion it was decided to select five screening-committee members and entrust everything to them; the chairman named the Sauemon shop and the Yuasa shop (湯淺商店) and three others, and as a result of the screening the following were elected. Then guest Guild-head Takaoka gave the founding congratulations; chairman Tominaga announced the conclusion of the general meeting and adjourned at 4 p.m.

Officers (Tokyo Cutlery and Edge-Tools Industrial Association):

Tokyo Household Hardware Industrial Association — Founding General Meeting (東京家庭金物工業組合創立總會) (approved 17 June)

The founding meeting was held on 27 April Shōwa 13, 2 p.m., at the guild office; founding representatives Ishida Kōzō (石田耕造) and Okada Toshio (岡田敏雄) and over twenty others attended, with Guild-head Takaoka present. Okada Toshio gave the opening address and reported the founding course, then took the chair; the agenda was referred, secretary-general Hirasawa added explanation, and it was decided per the original draft. For the fourth item, director/auditor election was entirely entrusted to chairman Okada, who immediately named Ishida Kōzō and the following others as directors and auditors, decided unanimously, concluding the meeting. Then Mr. Niimi (新實), representing the officers, gave the inaugural address; guest Guild-head Takaoka, representing the guild, gave a congratulatory address; and the meeting closed at 4 p.m. Agenda: 1) bylaws; 2) founding costs and their amortization; 3) business plan; 4) officer election.

Officers:

Page 130 (一三〇)

Tokyo Wire-mesh Industrial Association — Founding General Meeting (東京金網工業組合創立總會)

With Igeta Heizaburō (井桁平三郎) and 31 others as founders, preparations were completed, and the meeting was held on 16 April Shōwa 13, 2 p.m., at the Edobashi Jitsugyō-kumiai Rengō-kaikan (江戸橋實業組合聯合會館). At the appointed time, Morino Tokutarō (守野德太郎) declared the meeting open; Igeta took the chair and reported the founding course; secretary-general Hirasawa explained the bylaws and the other agenda in detail, which were decided per the original draft; then by ballot the following were elected and took office.

Officers:

Tokyo Flat-plate Bucket Industrial Association — Founding General Meeting (東京平板バケット工業組合創立總會)

Owing to the government's steel control, the flat-plate bucket makers of Tokyo-fu, led by Fujioka Kiyoshige (藤岡清茲), and related traders set out to establish an industrial association; the founding meeting was held on 1 June Shōwa 13 at the Ōjima Credit-Union meeting room, Jōtō-ku (城東區大島信用組合會議室). Over thirty related persons attended, along with Tokyo-fu officials, Tokyo Hardware Trade Guild Guild-head Takaoka, and secretary-general Hirasawa. Founding representative Fujioka was elected chairman; the bylaws, business plan, founding-cost amortization, and officer-election items were referred and passed per the original draft; and after Guild-head Takaoka's congratulations, a founding celebration was held at the "Kamaya" restaurant (釜屋料理店), concluding amid a grand gathering. The elected officers were as follows.

Officers:

Page 131 (一三一)

Kantō Steel-plate Can-Manufacturers' Industrial Association — Founding General Meeting (關東鈑力製罐工業組合創立總會) (approved 1 March Shōwa 14)

As steel-distribution control was strengthened, the can-makers conferred with the Kanagawa-prefecture traders, took the whole Kantō region (關東一圓) as their district, and resolved to establish the Kantō Steel-plate Can-Manufacturers' Industrial Association. On 15 November Shōwa 13, at the Nihonbashi Club (日本橋俱樂部), under the chairmanship of founding-representative general delegate Matsumoto Inotarō (松本猪太郎), secretary-general Hirasawa explained the bylaws and all else, which were decided per the original draft. The elected officers were the following gentlemen:

Each of the above industrial associations was hurriedly established, on the government's command and direction, in accordance with steel-distribution control; its central task was the assessment of the steel allotment its members needed for the distribution of steel materials, but it could also, under the Industrial Association Law, carry out economic activities. For the development of the industry, it could undertake various positive economic activities on behalf of its members — joint facilities, that is, the joint purchase of raw and other materials, the joint sale of members' manufactured products, and, for the improvement of members' welfare, the improvement of products, the transport of materials and products, the inspection of products and raw materials, joint warehousing for the storage of materials and products, the lending of funds and the receiving of savings, and so on. And although every association's bylaws were, on this occasion, drawn up uniformly according to the government-directed model...

Page 132 (一三二)

...were by no means few. In retrospect, the trade guild zealously enlisted all its members, poured its full strength into establishing the structure, and attained self-regulation almost to perfection — and it was just at that juncture that it met this sudden transformation of the institutional framework; so one may feel that the facilities built up as they stood had the character of groundwork laid in anticipation of just such a new phase. The experience of this upheaval... Though many associations arose in the prefecture, the top of each newly-born industrial association had the guild itself as its parent-body, making clear that the trade guild was by no means useless. For the metalware-products world, makers, wholesalers and retailers (製造・卸・小賣) alike merged as one.

The speed of this transition — moving, in step with the violent change of the national situation, from the free-economy era through the several transitional years down to the present, up to the supreme control-system of the decisive-battle structure, namely self-regulation — passed through the many years of the trade guild's history. The Hardware Trade Guild bore the task of liaison-adjustment among the various industrial and commercial associations, transmitting the authorities' spirit downward and reporting popular sentiment and hidden proposals upward, and became the lubricating oil of united government-and-people cooperation, advancing toward cooperation with national policy; and its achievements in this were by no means scant.

Page 133 (一三三)

Chapter 3: Price-Control Measures (第三章 物價統制施設) — Measures for Price Stabilization and Regularization (物價の安定常正施策)

Formerly, this trade guild, in enforcing business-control, made every effort toward the proper regulation and stabilization of prices. That is, as a sanction against unfair-price selling, it stipulated suspension of dealings with the member for up to three years; it set up a Sale-Price Agreement Committee (販賣價格協定委員會); it set out the principles of the cost-calculation method in its bylaws and control-regulations and put them into effect; it appointed wholesale-price survey members to survey the monthly hardware wholesale-price index, which it published monthly in the guild's hardware bulletin, the Kanamono Jihō (金物時報); and especially at times of violent price fluctuation it had the figures posted at each shopfront so as not to inconvenience consumers. On the other hand, to prevent goods being rendered unfair in real terms through quality deterioration or short measure, it tightened product inspection and, to make inspection precise, specially purchased a new metal-testing machine and kept it at the office; passing goods were given a certification stamp, clarifying responsibility; and further, the quantity, dimensions, volume, and so on were marked on each individual product. The intention was gradually to extend this to all goods. Compared with the present era of state control, these facilities — being the self-regulation of a private body — could not escape being lukewarm; yet they manifested one aspect of the guild's price policy by autonomous bodies in the period before the present state control.

Profiteering-Control and Voluntary Restraint (暴利取締と自肅勵行)

Looking back, the price trend took the Manchurian Incident as its turning point; steel led the surge of all goods, and especially under the munitions boom, raw metal materials (地金材料) suddenly doubled and tripled in price; and though not to the degree of the materials world, the hardware and metalware world too took on vigour. At length the government [revised the Profiteering-Control Ordinance]...

Page 134 (一三四)

Unable to bear the price-surge, the government here drew, revised and re-strengthened the Profiteering-Control Ordinance (暴利取締令) — established in Taishō 6, and like a treasure-sword that had lain sheathed in its box since Taishō 7 — and put it into force anew. By this, profiteering acts both large and small were considerably rounded up; yet interpretation of the ordinance proved difficult...

The price policy then moved to the stage of public control of metal products. In the metal-products world, aluminium and alumite products were publicly priced on 13 July and enforced at once; then in September, enamel-ironware too was enforced. Aluminium products, which now occupied the top seat of household-daily-hardware sales, and, next to them, the era's darling, enamel products (龍兒琺瑯製品), had their prices publicly set amid great upheaval of the hardware market, and it was only natural that this made the speculators play out their comedies and tragedies. And on 18 July the following were enforced: 1) retailers shall post the sale price on an easily-visible part of the product or display it at the shopfront; 2) makers/sellers and wholesalers shall display prices in a form that makes clear the product name, quality, quantity, weight, standard, and so on. — Here, amid the admonition against profiteering, the maintenance of low prices, and the plunge into grave issues of the times such as business-conversion (轉業問題) and waste-utilization (廢品活用), the guild, as the active organ of guild control, on 1 June of the previous year, Shōwa 12 (1937), revised and strengthened the rules of the "Tokyo Hardware Federation" (「東京金物聯盟會」), merging the three parties — makers/sellers, wholesalers and retailers — into one.

Page 135 (一三五)

Tokyo Hardware Federation Rules (東京金物聯盟會々則) (revised 12 July Shōwa 13)

Article 1. This body is called the Tokyo Hardware Federation; its office is placed within the Tokyo Hardware Trade Guild office. Article 2. This body is organized of makers/sellers of metal products, wholesalers, and retailers resident in Tokyo City and Hachiōji City (東京市及八王子市). Article 3. This body aims to protect members' mutual business and to prevent and correct abuses. Article 4. To achieve the aim of the preceding article, it performs the following:

  1. Easing relations between those newly opening a shop, relocating, or opening a branch, sub-branch, outlet or sales-floor, and the nearby existing businesses.
  2. Research on the business rights and interests of members versus non-members.
  3. Other matters necessary to achieve the body's aim. Article 5. Existing businesses falling under Article 2 (members of the Tokyo Hardware Trade Guild) become members of this body without needing to file notice. Article 6. For convenience, this body follows the Tokyo Hardware Trade Guild's section system: makers/sellers and wholesalers are divided into 10 sections by their handled goods, and retailers into 33 sections by district.

[A series of lecture-meetings was then held under the guild's sponsorship. A grand lecture-meeting on the current situation, concerning materials-control, was held at the Tokyo Commerce-Industry Promotion Hall (東京商工獎勵館); guild members were summoned and heard the explanation and lecture of Suzuki Naoto, chief of the Tokyo-fu Materials-Adjustment Section (東京府物資調整課長鈴木直人). Then, to ensure that no member of any section violated the Profiteering-Control Ordinance or the Goods-Sale Rules, lecture-meetings were held as follows:]

  1. 23 July — Jōhoku 19th and 20th sections (城北第十九部及第二十部), at the Kishibojin Hall (鬼子母神會館); speaker: guild guidance-member Ōki Seitarō (本組合指導員大木淸太郎).
  2. 27 July — Jōnan 13th section (城南第十三部), Ebara Credit-Union auditorium (荏原信用組合講堂); speakers: the Ebara police-chief and secretary-general Hirasawa.
  3. 29 July — all of the Kōtō sub-group (6 sections) (江東班全部〔六部〕), Honjo Midori-chō Elementary-School auditorium (本所綠町小學校講堂); speakers: Guild-head Takaoka and secretary-general Hirasawa.

Page 136 (一三六)

  1. 2 August — Second Wire-mesh-Sieve Section (第二金網篩部), at "Yama-no-ya," the Keihin-seki in Kanda Kajichō (神田鍛冶町山の惠賓席); speaker: guild guidance-member Ōki Seitarō (大木淸太郎).
  2. 3 August — Jōsai 17th and 18th sections (城西班第十七部及第十八部), Yodobashi Public Hall (淀橋公會堂); speakers: the Yodobashi police-chief, Guild-head Takaoka, and Mr. Ōki Seitarō.
  3. 4 August — the whole Central sub-group (中央班全體), large auditorium of the Tokyo Commerce-Industry Promotion Hall (東京商工獎勵館大講堂); speakers: Materials-Adjustment Section chief Suzuki of Tokyo-fu (東京府物資調整鈴木課長), Metropolitan Police Board Inspector Itō (警視廳伊藤警部), and Guild-head Takaoka.
  4. 8 August — Jōhoku 21st, 22nd and 23rd sections, Arakawa No. 1 Elementary-School auditorium (荒川第一小學校講堂); speakers: the Arakawa police-chief, Guild-head Takaoka, and Mr. Ōki Seitarō.
  5. 10 August — Jōnan 10th and 11th sections, Ōmori Irishin'i No. 4 Elementary-School auditorium (大森入新井第四小學校講堂); speakers: the Ōmori police-chief and Guild-head Takaoka.
  6. 17 August — wholesalers (卸業者), auditorium of the Tokyo Jitsugyō-kumiai Rengō by Edobashi (江戸橋際東京實業組合聯合會講堂); speakers: the Metropolitan Police Board and Horidome police-chief, and Guild-head Takaoka.
  7. 18 August — Jōnan 14th, 15th and 16th sections; speakers: the Metropolitan Police Board and Horidome police-chief, and Guild-head Takaoka.
  8. 19 August — auditorium of the Shibuya 4th-section town-council office (渋谷第四部町會事務所講堂); speakers: the Shibuya police-chief and Guild-head Takaoka.

However, the price-surge only grew; it was hard to maintain low prices; and the government came to demand strongly that each association enforce voluntary-restraint prices (自肅價格). So the sections held daily consultation meetings from the end of March, hastening to decide voluntary price-reductions. Also, on 6 April, a similar round-table co-sponsored jointly by the Cast-iron and Sundry-goods sections (鑄物・雜器二部聯合) was held, welcoming officials of the same board; the official earnestly preached the stirring-up of patriotic spirit. At this time, from Osaka, Nagoya, the production centres of Sanjō, Miki and Kawaguchi (產地三條・三木・川口), and elsewhere, price-increase notices based on the soaring of raw materials and processing wages streamed into Tokyo; and though Tokyo faced the difficult reality of price-reduction, grounded in a thorough awareness of the times, [the guild issued] the commercial bulletin...

Page 137 (一三七)

Under the national resolve, [the guild] cut profit to the utmost minimum, in sympathy with the authorities' encouragement to become a model for the whole country. Thus the agreed prices were submitted and put into effect from 25 April, and most of the agreed-price booklets were sent to all guild members. For aluminium and alumite products — excepting those with public prices and agreed retail prices — and for the major commodities of hardware in general, a price-reduction of between 3 % and 20 % (三分より二割以內) was carried through, across both wholesale and retail prices. And a few days before enforcement, in response to the authorities' inquiry regarding voluntary prices, the guild set forth the great difficulty of enforcement, made clear that this price-reduction arose wholly from the traders' spirit of public service, and — touching on the key points of the matter — submitted that, as to future price-maintenance, it wished the authorities to give further consideration to the surrounding conditions.

Voluntary-Price Report (自肅價格答申)

To speak of hardware traders in general, the public commonly confuses them with ironwork, machinery, pig iron, tin, lead, copper, brass, gun-metal, zinc-sheet (亞鉛板) and other ingot-metal dealers, and the trade character of us, the members of the Tokyo Hardware Trade Guild. This is not to compare the superiority or inferiority of trades, but the standing of our trade must be clearly stated. Setting aside the size of the former's capital, they can freely pre-sell and resell, and can maintain their trade even without holding stock on hand, and depending on circumstances can dispose of their entire stock at once; whereas the trade of us, the guild members, in the case of manufacturers, makes products from raw materials under a fixed process with fixed machinery and equipment, supplies them mainly on credit to wholesalers, and the wholesaler in turn apportions a suitable quantity and sells to retailers; and the retailer divides and sells only small quantities to the demand-user — so that, holding a fair variety of capital-intensive product-kinds, it is what is commonly called "commerce" (商業, akinai), a trade one cannot sustain once one tires of it.

Page 138 (一三八)

[In recent times the price-surge has been remarkable... The price-determination basis for our members' sale-goods is such that, for the production-increase of munitions and wartime important materials, price rises must be recognized; where goods bear no official price, they become openly explosive. The reduction of the quantity of handled goods... As set out on separate sheet No. 1, and likewise on No. 2. Attached sheet No. 3 (text omitted here): chains of intermediary resale by "brokers" (「ブローカー」) cause price-surges — for example, military gloves (軍手), tabi (足袋) and shirts, weaker than before yet high-priced; and the rise in rice and side-dish prices. Unless these are prevented, we can sacrifice profit to some extent, but even so we believe it will be hard to suppress the future price-surge of our trade's handled goods.]

Shōwa 14, 13 April. To: the Superintendent-General of the Metropolitan Police Board, Kayaba Gunzō (警視總監萱場軍藏殿). Tokyo Hardware Trade Guild-head Takaoka Senji (東京金物同業組合組合長 高岡宣次).

Page 139 (一三九)

Re: Request that Department Stores be Instructed to Enforce Voluntary-Restraint Sale Prices (自肅販賣價格勵行ニ付百貨店ニ御指示方御願ノ件)

Based on the reply of the 13th of this month, regarding the enforcement of voluntary-restraint sale prices from the coming 25 April, printed matter was urgently produced; head/deputy-head meetings of the guild members were held separately for makers, wholesalers and retailers; and through each section meeting and other means, perfection was sought, and — after making this widely known — preparations for enforcement-supervision were made without omission. Now, as regards department stores, we present the printed matter through the guild members who deliver goods to them and urge enforcement; but since department stores have hitherto avoided joining the trade guild, and we are still refraining from measures of compulsory enrolment, there is concern that, where goods are delivered from non-members, the voluntary prices based on your instruction may not be enforced. We therefore request that your board, at this time, give appropriate instruction to the department stores. Moreover, should they join the trade guild henceforth, the benefit would be more than one-sided. Shōwa 14, 20 April. Tokyo Hardware Trade Guild-head Takaoka Senji (東京金物同業組合組合長 高岡宣次).

Thus the guild prepared and distributed a voluntary-price list, had the price-labels hitherto affixed to each product replaced, and on 25 April simultaneously enforced voluntary selling. Next, on 12 May, as the active organ for enforcing voluntary selling, it established the following Price-Adjustment Cooperation Committee; and on 2 June, welcoming Tokyo-fu administrative official Tateno (東京府館野事務官), Metropolitan Police Board Security-Section Inspector Tajima (警視廳保安課田島警部) and others, it held the Price-Adjustment Committee at the Nihonbashi Club (日本橋倶樂部) for a government-and-people round-table.

Tokyo Hardware Trade Guild Price-Adjustment Cooperation Committee Regulations (東京金物同業組合物價調整協力委員會規約)

Article 1. This committee is called the Tokyo Hardware Trade Guild Price-Adjustment Cooperation Committee.

Page 140 (一四〇)

Article 2. This committee is placed within the Tokyo Hardware Trade Guild. Article 3. This committee, under Tokyo-fu and the Metropolitan Police Board, has the Price-Adjustment Cooperation members carry out the following matters, so as to prevent law-violating acts on a basis of joint responsibility: (a) Curb the prices of handled goods. (b) Ensure that no disruption of supply arises on account of public pricing. (c) Ensure that no out-of-standard goods, manufactured so as to evade the public prices, are handled. (d) Prevent quality deterioration. Article 4. This committee is organized with the regular and deputy committee-chairmen and the Price-Adjustment Cooperation members. The chairman is the guild-head; the deputy-chairmen are selected from among the deputy guild-heads; their term of office is one year. The Price-Adjustment Cooperation members are filled from among the guild members, and are honorary positions. Article 5. The number of Price-Adjustment Cooperation members is 97 (物價調整協力委員ノ定數ハ九十七名トス). Article 6. The Price-Adjustment Cooperation members shall ensure, without omission, the thorough communication of the purport of the relevant laws or of notices and orders from the supervising authorities. Article 7. The Price-Adjustment Cooperation members shall monitor the sale-prices of the guild members' business goods within their assigned district, prepare reports, and report to the chairman by the following month. Article 8. On discovering a law-violating matter, the Price-Adjustment Cooperation members shall caution the offender and, together with that, prepare a report to the chairman.

Page 141 (一四一)

[Tail of a cooperation-committee regulation, Articles 9–10]

  1. The committee chairman shall convene the committee from time to time, superintend the cooperation system, and contribute to its smooth operation.
  2. To amend these regulations, a resolution of this committee together with the guild officers' meeting (本組合役員會) is required.

Dated May 12, Shōwa 14 (1939). Tokyo Hardware Trade Guild (東京金物同業組合). [There follows the printed committee seal (委員章).]

物價停止と價格協定 — "Price Freeze and Price Agreements."

The government held firmly to a policy of forcing prices down to the international level, but the tightening of materials from surging military demand deepened steadily and prices kept climbing. Price increases had to be permitted for the increased production of military and wartime-priority goods, while, on the other side, consumer-distribution materials were ever more squeezed and yet had to be supported at low prices. Naturally a black market running behind the official prices thickened, non-officially-priced goods "openly exploded," and production and distribution only grew harder. With the outbreak of the Second European War in September [1939] reflecting high overseas prices, and the government raising the rice price somewhat to secure the food supply, the support of low prices became impossible. Thus, quite abruptly, in October Shōwa 14 (1939) the government issued the Price Control Order (價格裁制令), pinning the whole of the nation's prices provisionally to their status of September 18 [1939] — "truly an unavoidable bold decision."

Page 142 (一四二)

The freeze period was set at one year ahead. Because such an emergency measure was taken on the spur of the moment, the unevenness of prices was severe and the maldistribution of goods great, and traders exploited these defects to spur black-market dealing. Amid this confused market, to restore distribution to normal and smooth it out, the prompt setting of proper prices became urgent. On the day the order was issued, the guild convened a meeting of the wholesale-division heads and deputy heads together with the retail-division heads; after deliberating the method of setting prices, it resolved to adopt the method set out below (reported to the authorities) and entrusted the price-scrutiny committee (精査委員) to the following persons.

Wholesale Division (卸部) scrutiny members:

Retail Division (小賣部) scrutiny members:

價格統制事由及算定基礎 — "Reasons for Price Control and Basis of Calculation." In response to the September 18 order prohibiting price rises, the guild immediately convened an emergency officers' meeting… (continues on p143).

Page 143 (一四三)

[Conclusion of the guild's agreed-price petition.] As the basis of calculation: all 4,500-odd members submitted their actual wholesale and retail prices as of about September 18; by resolution of the officers' meeting, 11 wholesaler and 15 retailer price-scrutiny members were appointed, who drew up a price table for each item, assessed the intermediate wholesale and retail prices, and set the guild's agreed prices by adding business expenses and profit to the factory or regional purchase price (delivery, freight, packing and tax charged separately).

Dated November 21, Shōwa 14 (1939). Tokyo Hardware Trade Guild, Guild-head Takaoka Senji (高岡宣次).

By section and overall, from late September through November, over 80 important council meetings set agreed prices for over 10,000 items. On the evening of October 9 a reward banquet for the officers and committee was held at Shibaura Umeya (芝浦梅屋); after re-examination the final draft was approved by the authorities and implemented from December 10 [1939]. On November 25 an official-and-private roundtable was held, pledging diligence for the future.

Page 144 (一四四)

金屬製品統制協議會 — "Metal-Products Control Council." Hosted by the Chief of the Economic Department of Tokyo Prefecture at the Marunouchi Kaikan (10 a.m.). Those present:

Kondō presided; the division heads spoke frankly on distribution control; Takaoka raised questions on price-control policy; the MCI's Tanaka stated the authorities' policy; the meeting closed at 1 p.m. after a shared meal.

第四章 各商業組合設立 — "Chapter 4: Establishment of the Various Commercial Guilds." As the materials allotted to each industrial guild were sharply cut, distribution needed matching bodies. Following the industrial guilds, from early Shōwa 13 (1938) three wholesale commercial guilds were formed — 家庭金物 (household hardware), 建築家具金物 (building-furniture hardware), and 利器工具 (edged-tools & tools) — building the consumer-hardware distribution route; notably, the retail sector took the consumer-distribution rights for the special items surrounding nails and wire.

Page 145 (一四五)

東京家庭金物卸商業組合 — "Tokyo Household-Hardware Wholesale Trade Guild."

Since December Shōwa 13, 高岡宣次 (Takaoka Senji), 吉川百太夫 (Yoshikawa Hyakudayū), 石田耕造 (Ishida Kōzō), 齋藤要藏 (Saitō Yōzō), 山口環 (Yamaguchi Tamaki), 富井彌三郎 (Tomii Yasaburō) and ten others acted as founders, with Takaoka as founders' representative, advancing the preparations. The founding general meeting was held on 16 January Shōwa 14 (1939) at the Nihonbashi Club; after Takaoka reported on the founding process, Secretary-General Hirasawa (平澤) explained the bylaws in full.

Members: 124; investment 200 yen per unit, 800 units. The membership consisted of wholesalers of household hardware (copper, iron, brass and gunmetal goods, cast-iron goods, enamel ironware, aluminium goods, tin-plate goods, buckets and zinc-plated goods, and other household hardware). As its first-term business it budgeted 600,000 yen for purchasing and began joint purchasing.

Page 146 (一四六)

東京建築金物卸商業組合 — "Tokyo Building-Hardware Wholesale Trade Guild."

Promoted by core figures of the building-furniture-hardware trade — 橋本政次郎 (Hashimoto Masajirō), 中藪健治 (Nakayabu Kenji), 中村鎭平 (Nakamura Chinpei), 手塚守二 (Tezuka Moriji), 野口甚太郎 (Noguchi Jintarō), 吉野幸雄 (Yoshino Yukio), 鈴木眞三 (Suzuki Shinzō), 若生文二 (Wakō Bunji), 川島廣吉 (Kawashima Hirokichi), 小西政敬 (Konishi Masataka), 岡谷東京金物部 (Okaya Tokyo Hardware Division), 湯淺七左衞門商店 (Yuasa Shichizaemon Shōten), and the Hardware Division of Morioka Heiemon Shōten (森岡平右衞門商店金物部) — the founding meeting was held on 23 February Shōwa 13 (1938) at the Nihonbashi Club; Hashimoto chaired as founders' representative, and Secretary-General Hirasawa explained the bylaws.

Members: 48; investment 2,000 yen per unit (first installment 1,000 yen); a new office was opened in Higashi-Fukuda-chō, Kanda Ward (神田區東福田町). (Approved 1 March Shōwa 14 [1939].)

東京利器工具卸商業組合 — "Tokyo Edged-Tool & Tool Wholesale Trade Guild."

The founding general meeting was held on 7 February Shōwa 14 (1939) at 2 p.m. in the Japan Industry Club (日本工業俱樂部) inside the Tōnichi Kaikan (東日會館); the founders' representative 加藤伊助 (Katō Isuke — i.e. Kiya 木屋) chaired; Secretary-General Hirasawa explained the bylaws. (Approved 4 July Shōwa 14 [1939].)

[Members 81, investment 500 yen per unit — stated at the top of p147.]

Page 147 (一四七)

[Continued from the Edged-Tool & Tool Wholesale Guild:] Members 81; investment 500 yen per unit (first installment 150 yen); the business plan centered on the joint purchase and joint sale of members' goods.

東京金網鐵網ラス卸商業組合 — "Tokyo Wire-Net, Iron-Net & Lath Wholesale Trade Guild." The founding general meeting was held on 6 May Shōwa 15 (1940) at the guild office; the founders' representative 丹羽久次郎 (Niwa Hisajirō) reported on the founding process, and Secretary-General Hirasawa explained the agenda.

東京琺瑯鐵器元卸商業組合 — "Tokyo Enamel-Ironware Primary-Wholesale Trade Guild." With 宮內準五郎 (Miyauchi Jungorō) as founders' representative, the preparations were completed; the founding general meeting was held on 25 April Shōwa 15 (1940) at 5 p.m. at the Sumida annex in Asakusa-Hashiba (淺草橋場隅田別館), attended by guild-head Takaoka and Secretary-General Hirasawa, with Miyauchi chairing.

釘、針金商組設立の事由と動機 — "Reasons and Motives for Establishing the Nail & Wire Trade Guilds." Nails are an important sales item for hardware retailers, of no special concern in ordinary times; but given such scarcity of materials… (continues on p148).

Page 148 (一四八)

[The "nail famine" (釘饑饉).] Nails, a priority daily necessity, soared highest amid the scarcity; the distribution mechanism was still undeveloped, so goods did not reach consumers directly but were diverted at black-market prices, deepening the shortage into a "nail famine." The Great Kantō wind-and-flood disaster (關東大風水害) created an emergency. The authorities negotiated repeatedly with the wholesalers, while the guild petitioned the Minister of Commerce & Industry and the Governor of Tokyo Prefecture, and signalled its intent to form commercial guilds before long.

Petition: 丸釘配給緩和ニ關スル件 — "Matter concerning the easing of round-nail distribution." In the national emergency, the government's authorities had strengthened controls over the whole range of metal raw-material distribution, production restriction and consumption control; among the guild's members, the 3,500-odd round-nail retailers had in late July been buying 2-inch round nails (二寸丸釘) at 25, rising to 27–28 yen, from city wholesalers and supplying general consumers in the prefecture; but from 1 August the city's round-nail wholesalers announced a cut in the agreed wholesale price to about 18 yen, after which, when members enquired, they were told stock was "sold out," so that members' own stock fell to nil — hurting export crates (輸出函), packing, new construction, repairs… (continues on p149).

Page 149 (一四九)

[Conclusion of the petition.] …the supply of round nails to builders and other consumers has become impossible, hindering the business of this guild's 3,500-odd members; we therefore ask that the iron and steel allocation to round-nail makers be eased at once, so that our members may supply consumers directly.

Dated August 14, Shōwa 13 (1938). Signed: Tokyo Hardware Trade Guild, Guild-head Takaoka Senji (高岡宣次). Addressed to: Minister of Commerce & Industry Ikeda Shigeaki (商工大臣 池田成彬閣下) and Governor of Tokyo Prefecture Okada Shūzō (東京府知事 岡田周造殿).

Memorandum: 釘、針金小賣商業組合設立ノ件 — a plan to divide the guild's Tokyo City area into five zones and establish nail & wire retail commercial guilds:

1. 東京中央釘針金小賣商業組合 (Tokyo Central):

Page 150 (一五〇)

[Continuation of the five zonal Nail & Wire Retail Trade Guilds:]

2. 東京城南 (Jōnan / south): Shinagawa, Ōmori, Kamata, Ebara, Meguro, Shibuya, Setagaya; qualified 240.

3. 東京城西 (Jōsei / west): Yodobashi, Nakano, Suginami, Hachiōji City; qualified 100.

4. 東京城北 (Jōhoku / north) [the printed numeral is 六 (6), evidently a misprint, this being the fourth of the five zones]: Toshima, Itabashi, Takinogawa, Ōji, Arakawa, Adachi; qualified 200.

5. 東京江東 (Kōtō / east): Honjo, Fukagawa, Jōtō, Mukōjima, Edogawa, Katsushika; qualified 180 [the figure continued on p151].

Each: membership = round-nail and wire retailers within the district; business = joint purchasing, transport and storage, etc.

Page 151 (一五一)

[Top:] The authorities fortunately accepted this and, as an interim step, increased the wire-rod (ワイヤーロット) allocation to the round-nail makers. Then, by ill chance, on 1 September a great wind-and-flood disaster struck the whole Kantō region; as an emergency post-disaster measure, guild-head Takaoka and Secretary-General Hirasawa reported to Tokyo Prefecture the urgent need for nails, and the Prefecture specially allotted over 2,000 barrels of round nails (丸釘二千餘樽) to the trade guild, which were distributed through the retail-division structure to meet general consumer demand; two or three further distributions followed, giving consumers some measure of satisfaction.

[Continuing the fifth zone (Kōtō) from p150: membership = round-nail and wire retailers within the district; qualified 180; business = joint purchasing, etc.]

東京府釘針金小賣商業組合 — "Tokyo Prefecture Nail & Wire Retail Trade Guild." The preparations being complete, the founding general meeting was held on 25 November Shōwa 13 (1938) at the Nihonbashi Club; under the chairmanship of 福島 (Fukushima) as founders' representative, 大木淸太郎 (Ōki Seitarō) was elected meeting-chairman and took the chair; Secretary-General Hirasawa explained the bylaws.

Business = the joint purchase, transport and storage of round nails and wire; investment 50 yen per unit. The allocation method: round nails and wire were jointly purchased on members' commission, and the contracted quantity was allocated to all members in proportion to their investment units and past record, then distributed through the trade guild's retail-division structure via the division heads. The office was placed within the trade-guild office, and in Shōwa 15 a new office was opened in Honchō, Nihonbashi Ward (日本橋區本町). (Approved 10 March Shōwa 14 [1939].)

Page 152 (一五二)

東京府金物小賣商業組合 — "Tokyo Prefecture Hardware Retail Trade Guild."

Since the enactment of the Commercial Guild Law (商業組合法) in Shōwa 7 (1932), part of the retail trade had wished to form a commercial guild; now, caught up in the structural upheaval of the age, the retail world judged that it could carry out the national distribution function only through a commercial guild, and on 10 April Shōwa 15 (1940) the gentlemen below applied to establish the Tokyo Prefecture Hardware Retail Trade Guild. The membership was to consist of specialist hardware retailers with shops in Tokyo Prefecture; investment 100 yen per unit; the business comprised the joint purchase, storage and transport of goods, business control, research, study and guidance concerning the trade, the lending of funds and savings, and other necessary facilities. The founding general meeting was held on 26 April Shōwa 15 (1940) at the Kyōbashi Ward Public Hall (京橋區公會堂); the bylaws and all else were adopted as drafted, and the following officers took office. (Approved 5 June Shōwa 15 [1940].)

Page 153 (一五三)

[Close of Chapter 4.] This new hardware retail commercial guild was "the last commercial guild to be born from the womb of this guild" and formed the rear-guard of the control guilds; the wartime control structure was thus provisionally complete. Its birth had involved considerable twists and turns, above all the adjustment between wholesalers and retailers; at its fresh start the retail commercial guild declared in particular the "trinity" (三位一體) policy of producers, wholesalers and retailers.

第五章 適正價格と暴利取締 — "Chapter 5: Proper Prices and Profiteering Control." At year-end, in Shōwa 15 (1940), guild-head Takaoka, in his New Year address, stressed that the economy would grow ever more difficult and conditions more severe, and that in their trade too they must endure the scarcity of materials, resist the rise of prices, obey the national laws, cooperate with national policy, and press on in "industrial service to the nation" (實業報國). Although proper prices had for the time being been set for hardware and ware, the surging and unsettled prices of raw materials made them impossible to support. The regional price agreements varied widely, with Tokyo's price the lowest, so that goods flowed to the higher-priced districts and Tokyo was neglected. For example, at a production area such as Sanjō (三條) — long the most closely connected with Tokyo — over thirty traders from various districts were said to have visited a single shop in one day to collect goods; the production areas were high-handed, busy with military-related work, and burdened with high raw-material costs and high wages…

Page 154 (一五四)

[Continued:] …so consumer goods grew ever scarcer. The Tokyo distributors, who had cut their profits to the extreme and held the public interest foremost and had been first to set agreed prices in their districts, found themselves in the worst straits of material shortage. Because business had become so hard to sustain, the guild had seen 89 members close down since the previous December. Meanwhile, price policy had advanced a step beyond the earlier official-pricing stage: besides simply regulating consumption, it now spurred the production needed for war capacity (with state compensation and a double-price structure), while consumer demand was pressed at low prices.

新協定價格の認可申請 — "Application for Approval of New Agreed Prices." From February through March the wholesale divisions repeatedly discussed the difficulty of supporting the agreed prices. Guild-head Takaoka judged the fundamental remedy to lie in suppressing improper raw-material prices and asked the authorities to control them; in March he polled all members by postcard, gathered their opinions, and reported the trade's situation to the Governor of Tokyo Prefecture and the Metropolitan Police Superintendent-General; on the 25th, citing the soaring of raw materials and the high prices in the various districts, and this time covering non-ferrous metals, enamel ironware, zinc-coated materials… (continues).

Page 155 (一五五)

[Top:] …Under the influence of official-price rises, makers manufactured goods of the same name but different substance, flooding the market; the guild applied afresh for approval of the newly agreed prices. The wholesale division also decided this month that shipping charges would be borne by the buyer. In May the guild asked the production areas to ease prices and increase shipments. Also this month, the agreed prices applied for by the Kantō Aluminium Industrial Guild (關東アルミニューム工業組合) for aluminium casting pots, by the enamel-ironware industrial guild (琺瑯鐵器工組), and by the rivet-power products guild (鋲力製品組合) were approved.

暴利行爲等取締規則改正 — "Revision of the Profiteering Control Regulations." On 24 June the revision of the Regulations for the Control of Profiteering and the Like was issued, tightened and strengthened; its main points were the eradication of the black market and of broker rampancy and the enforcement of price display. At that time retailers flocked to Tokyo to buy, wholesalers travelled to the production areas, and advance payment became common. On 1 July a general meeting of over 400 at the Jitsuren Kaikan (實聯會館) heard the revision explained by 福富恒樹 (Fukutomi Tsuneki), Chief of the Price-Control Section of Tokyo Prefecture, and 岩崎金作 (Iwasaki Kinsaku), Chief of the 2nd Subsection of the Economic-Security Section of the Metropolitan Police; the divisions pledged to observe and enforce the law.

Page 156 (一五六)

新製品判定委員會 — "New-Product Judgment Committee." As goods that were not genuinely new products in form, substance or use poured out to evade the official prices, the guild formed a "New-Product Determination Committee" (新製品制定委員會); its chairman 石田耕造 (Ishida Kōzō) and twenty judging members deliberated several dozen actual samples at the guild office on 13 July, recognized a dozen or so as possibly qualifying as new products, and requested the authorities' judgment, but none was recognized. The authorities' general view was that, since September 18, new products could scarcely exist; the guild warned all members that these so-called "new products" must be sold at the frozen prices.

奢侈品等の製造販賣制限 — "Restrictions on the Manufacture & Sale of Luxury Goods." On 7 July the Regulations Restricting the Manufacture and Sale of Luxury Goods and the Like (奢侈品等製造販賣制限規則) were issued, applying across manufacture, processing and sale; their aim was to restrict two kinds of goods — those unnecessary for wartime life and those excessively priced — and their sale was banned from 7 October. This dealt a heavy blow to the peacetime trades; for this guild alone the relevant stock was estimated at about 1,600,000 yen. The guild had all members submit stock reports as of 25 August and, on 8 October, applied for a one-year extension of the special sales exemption. In view of the hardship to traders at the end of the ban, the authorities permitted exemption sales (except for certain prohibited items) until 31 August Shōwa 16, and on 4 October the guild received informal notice of this. The stock surveyed as of 25 August came to 2,200 persons and 4,000,000 items. Guild-head Takaoka and Secretary-General Hirasawa campaigned vigorously at the Prefecture and the MCI, leading the metropolitan guilds.

Page 157 (一五七)

[Top:] …The authorities, impressed by the guild's work, issued their approval on the 10th, two days after the application, sparing the traders hundreds of thousands of yen in losses. Thereafter none of the members' goods lacked the マル公 (circled-公 official-price) mark.

製品全面の規格統制 — "Across-the-Board Standardization of Products." In September the Ministry of Commerce & Industry began the across-the-board control of all important goods, to set official prices on a low-price basis; starting with hardware products and first simplifying the standard varieties of household necessities, it summoned representatives of the Tokyo and Osaka trades on the 2nd of that month for the first committee meeting and held several further product-assessment committees with keen effort. On the trade side this guild was central, with the Osaka side participating; within the guild, the household-hardware industrial guild (家庭金物工業組合), the sundries (雜器), edged-tools & tools (利器工具), enamel-ironware (琺瑯鐵器) and copper-and-iron implements (銅鐵器具) divisions each deliberated under the authorities' instructions (the building-furniture-hardware division to begin shortly). Among them, the Edged-Tool & Tool Wholesale Division (利器工具卸部) gathered at the hall and sorted cutlery and tools into five classes — 利器 (cutlery), 工具 (tools), 土工具 (earth-working tools), 機工具 (machine tools) and 利容双物 (grooming blades) — and, its divisional officers' meeting being the last to convene, the standard item-types were decided and, after careful selection, the list was sharply pared down. This draft was submitted for deliberation to the Ministry's Price Committee (商工省物價委員會).

公定價格續々設定 — "Official Prices Set One After Another." In the second half of Shōwa 15 unfixed and unset prices were announced one after another: on 7 July the official price for buckets (バケツ); the same month, the sale price for enamel-coated buckets (琺瑯引バケツ, limited to work-in-progress and stock); on 19 September metal lath and wire lath (メタルラス・ワイヤーラス), official; on 7 October special tool-steel stock (特殊工具鋼製材)… (continues).

Page 158 (一五八)

[Continued dated official/agreed-price list, which the original notes is too numerous to enumerate, all notified to the members:]

時局對策委員會 [narrative]. Since the 9·18 price-freeze of the previous autumn, official pricing had spread over nearly all goods; the aim was to correct the unevenness of prices, remove the causes of maldistribution, promote consumption control, and absolutely secure the minimum of priority necessities, so as to carry through the wartime economy. In the same line, the 7·7 luxury-prohibition order (七・七禁令, 7 July 1940) was meant to cut unnecessary consumption and divert it to urgent wartime needs. Yet many still lacked a sense of the grave situation; economic offenses reached a nationwide cumulative total of about 480,000 cases by the summer and autumn of Shōwa 15, so in June the profiteering-control order was revised. In October the guild newly established the Current-Affairs Countermeasures Committee (時局對策委員會).

Page 159 (一五九)

時局對策委員會規約 — "Rules of the Current-Affairs Countermeasures Committee," Articles 1–7:

  1. This committee is called the Tokyo Hardware Trade Guild Current-Affairs Countermeasures Committee.
  2. It is placed within the guild office.
  3. Its purpose is, under the supervision of Tokyo Prefecture and the Metropolitan Police, to guide members to conduct business on a truly national footing suited to the times, to enforce the laws, the guild bylaws and the guild regulations in a spirit of joint responsibility, and to achieve crime prevention by members' self-government so that no violation occurs.
  4. It is organized of a chairman and vice-chairman and the countermeasures members.
  5. Following the guild's division system, it is divided by trade and by region into 49 divisions (四十九部), each with several members (the details omitted in the original).
  6. The chairman and vice-chairman are the guild head and deputy head; the division heads are appointed by the chairman, and the members are appointed by the chairman on the division heads' recommendation.
  7. To achieve the purpose of Article 3, each member shall, within his assigned area: (1) at once make known to members any relevant laws, circulars or orders from the supervising authorities and any notices from the guild; (2) watch that members observe the prices set under the Price Control Order and other laws; (3) on finding a member selling in violation of the lawful price, caution the violator, and, if he does not repent, draw up a statement of the facts and report through the division head to the chairman… (continues on p160).

Page 160 (一六〇)

[Continued, duties (4)–(8) and Articles 8–10:]

(4) restrain the prices of goods handled; (5) prevent the manufacture or sale of non-standard goods that evade the official prices; (6) prevent the deterioration of quality; (7) visit the families of members who have gone to the front or been called up, survey their business and report any hindrance; (8) take such other necessary measures.

Dated 5 October Shōwa 15 (1940). Tokyo Hardware Trade Guild.

國家總動員法の改正强化 — "Strengthening Revision of the National Mobilization Law." The National Mobilization Law (國家總動員法) was revised and strengthened, effective 20 March Shōwa 16 (1941): labor control, a wider scope of controlled materials, financial control, enterprise control… (continues).

Page 161 (一六一)

[Continued:] …price control and the like extended over a wide range; in response to an ever more pressing national situation it was strengthened. From the standpoint of price revision, besides prices themselves it now covered transport charges, insurance premiums, rents, processing fees, repair fees and other financial considerations; and the penalties for control violations were greatly raised — imprisonment to more than three times the former term, fines to ten times — while for malicious offenders corporal punishment and a fine could be imposed together.

On 7 April the wholesale division convened its countermeasures committee at the Nihonbashi Club (日本橋俱樂部), inviting Engineer Okada (岡田技師) of the Tokyo Prefecture Price-Control Section and Police Inspector Tanaka (田中警部) of the Metropolitan Police Economic Police to hear the content of the revised law, and questioned them fully to guard against any error.

暴利行爲等取締更に强化 — "Further Strengthening of Profiteering Control." On 10 July a revised Regulation for the Control of Profiteering and the Like was announced by joint notice of the Ministries of Commerce & Industry and of Agriculture & Forestry, effective the 15th. Article 1, paragraph 2 was revised: no one may hoard or withhold goods for the purpose of control-evasion or in the course of his business, except by the instruction of the competent minister or local governor or for other legitimate cause; no one may make tie-in or burden-attached sales except as so instructed or for legitimate cause; no one may buy or sell goods for improper remuneration. Hoarding, tie-in sales (抱合せ販賣), burden-attached sales (負擔付販賣) and broker rampancy had become severe; this, the sixth revision of the profiteering control, aimed at the thorough eradication of the black market.

Page 162 (一六二)

[Top, close of Chapter 5:] Thus, to drive home the purport of the revised law, the wholesale divisions convened a committee at the Jitsuren Kaikan on 23 July, heard lectures by Administrative Officer 野 (No) of the Tokyo Prefecture Price-Control Section and by 細谷 (Hosoya), Chief of the Metal Section of the Metropolitan Police Economic Police, and exchanged earnest questions and answers on the law.

第六章 紀元二千六百年奉祝記念 — "Chapter 6: Commemoration of the 2,600th Imperial Year." In the year before Takaoka's resignation, the great national ceremony of the 2,600th imperial year (紀元二千六百年, 1940) was held, and the whole nation overflowed with emotion; the guild, mindful of its own history, marked it as a commemoration. On 10 November Shōwa 15, at the ceremonial ground of the Imperial Palace Outer Garden (宮城外苑), amid the civil and military officials, the foreign envoys and the representatives of every class, guild-head Takaoka — as a member of the Tokyo Prefectural Assembly (東京府會議員) — had the honor to be among the many men of the trade holding honorary posts, and, overcome with emotion, beheld Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress. The guild, which that year also reached its 25th anniversary (創立滿廿五周年), held commemorative events: on the 7th, a memorial service for the guild's deceased together with a ceremony of thanks to the meritorious officers, and on the 8th, the Kanayama Festival (金山祭).

物故者追悼法要 — "Memorial Service for the Deceased." The service was held at 9:30 a.m. on the 7th at Tsukiji Hongan-ji (築地本願寺), with the bereaved families received as principal guests; all, taking their seats, first worshipped the Imperial Palace from afar… (continues).

Page 163 (一六三)

[The ceremony program:] seating of all → ceremony bell → entry of the assembled monks → entry of the officiant → music → hymn of praise → [chime] → sutra passage → four-verse nembutsu → ekō (dedication) and the memorial words → exit of the officiant and monks → incense offering → then guild-head Takaoka stood in reverence before the spirit tablets and offered the memorial address.

追悼之辭 — "Memorial Address." The Tokyo Hardware Trade Guild, in the same year as the sacred ceremony of the 2,600th imperial year, reached the full 25th anniversary of its founding, and in commemoration held this day a memorial service for the following founders and former heads and deputy heads of the guild who have passed away (all 故, "the late"):

  1. 大久保惣左衞門 (Ōkubo Sōzaemon)
  2. 阿部彥四郎 (Abe Hikoshirō)
  3. 山口孝太郎 (Yamaguchi Kōtarō)
  4. 篠原十四郎 (Shinohara Jūshirō)
  5. 大塚重吉 (Ōtsuka Jūkichi)
  6. 梅田仙吉 (Umeda Senkichi)
  7. 宮川榮三郎 (Miyagawa Eizaburō)
  8. 中村村司 (Nakamura; given-name reading uncertain)
  9. 橋本太吉 (Hashimoto Takichi)
  10. 井原作太郎 (Ihara Sakutarō)
  11. 土川太藏 (Tsuchikawa Tazō)

Representing the guild, I reverently report to these eleven departed spirits in heaven. You were pioneers of our trade; some poured their utmost strength into the construction of the guild's founding, some devoted themselves to the guild's rebuilding amid the hardships after the great earthquake-fire (大震火災 = the 1923 Great Kantō Earthquake), and, meeting many difficulties, never erred in their course but achieved conspicuous merit in the guild's development; that the guild stands today is truly the legacy of these departed. You also gathered deep esteem and ably guided those who came after; ever recalling your warmth in life and cherishing your virtue, we pray to be worthy of the legacy of our forerunners. The guild's present strength, since its 20th anniversary in the autumn of Shōwa 10 (1935), has greatly expanded and now numbers over 4,500 members. We who hold positions of responsibility pledge to strive on and answer the departed's will; and we pray that, though the living and the dead are parted, you will yet watch over our guild from afar — and so offer this memorial address.

Dated 7 November Shōwa 15 (1940). Tokyo Hardware Trade Guild, Guild-head Takaoka Senji (高岡宣次).

Page 164 (一六四)

[Top:] After the incense offering, 山口環 (Yamaguchi Tamaki) gave words of thanks as the bereaved families' representative, and the gathering closed in good order.

功勞役員感謝式 — "Ceremony of Thanks to Meritorious Officers." The officers then proceeded to the ceremonial hall at the Tōnichi Kaikan (東日會館) and held a ceremony presenting certificates of thanks and commemorative gifts to the following 26 long-serving officers (as of 7 November Shōwa 15). [Columns: category / name / years of service.]

First group (subtotal 10):

Category Name Service
Former officer (前任者) 宮坂鐵太郎 (Miyasaka Tetsutarō) 20 yr 1 mo
Current officer (現任者) 小川忠作 (Ogawa Chūsaku) 10 yr 1 mo
〃 富井彌三郎 (Tomii Yasaburō) 6 yr 0 mo
〃 川島廣吉 (Kawashima Hirokichi) 4 yr 11 mo
〃 星野己之助 (Hoshino Kinosuke) 4 yr 9 mo
〃 牧田杏平 (Makita Kyōhei) 4 yr 9 mo
〃 宮野直治 (Miyano Naoji) 4 yr 7 mo
〃 田邊猛三 (Tanabe Takezō) 4 yr 1 mo
〃 井桁平三郎 (Igeta Heizaburō) 4 yr 1 mo
〃 武藤勘助 (Mutō Kansuke) 4 yr 1 mo

Second group (subtotal 16):

Category Name Service
Former officer (前任者) 山口環 (Yamaguchi Tamaki) 14 yr 10 mo
〃 森信吉 (Mori Nobukichi) 14 yr 10 mo
〃 岡田清次郎 (Okada Seijirō) 10 yr 1 mo
Current officer (現任者) 松永龍藏 (Matsunaga Ryūzō) 9 yr 7 mo
〃 石川宇吉 (Ishikawa Ukichi) 8 yr 10 mo
〃 中村文五郎 (Nakamura Bungorō) 8 yr 6 mo
〃 齋藤要藏 (Saitō Yōzō) 6 yr 10 mo
〃 河野信太郎 (Kōno Shintarō) 6 yr 6 mo
〃 橋本寅藏 (Hashimoto Torazō) 5 yr 6 mo
〃 礒貝荻之助 (Isogai Oginosuke) 5 yr 6 mo
〃 中山外次郎 (Nakayama Sotojirō) 5 yr 6 mo
〃 丸山川吉 (Maruyama Kawakichi) 4 yr 10 mo
〃 石原好太郎 (Ishihara Kōtarō) 4 yr 6 mo
〃 安藤富五郎 (Andō Tomigorō) 4 yr 6 mo
〃 石黒喜三郎 (Ishiguro Kisaburō) 4 yr 2 mo
〃 加藤伊助 (Katō Isuke) 4 yr 1 mo

Page 165 (一六五)

[Running header: 金山祭.] On the 8th the Kanayama Festival (金山祭) was solemnly held on the upper floor of the guild hall; afterward the officers, dividing up assigned areas, visited the bereaved families of members' war dead, the disabled veterans and the families of those called up, presenting offerings.

第七章 高岡組長時代の組合概觀 — "Chapter 7: An Overview of the Guild during Guild-head Takaoka's Era." Over Takaoka's eight-year tenure — from the late capitalist era into the era of controls — the guild boldly carried out the unprecedented practice of "business self-governing control" (營業自治統制), which drew the attention of the whole nation and protected the trade (the ban on transactions between members and non-members, for instance, proved effective in practice). From the revival after the Manchurian Incident through the China Incident, controls intensified; in the hardware world the industrial guilds (工業組合) and then the commercial guilds (商業組合) were established in clusters by trade, occupied mainly with distribution. Yet since the hardware trade is by its history an organic and indivisible whole, the coordinating role of the trade guild (同業組合) — especially on price problems in the late control period — grew ever more important and busy… (continues on p166).

Page 166 (一六六)

[Conclusion of Chapter 7 / the Takaoka volume.] The officers stood between the authorities and the traders, at times heedless of praise or blame, forgetting self and family, and devoted themselves day and night to putting the public interest first. The greatest worry was that control policy lacked consistency and was changed again and again. On the question of structure, while the production sector was already organized and the retail-distribution end had been regulated, the wholesale sector alone lagged behind. The desire to establish a National Hardware Wholesalers' Federation (全國金物卸商聯合會) was raised, with the authorities and the guild at its center, and was swiftly realized; but its distribution guidelines, differing from the authorities' view, went unapproved, to the traders' disappointment. At the start of Shōwa 18 (1943) the Commercial-Industrial Guild Law (商工組合法) was promulgated and all the former guilds faced "developmental dissolution"; the guild now devotes its whole strength to the single point of "certain-victory increased production." "Public interest first" (公益優先) was no mere new slogan of the wartime economy: the guild's predecessors had all made the advancement of the public interest and of public service their first creed. The author closes this "Takaoka Era volume" (高岡時代編) with the 1940 commemoration as its final activity.

Page 167 (一六七)

バケツ配給協議會成立 — "Establishment of the Bucket Distribution Council." After the agreed prices were put in force at the end of Shōwa 14, the hardware traders fell into distress; in the spring of Shōwa 15 an "economic offense" scandal arose, unexpectedly, in the bucket trade. The matter was most improper, yet on the other hand the traders' hardship was in some degree to be understood. As buckets were an important material for national defense, their supply and demand had to be kept in good order; the guild therefore submitted the petition below and sent a copy of the same text to 武岡憲一 (Takeoka Ken'ichi), Chief of the Materials Section of the Economic Department of Tokyo Prefecture, and earnestly asked for guidance from 宮崎 (Miyazaki), Section Chief of the Economic-Security Section of the Metropolitan Police. The prefectural control section accepted its intent, and on 26 June Shōwa 14 [so printed], at the Tokyo Commerce & Industry Encouragement Hall (東京商工獎勵館), it summoned guild-head Takaoka, the deputy heads 石田・塩田 (Ishida and Shioda), the prefectural officers, chairman 山口 (Yamaguchi, 理事長) of the Tokyo Household-Hardware Wholesale Trade Guild, Sundries-Division head 齋藤 (Saitō, 雜器部長), the officers of the firms 湯淺・森岡・岡谷 (Yuasa, Morioka and Okaya), and the officers of the bucket industrial guild and the hardware retail commercial guild, and deliberated the guild's plan for a Bucket Distribution Council and for proper prices. On 5 July a further meeting established the Council and put the proper prices into effect; thereafter the bucket trade grew most orderly and settled into calm stability.

バケツ配給機構整備ニ關スル陳情 — petition. Since the implementation of the agreed price on 10 December Shōwa 14, there have been violations by members in the matter of buckets, for which the investigating authorities are now being troubled, and for which the guild apologizes as partly a lapse in its own administration; but if matters are left as they are, the makers — facing the soaring official prices of raw materials — will be unable to manufacture at the agreed price, so that factories will close, workers will move to other work, wholesalers will drop the line and retailers will be unable to supply consumers, gravely harming both the air-defense corps (警防團) and household use; and since the existing mechanism cannot ensure adherence to the price, the distribution mechanism should be improved to prevent a recurrence… (continues on p168).

Page 168 (一六八)

[Conclusion of the bucket petition:] …the guild convened its executive committee and then a tripartite conference of makers, wholesalers and retailers; although the makers were absent, those present resolved that the distribution mechanism needed improvement, and the guild requested an early conference.

Dated 20 June Shōwa 15 (1940). To: 福富恒樹 (Fukutomi Tsuneki), Chief of the Price-Control Section, Economic Department, Tokyo Prefecture. From: Tokyo Hardware Trade Guild, Guild-head Takaoka Senji (高岡宣次).

其他の各施設 — "Other Various Measures." Shōwa 13 (1938):

Page 169 (一六九)

Shōwa 13 (1938), continued:

[Employee commendation, continued:] …12 persons with 20 or more years of service, 19 with 15 or more, 70 with 10 or more and 220 with 7 or more — 327 in all — were commended with certificates and gifts, and those present then shared a meal at the Chūōtei (中央亭), closing the gathering in good cheer.

Page 170 (一七〇)

[Shōwa 13 guild-membership list, continued:] 6. 東京建築家具金物工業組合 (Tokyo Building-Furniture Hardware) — 130 7. 東京家庭金物工業組合 (Tokyo Household Hardware) — 40 8. 關東鋲力製罐工業組合 (Kantō Rivet-Power Can-Making) — 52 9. 東京金網工業組合 (Tokyo Wire-Net) — 212

Shōwa 14 (1939):

Page 171 (一七一)

Shōwa 14 (1939), continued:

Shōwa 15 (1940):

Page 172 (一七二)

[Top, year summary for Shōwa 15:] This year the wholesale-division enrollment surged (80 new memberships); 385 members closed down or changed business, mostly as a result of the consolidation of small retail enterprises. The year's total member sales came to 23,243,600 yen (二千三百二十四萬三千六百圓).

Shōwa 16 (1941):

Page 173 (一七三)

…Kenkichi (謙吉氏; the surname begins on the preceding page): 26 persons with 20 or more years of service, 43 persons with 15 or more years, 141 persons with 10 or more years, and 216 persons with 7 or more years. To each, Chairman Takaoka (高岡組長, Takaoka) presented a certificate of commendation and a commemorative medal. After the chairman's address and a guest's congratulatory speech, the ceremony closed with a reply from Takatsuka Yoshikichi (高塚良吉) of Tōyō Kōkan (東洋工罐, Oriental Can Works), representing those honoured.

October. Among the designated goods under the Iron-Products Manufacturing Restriction Rule (鐵製品製造制限規則) promulgated on 22 September, wire-netting fish-grills and rice-cake-grilling nets (金網製魚燒餅燒網) were excluded, as applied for.

November. Chairman Takaoka, having assumed the chairmanship of the Tokyo Prefectural Assembly (東京府會議長) on 23 July of this year and therefore unable to carry out the chairman's essential duties, had submitted his resignation; the vice-chairmen Shiota (鹽田), Takagi (高木), Ishida (石田), and Kubota (久保田) also resigned. Mr. Yamaguchi (山口) became chairman, and five men — Konishi (小西), Tanabe (田邊), Miyasaka (宮坂), Suda (須田), and Tochigi (栃木) — became vice-chairmen, confirmed and installed at the councillors' meeting (評議會) held on the 12th.

Page 174 (一七四)

Photograph (top). Caption: 「金山祭（於組合事務所樓上）」 — "Kanayama Festival (held on the upper floor of the guild office)."

Part 7: The Fine Custom of Reverence for the Gods, and Mutual-Aid Facilities (第七編　敬神の美風と互助施設)

The Ancestral-Deity Kanayama Festival (祖神金山祭)

The people of divine Japan, all of them, in daily life and in their occupational spheres, hold day and night the faith of "being together with the gods." In particular, that Japanese swords (日本刀劍) are made in sacred workshops hung with shimenawa ropes (七五三繩), by craftsmen of pure devotion and abstinence, is the most conspicuous true image of the nation's production front. Accordingly, worship of the ancestral deity of the metal/hardware world — which originates in sword-forging (刀劍鍛錬) — is a tradition since the founding of the nation; that such a fine custom has been raised ever higher since the current holy war is a powerful thing.

The three patron deities and their shrines:

Sakai Zensaku (坂井善作), a hardware wholesaler (金物問屋) originally from Sanjō in Echigo (越後三條), resolved upon it, made a pilgrimage, invited the spirits of the three deities (三柱) to his hometown, and established the local hardware trade… (continues on p.175)

Page 175 (一七五)

…with the approval of all these gentlemen, a splendid Kanayama Shrine (金山神社) was built. It was later proposed to enshrine a divided spirit (分靈) at the guild; this coincided with the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the guild's founding, and it was enshrined on the upper floor of the guild office on 8 November. Thereafter 8 November became the annual festival day, and since the current holy war a festival of prayer for lasting military fortune has always been held, down to the present.

Right after the guild's great expansion, in the wholesale division — starting with the Sundries Section (雜器部) — and in the retail division — starting with the Jōnan (城南) area — each section newly made a section flag, held a spirit-infusing ceremony before the Kanayama deity, and displayed it at send-offs and welcomes of soldiers and on other occasions.

The Trade-Guild Mutual-Aid Association (同業組合共濟會)

With the aim of mutual aid when a member suffers a fire, the founding general assembly of the member-organized Tokyo Hardware Trade-Guild Mutual-Aid Association (東京金物同業組合共濟會) was held on 12 September of the 8th year of Shōwa [1933] at the guild office. Members numbered 495; rules and officers were decided as set out below.

Owing to good results, by the end of August of the 12th year [1937] membership had risen to over 750; and in June of the 17th year [1942] (the Yamaguchi era) the contribution was raised from 1 yen 50 sen to 10 yen, and the term extended from 2 to 3 years. In gist: if a member suffers a disaster of "half-burning" (半燒, 50% or more) or greater, the aid payment is 100 × 10 yen = 1,000 yen; if less, an appropriate consolation payment is made by officers' resolution.

Unlike a fire-insurance contract, even after the term expires, any surplus in members' paid-in contributions — together with deposit interest — becomes the common property of all members. On this occasion, with the guild's dissolution, it becomes the common property of all members. The proposers of this scheme were the then vice-chairmen Okamura Mitsuzō (岡村光造) and Matsushita Jinzō (松下甚藏).

Page 176 (一七六)

Photograph (top). Caption: 「商品見本市會」 — "Commodity Sample-Fair."

Part 8: The Prosperity of the Sample Fair and the Flourishing of the Various Bodies (第八編　見本市の繁榮と各團體の振興)

The Tokyo Prefecture Commodity Sample Fair (東京府商品見本市)

The Tokyo Prefecture Commodity Sample Fair was a pioneer that opened an epoch-making new commercial system in our nation's commercial history. From before the Great Kantō Earthquake, sample fairs had been held alternately in Tokyo and Osaka in the book and stationery trades. The Maruzen Co. (丸善株式會社) and Horie Tadaki (堀江但城), chief editor of the stationery-trade organ paper, were leading figures and achieved considerable effect. Later, when Hayasaki Kameju (早崎龜壽) became deputy chief (次長) of the Prefectural Tokyo Commerce-Industry Promotion Hall (府立東京商工獎勵館), he examined this new approach theoretically, drew up a systematic plan modeled on the world-famous Leipzig Messe (ライプチッヒ) of Germany, and in the 1st year of Shōwa [1926] Tokyo Prefecture took the lead in carrying it out.

At that time Tokyo's wounds from the great earthquake and fire were not yet healed, and the commerce-industry base had no choice but to submit to encroachment by other regions; a scheme to draw customers nationwide together in one hall became a timely and excellent recession-recovery measure.

Page 177 (一七七)

In the recession, wholesalers' sales-trip costs mounted while buyers' scope for selecting goods narrowed; in refining and simplifying buyer–seller transactions, the sample fair struck precisely at the heart of rationalizing commercial management. Moreover, Deputy-Chief Hayasaki's (早崎次長) aspiration was grander still: his ultimate aim was the overseas expansion of Japan's sundry goods — to make it the "German Messe" of East Asia.

The venue was the Promotion Hall; opening days were the three-day regular spring and autumn buying periods; Tokyo Prefecture made the final selection of exhibitors and invited customers. The sections numbered roughly twelve — hardware (金物), glass, knitwear (莫大小), hats, Western-goods/apparel sundries, notions and stationery (小間物・文具), toys, sporting goods, celluloid sundries, Western clothing, and so on — later extending to office supplies. Business rose year by year, from 5–6 million yen and later surpassing 10 million yen.

Customers numbered two or three thousand of the nation's first-class hardware retailers coming up to Tokyo. In the hardware section the most prominent and influential guild members exhibited. Tokyo Prefecture called out to the outer territories — Korea, Taiwan, Karafuto, the Kwantung Leased Territory, the South Seas Mandate — and to China, Hong Kong, British Malaya, the Dutch East Indies, Thailand, the Philippines, Hawaii, North Americans, and others, and held fairs on business trips both at home and abroad.

Services to customers included a second-class one-way boat/train fare plus theatre outings and the like. The fair's lifeblood lay above all in good goods, low prices, and accuracy. (When they bought out the Kabuki-za (歌舞伎座) over two days, there was even a boast that Greater Tokyo's facilities should be grander still.)

At the first fair held in the 1st year of Shōwa [1926], the leading buyer for the whole venue was Takaoka Senji Shōten (高岡宣次商店), and the leading seller was the Nasu Aluminium Manufacturing Works (那須アルミニューム製造所), which thereby set a record of receiving the transaction-encouragement prize; thereafter, too, the hardware section's volume was generally the highlight of the whole venue.

Page 178 (一七八)

With the Kinken-kai (金見會) — the hardware-exhibitors' body of the sample fair, chaired by Mr. Yoshikawa Hyakudayū (吉川百太夫) — as its background, and especially through the good offices of the exhibitor Morioka Shōten (森岡商店), and hosted by the Tokyo Hardware News Company (東京金物新報社), the hardware section toured Nippon Kōkan (日本鋼管) and Tokyo Electric (東京電氣). The effect of this amicable gathering of traders from across the nation, and the frank heart-to-heart exchange it afforded, must not be dismissed.

Yoshikawa Hyakudayū (吉川百太夫), Imazawa Masagorō (今澤政五郎) of the Yuasa Shōten (湯淺商店), and Yamaguchi Tamaki (山口環), master of the Kamashichi Main Shop (釜七本店), served as committee members for the whole fair and took great pains over the arrangements down to the smallest detail.

Looking ahead to the World Exposition of the 15th year [1940], the fair had by then run 30 times; with the outbreak of the China Incident and materials control, it was brought to a provisional close with the 26th fair, in the spring of the 13th year [1938]. For reference, the exhibitors (with one or two changes over the years) were largely as follows:

The Tokyo Hardware Federated Exchange-Meeting Sample Fair (東京金物聯合交換會見本市)

For several years it was an age of competing sample fairs, the solemn model being the Tokyo Prefecture fair. During this period the death of Deputy-Chief Hayasaki (早崎次長) was most mourned — indeed he was one of the officials most cherished by commerce-and-industry traders. In April of the 8th year of Shōwa [1933], the first Tokyo Hardware Federated Exchange-Meeting Sample Fair (abbreviated "Renkō," 聯交) was held at the Central Market Building in Kanda Ward.

Page 179 (一七九)

The guild set an initial projected annual sales target of 160,000 yen; as a countermeasure to the retail slump it obtained a prefectural subsidy. For the first fair, 4,050 invitations were sent, and it beat expectations. The management style followed the Tokyo Prefecture fair but displayed the guild's own character: invited customers were limited to the city's fellow-tradesmen; the association, built on the ward retail-section exchange meetings, acted as buyer, and exhibitors were specifically designated. The transaction routes (exhibitors / fellowship network / sections) were orderly; payment was cash with end-of-month settlement — the result of the strong built-in system of autonomous joint responsibility.

The 2nd fair (7 October of the same year) drew over 200 attendees and 22 exhibitors, with sales exceeding 31,000 yen. On the 16th, all members of the Shichiyū-kai (七友會) plus three each from the Kinwa-kai (金和會), the Kyōseki-kai (鄉石會), and the Jūhachinichi-kai (十八日會) went to the Somei (染井) cemetery grave of Tsuchikawa Taizō (土川太藏), the meritorious founder who had passed away that autumn, for a graveside report ceremony to console the departed spirit. Later, at the 11th fair (7 April of the 13th year of Shōwa [1938]) held at the Promotion Hall, Tokyo Prefecture officials formally inspected it, guided by Chairman Takaoka (高岡) of the guild; sales exceeded 73,000 yen.

Rising toward its ideal, it was suspended on entering the 14th year [1939] as wartime control set in. Special mention is due the late Tsuchikawa: in the Hashimoto chairmanship era (橋本組長時代) he bore the retail section's hopes, became vice-chairman, and placed the fair's initiative in the hands of the retail-section buyers. The Shichiyū-kai he chaired was full of talent. Fair services included lottery prizes, first-class theatre outings, and gift presentations, abundantly provided, adding the effect of fellowship and harmony over and above mere trade.

Page 180 (一八〇)

…and in later years the premise for the easy formation of the hardware retail commercial association may be seen to have been laid in this autumn. For reference, the exhibitors (consignors) at that time were broadly:

The Shichiyū-kai (七友會, Seven-Friends Association)

Not of the top-down kind — in something welling up from autonomous spontaneity, life throbs, and everything has spirit and resilience. The retail commercial association was already called the completed form of this fellowship network (聯交), forged over years with trust and harmony; it was the organized expression of a body like the one described below.

For traders' welfare and fellowship, the late Tsuchikawa Taizō (土川太藏), Kubota Tokuzō (久保田德藏), Watanabe Magoichi (渡邊孫市), and Tochigi Kamekichi (栃木龜吉) initiated and founded it in the 11th year of Taishō [1922], becoming its officers. Successive officers were:

Initial members numbered 20, reaching 28 by the 3rd year of Shōwa. First-fair sales (11th year of Taishō) were 2,500 yen, rising to about 4,000 (3rd year of Shōwa) and about 7,000 (5th year); at the fellowship-network fairs, purchases were 13,000 yen (spring) and 16,000 yen (autumn). In the 17th year of Shōwa [1942] it announced a "developmental dissolution"; sales at that point were 2,600 yen.

Page 181 (一八一)

(Tail of the Tokyo Hardware Comrades' Association description:) Based on Tsuchikawa Taizō's (土川太藏) view, it made family-like harmony its motto; for the first six or seven years it met at the homes of Nakajima (中島) and Tsuchikawa, then at the Komachi rental hall at Ichinohashi, Azabu. Taking two years as a term, it distributed profits fairly to members and likewise to the selling wholesalers (問屋), with commemorative gifts. It held an annual family-recreation gathering, factory tours, Kansai inspection trips, and Hokuriku production-area tours — single-mindedly devoted to the development of the hardware retail trade.

The Kōtō Kinzan-kai (江東金山會)

Established in July of the 11th year of Shōwa [1936], a solidarity of fellow-tradesmen in Honjo, Fukagawa, Jōtō, Edogawa, Mukōjima, Katsushika, and Asakusa. It had about 90 members; its main business was exchange meetings, with recent annual transactions of about 100,000 yen. Fellowship was strong — spring and autumn travel and tours, tanomoshi-kō mutual-finance circles — and they revived the fuigo matsuri (吹子祭, the blacksmiths' bellows festival). When the Asakusa Kinzan Sanbō-Kōjin Support Association (淺草金山三寶荒神奉贊會, for the metalworkers' guardian deity) was formed, they renamed the Kōtō-kai the Kōtō Kinzan-kai.

Members Yajima Eikichi (矢島榮吉), Takeuchi Kintarō (竹內金太郎), Maeda Takujirō (前田宅次郎), Arai Yasuo (荒井保雄), Yoshikawa Kōjirō (吉川幸次郎), and others zealously spurred it on. On the outbreak of the China Incident they made national-defense donations and received letters of thanks from the Army and Navy Ministers. Fukushima Bunkichi (福島文吉) was chairman from the founding; in the 17th year of Shōwa [1942] it dissolved by unanimous consent, to await developments.

The Asasen-kai (淺千會)

To gather goods and exchange on-hand stock right after the Earthquake, Ogawa (小川), Fujimori (藤森), Matsushita (松下), Onodera (小野寺), and others conferred, and in January of the 13th year of Taishō [1924] held the first meeting at the Shinsekai restaurant on the Yoshiwara embankment; sales that time were 814 yen 70 sen. Membership extended into Senju and Arakawa; pre-China-Incident annual business reached 13,400 yen. Current members number 47; its reserve fund is the finest of its kind. An annual fellowship trip is customary (the first was the Tama River (多摩川) outing; later Lake Towada, pilgrimages to Kotohira and Miyajima; a Hokkaido trip was shelved at the China Incident). Ogawa Chūsaku (小川忠作) has been chairman from the start to the present.

Page 182 (一八二)

The Kyōseki-kai (鄉石會)

Founded in June of the 12th year of Taishō [1923] by fellow-tradesmen of Hongō and Koishikawa wards; several wholesale shops also joined. It mainly handled members' on-hand goods exchange, with recent annual turnover of about 30,000 yen. The founding chairman was Okamura Mitsuzō (岡村光造); it is currently administered by Suda Katsuichirō (須田勝一郎). Steadily managed. Current members number 24.

The Kinwa-kai (金和會)

Centred on fellowship, it was initiated by the previous head of the Dōeki shop (銅益商店), who gathered interested parties in Kanda Ward; it was renamed the Kinwa-kai in July of the 7th year of Shōwa [1932]. Exchange meetings are held on the 6th of each month; it has 26 members, with recent business of about 2,000 yen per month. It maintains a reserve fund, a lavish New-Year party, family theatre outings, and member trips. The chairman was consistently Mori Shinkichi (森信吉), recently succeeded by Suzuki Kichinosuke (鈴木吉之助), the second-generation master of the Dōeki shop.

The Jūhachinichi-kai (十八日會, Eighteenth-Day Association)

A solidarity body of Shitaya, Arakawa, Mikawajima, and Senju, with regular exchange on the 18th of each month. It was led by Ishikawa Ukichi (石川宇吉), a Shitaya ward assemblyman, together with Homura (穗村), Katayama (片山), and other influential men. The current chairman is Matsunaga Ryūzō (松永龍藏), a veteran of the former Ōkubo Sōzaemon shop (大久保惣左衞門商店). Steadily managed.

Others (其他)

Hardware bodies in the newly developed areas — the Jōnan Dōshi-kai (城南同志會) in Shinagawa, Setagaya, and Ebara, led by Mr. Hoshino (星野) and others, and those of the Yamanote and Jōsai areas — are full of vigour, advancing their commercial strength year by year in a manner worth watching.

The Tokyo Hardware Comrades' Association (東京金物同志會)

First called the Tokyo Hardware Youth Comrades' Association (東京金物青年同志會), it was organized on 8 June of the 13th year of Taishō [1924] by twenty young and middle-aged men running forged-edged-tool wholesale businesses (打刄物卸商) within Tokyo City. The details follow.

Page 183 (一八三)

(Continuing the Tokyo Hardware Comrades' Association.)

Founding officers: Chairman — Oguro Kikutarō (小黑菊太郎); Vice-Chairman — Inoue Suekichi (井上末吉); Accountants — the late Matano Hideji (俣野秀治) and Chiyozaki Tetsunosuke (千代崎鐵之助); Secretaries — Hayashi Tsunejirō (林恒治郎), Shimizu Kinsaku (淸水金作), Saitō Hirokazu (齋藤廣一), Nakano Keikichi (中野敬吉), Furuya Yasuzō (古谷安三), and Kitamura Mikoji (喜多村巳子治; given-name reading uncertain).

Current officers: Chairman — Shimizu Kinsaku (淸水金作); Vice-Chairman — Hayashi Tsunejirō (林恒治郎); Accountants — Wariishi Zen'ichi (割石善一) and Minezawa Masao (峰澤正雄); Secretaries — Yamaya Zenji (山谷善次) and Nakano Keikichi (中野敬吉).

Once all members toured the Niigata (新潟) production area (reported as a rare event); then they inspected Osaka, Sakai (堺), Miki (三木), and Ono (小野) and were warmly received — in particular they enjoyed the hospitality of the Miki town mayor Kuroda Seiuemon (黑田淸右衞門). Since the 8th year of Shōwa [1933] they jointly bought and sold domestic replacement blades (國產替刄) and promoted domestic products: the "Morning" replacement-blade's pilgrimage to Ise, the "Posetto" (ポセット) replacement-blade's pilgrimage to Izumo, a Sado trip, a Hokkaido tour hosted by Shimizu Kinsaku, a Shinano hot-springs tour, and so on. In January of the 15th year [1940] they invited 1,000 hardware traders from across the nation to the Meguro Gajoen (目黑雅叙園) for the celebration of the 2,600th year of the Imperial era. Exchange turnover reached more than 1,000,000 yen a year, and joint purchase/sale more than 300,000 yen. Twice a year they took shop employees to shrines, temples, and scenic and historic sites, cultivating them in both material and spiritual respects.

Page 184 (一八四)

In March of the 9th year of Shōwa [1934], marking its 10th anniversary, a grand banquet was held at the Kaikarō (開華樓) at Kanda Myōjin, and the name was changed to the Tokyo Hardware Comrades' Association (東京金物同志會). From the founding, all were men of fresh, up-and-coming spirit who displayed vivid commercial talent and opened up many bold, leaping new approaches; the body flourished, and many of its members are now persons of decided weight in the Tokyo cutlery-and-tools world (東京利器工具界).

The Construction-Hardware Kinyū-kai (建築金物金友會)

In the 10th year of Taishō [1921], six men — Nakamatsu Toshio (仲松俊雄), Fukazawa Eigorō (深澤榮五郎), Kimura Kuheiji (木村九平治), Machida Shichirō (町田七郎), Miki Toshinobu (三木敏展), and Noguchi Harukichi (野口春吉) — initiated an up-and-coming construction-hardware group. Kamiyama Yūkichi (神山雄吉), who had lately returned from the United States and ran a construction-furniture-hardware shop at Ryōgoku in Nihonbashi and was active in the inner councils of Mutō Sanji (武藤山治), chairman of the Business Comrades' Association, also joined; together, under Chairman Nakamatsu, they held the first Kinyū-kai sample fair.

It was a specialist indicator of construction hardware, a newly risen wholesalers' body drawing customers from Tokyo, Yokohama, and nearby prefectures. The chairmanship passed in turn from Nakamatsu to Kimura, and then to Fukazawa. Influential members also included the shops of Yoshino Yukio (吉野幸雄), Nakamura Hanpei (中村鑁平), Wakō Bunji (若生文二), Hitomi Heijirō (人見平次郎), Takagi Fusajirō (高木房次郎), Hayashi Ryūichi (林隆一), and Ishihara Yoshinosuke (石原義之助). As control intensified, the sample fair was suspended, with the 20th fair (12 April of the 13th year of Shōwa [1938]) at the Central Market Building, Iwamotochō, Kanda, as the last; yet the association still holds monthly opinion-exchange meetings.

Unusually, the founders were all from Gunma Prefecture; and, all being travel enthusiasts, Miki (三木) also set up a sightseeing section.

Page 185 (一八五)

Part 9: The Era of Chairman Yamaguchi (第九編　山口組長時代) — from November of the 16th year of Shōwa [1941] to March of the 19th year [1944]

During Chairman Yamaguchi's tenure, wartime control grew ever stronger; in particular, on 8 December of the 16th year [1941] the Imperial Rescript for the annihilation of America and Britain was handed down, and the domestic system was switched entirely to a decisive-battle footing — an unprecedented and grave crisis. The guild's affairs were thus manifold and beyond description; casting aside former ways of thinking, it pressed forward in a single path of cooperation with national policy, with no course but devoted public service in its occupational sphere, in a spirit of loyal and patriotic devotion. Over roughly two and a half years, the guild's pressing immediate problems were the establishment of the distribution structure and the rationalization of prices. The guild's departments were advancing as industrial and commercial associations, but since the trade guild was the matrix from which each had sprung, apart from those who changed or closed their trades, all commercial and industrial members still belonged to the trade guild; it served as a public organ for sales self-restraint, cooperation in enterprise consolidation, labor-patriotic movements, and liaison between officials and people.

On 11 March of the 18th year of Shōwa [1943] the Commercial-Industrial Association Law (商工組合法) was promulgated (in force from 1 July), bringing an unprecedented revolution to the nation's industrial-economic organization. By it, the normative associations under the Agriculture-and-Commerce Ministry ordinance of the 17th year of Meiji [1884], the Important-Products Trade Association Law of the 33rd year of Meiji [1900], the recent industrial and commercial associations, and the post-China-Incident control associations under the Important Industries Bodies Order — over 30,000 bodies in all — were abolished; as control associations, after a one-year grace period following implementation…

Page 186 (一八六)

…they announced an earth-shaking renewal. On 1 July, Tokyo abolished the prefecture and city and was reformed into the metropolitan (to) system; decisive-battle administration was ever more strengthened, and the citizens were called to a still higher pitch of tension. The guild devoted all its strength to war-power; Chairman Yamaguchi (山口組長) prepared the reorganization while, with devoted officers, hastening the winding-up of the trade guild as it faced its "developmental dissolution"; the practical work was settled swiftly through the day-and-night diligence of Secretary-General Hirasawa (平澤書記長). The metal-contribution movement was a half-year of "great activity" crowning the guild's final days, and seemed to add fresh flowers to the brocade of the guild's fitting end.

Chapter 1: Purchase of Iron-and-Copper Controlled Stock Goods (第一章　鐵銅禁制在庫品買上)

As a measure to make the management of the pressing wartime economy smooth and proper, the government bought up controlled stock goods under the Luxury-Goods-etc. Manufacture-and-Sale Restriction Rule (奢侈品等製造販賣制限規則) in order to put them to effective and appropriate re-use or disposal. On 25 January of the 18th year of Shōwa [1943], Price-Bureau Director-General Hishinuma (菱沼物價局長官) issued purchase-implementation guidelines to each governor; iron-and-copper traders' on-hand goods were to be bought through the Important Materials Management Corporation (重要物資管理營團). In Tokyo, on 8 February, representatives of each trade were summoned to the Promotion Hall for explanation and discussion, and the agent organs (responsible agent-associations, agents, proxies) were decided; on 10 February this guild was entrusted as the responsible agent-association over 24 agents and 97 proxies throughout Tokyo, a very heavy responsibility.

The general method of purchase was as follows:

  1. Area of purchase: the mainland (Hokkaido, 3 metropolitan prefectures, and 43 prefectures).
  2. Scope of goods purchased: among the controlled stock goods under the Luxury-Goods-etc. Restriction Rule (i.e., items under Articles 2 and 4 of the 7-7 Prohibition Order)…

Page 187 (一八七)

Photograph (top). Caption: 「鐵銅供出代行組合會議（於日本橋本榮俱樂部）」 — "Iron-and-Copper Contribution Agent-Association Conference (held at the Hon'ei Club (本榮俱樂部), Nihonbashi)."

…iron and copper products and their secondhand goods, and types sold under exceptional licence, are subject to purchase. The goods are divided into three categories: Category 1, those using iron as the main material; Category 2, those using copper as the main material; Category 3, those using iron or copper but not as the main material. Secondhand goods are limited to Categories 1 and 2.

  1. Contribution: contributors are the manufacturers (including processors) of the purchased goods, and the sellers (wholesale, retail, broker, secondhand dealer) and their bodies; the application forms are distributed to contributors by each prefecture's purchase-agent organ (the agents and proxies, collectively).
  2. Application period: 15 February to 15 March of the 18th year of Shōwa [1943].
  3. Quantity: items of under 50 yen per lot are, after consultation among the traders, to be consolidated as far as possible into lots of 50 yen or more and applied for under the agents' names.
  4. Purchase price: in principle, within the total amount of the contributor's production cost or purchase cost at the relevant stage, plus interest and storage fees. (remainder omitted)

Page 188 (一八八)

Agent Organs (代行機關)

The purchase-agent organs were as follows:

  1. Agents: (a) nationwide bodies designated by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry; (b) otherwise, appropriate associations or federations within a metropolitan prefecture, prefecture, or province.
  2. Proxies: an agent may, as needed and with the approval of the local office and the Corporation, select proxies, and may sub-delegate; the selecting agent bears responsibility for all of the proxy's acts toward the Corporation in this purchase. (remainder omitted)

The proxies under this guild as the responsible agent-association were as follows.

Industrial associations: Tokyo Steel Implements (東京鐵鋼器具); Tokyo Enamel Ironware (東京琺瑯鐵器); Tokyo Enamel Base-material (東京琺瑯生地); Tokyo Flat-plate Bucket (東京平板バケツ); Tokyo Rivet-Power Products (東京鋲力製品); Tokyo Cutlery-Tools (東京利器工具); Tokyo Rivet-Power Can-Making (東京鋲力製罐); Tokyo Wire-Netting (東京金網) — each an industrial association.

Commercial associations: Tokyo Household Hardware Wholesale (東京家庭金物卸); Tokyo Enamel-Ironware Primary-Wholesale (東京琺瑯鐵器元卸); Tokyo Western Tableware (東京洋食器); Tokyo Cutlery-Tools Wholesale (東京利器工具卸); Tokyo Wire-Netting / Iron-Mesh / Lath Wholesale (東京金網鐵網ラス卸); Tokyo Prefecture Hardware Retail (東京府金物小賣) — each a commercial association.

Others were as follows: Agent, the Tokyo Shinto-Buddhist Implements Commercial Association (東京神佛具商業組合), with proxy the Tokyo Shinto-Buddhist Hardware Manufacturing Industrial Association (東京神佛金物製造工業組合); Agent, the Tokyo Beauty-Equipment Wholesale Commercial Association (東京美容器具卸商業組合), with proxy the Tokyo Barber-Equipment Retail Commercial Association (東京理容器具小賣商業組合).

Page 189 (一八九)

Agent, the Tokyo Construction-Site Hardware Association (東京建築現場金物組合); proxies, the Tokyo Construction-Hardware Wholesale Commercial Association (東京建築金物卸商業組合) and the Tokyo Construction-Hardware Industrial Association (東京建築金物工業組合).

On 10 February, an emergency executives' meeting named responsible managers by category:

Thereafter Chairman Yamaguchi rushed about, and Secretary-General Hirasawa was overwhelmed with business, while each section chief held section meetings and consultations. Extracts from the activity diary:

Page 190 (一九〇)

Activity diary (continued):

Narrative: Consider that now, for the sake of materials production, even enemy America — proud of being the world's finest — recovers the metal fittings on its automobiles; the bronze railing-caps (擬寶珠, giboshi) of Edo's Nihonbashi, which recall Hiroshige's (廣重) pictures, are caught up in metal recovery; we too have again and again recovered from all quarters. Only two or three years earlier, the magnate old Nezu (根津翁) had had Takahashi Saiichirō (高橋才一郎), master of the Shōseidō (鐘聲堂) in Kyoto, exhaust the vital energies of his late years, and the Kawaguchi foundry-casters (川口鑄工) turned out in full to cast the great temple bell at Asaka in Tokyo Prefecture (東京府下朝霞の大梵鐘), one of the very finest in Japan; let alone that — apart from a few national treasures, all the nation's old temple bells were requisitioned, and even world-class spinning machinery changed its form for war needs. From all this the general state of metal recovery may be inferred. The disciplined Chairman Yamaguchi, boiling with patriotism, dashed about so that not the slightest bit should be left uncontributed.

Every association declined its storage fees; in the hardware world the Shinto-Buddhist hardware circle (神佛金物界) — Messrs. Takita (瀧田), Yamaguchi (Kiyoshi) (山口（淸）), and others — took the lead, gathering large quantities at the Asakusa Hongan-ji (淺草本願寺); in the Ōmori (大森) retail section all turned out, dripping with sweat, collecting and carrying in the goods. In every quarter it was much the same, so that the authorities' forewarning — that if the trade were reluctant to sell they might resort to compulsion — proved wholly groundless; the traders' sincere devotion was fully displayed, and its results are shown in the amount [below].

Page 191 (一九一)

…amounting to 5,637,841 yen 33 sen; Tokyo set a national model. The practical work was handled swiftly by the guild's secretary-general Hirasawa Denichi (平澤傳市), only the price-valuation being complex. On 27 October the compiled report was submitted to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government — truly an activity crowning the guild's final days.

Iron and Copper Contribution Table (鐵銅供出表)

  1. Of the 25 Tokyo-designated agent associations, 3 contributed nothing.
  2. Of the 115 Tokyo-designated proxy associations, 38 contributed no goods.
  3. Agent-Association Summary Table (代行組合集計表) (continued on p.192; the grand-total row appears there):
Agent association (代行組合名) Cases (件數) Quantity (供出數量) Amount, yen (金額)
Tokyo Hardware Trade Guild (東京金物同業組合) — the guild itself 808 76,473 kan (貫) 566,301.10
Tea-ceremony/Flower-arrangement Implements Retail (東京茶道花道々具小賣商業組合) 23 217 3,836.92
Western-Furniture (東京洋家具商業組合) 66 1,870 (amount faint)
Shinto-Buddhist Implements (東京神佛具商業組合) 158 22,196 (amount faint)
Medicine Retail Federation (東京醫藥品小賣商業組合聯合會) 9 117 (amount faint)
Beauty-Equipment Wholesale (東京美容器具卸商業組合) 32 1,255 (amount faint)

(The amount figures for rows 2–6 are faint; cases and quantities are read with confidence. Row 1 — the guild itself — is clear.)

Page 192 (一九二)

Continuation of the Agent-Association Summary Table (代行組合集計表) begun on p.191. The columns are, as on p.191, Cases (件數) / Quantity (供出數量) / Amount in yen (金額); the "Cases" column is given below, the quantity and amount figures being faint. The grand-total row at the foot confirms the structure: its amount total, 5,637,841.33 yen, exactly matches the iron-and-copper contribution grand total stated on p.191.

Agent association Cases (件數)
Precious-Metal Craft-Goods Wholesale (東京貴金屬工藝品卸商業組合) 466
Western-Goods Retail (東京洋品小賣商業組合) 132
Construction-Site Hardware (東京建築現場金物組合) 123
Stationery Wholesale (東京文房具卸商業組合) 229
Fountain-Pen Manufacture (東京萬年筆製造同業組合) 238
Addressing-Machine (東京宛名機商業組合) 72
Phonograph (東京府蓄音器商業組合) 61
Radio-Electric Wholesale (東京ラヂオ電器卸商業組合) 86
Musical-Instrument Wholesale (東京樂器卸商業組合) 196
Photographic-Materials Wholesale (東京寫眞材料卸商業組合) 105
Safe (strongbox) (東京金庫商業組合) 57
Toy Wholesale (東京玩具卸商業組合) 49
Textile-Machinery (東京纖維機械商業組合) 31
Electric-Wire & Apparatus Wholesale (東京電線電機具卸商業組合) 151
Santama Notions & Cosmetics Retail (東京三多摩小間物化粧品小賣商業組合) 5
Greater Tokyo Secondhand-Dealers Federation (大東京古物商組合聯合會) 1,097
Grand total (合計) 4,184 cases; 232,686 (kan) quantity; 5,637,841.33 yen

(The per-row quantity and amount columns are too faint to transcribe reliably and are omitted; the legible grand-total row is given in full. The individual case counts across pp.191–192 sum to approximately 4,194 against the printed grand total of 4,184, a small discrepancy attributable to the faintness of the figures.)

Page 193 (一九三)

Chapter 2: Various Matters Concerning Prices and Products (第二章　價格、製品に關する各事項)

Investigation and Adjustment of the Various Matters (各事案の調查、調整)

Soon after taking office, by resolution of the guild assembly of 28 November of the 16th year [1941], Chairman Yamaguchi added the following to the articles of association:

Article 33 — A person of meritorious service to this guild may, with the approval of the Councillors' Assembly, be recommended as an advisor (相談役) or a councillor (參與). A councillor is an advisory organ of the chairman who attends the guild's important meetings, expresses opinions, and participates in the central affairs of the guild's operations.

By this, the former chairman Mr. Takaoka (高岡) was recommended to the councillor role.

At the very opening of the new year of the 17th year, Yamaguchi made a statement to the effect that: "In this age of concentration on war-power expansion, everything must be poured into war-power; the traders serving the people's needs are now no longer private persons but public men. Yet the minimum quantities of the people's daily necessities must be firmly secured in step with the rationing system, and the people's livelihood stabilized. At present I cannot peer into the 17th-year materials-mobilization plan, but the minimum required quantities may well be taken as equal to the ration-stabilization quantities; the question is how to determine their base figures — namely, that wholesale and retail should link together and, taking into account population and culture across the whole country, extract the correct required quantity for each kind of goods." Likewise the advisor Takaoka held firmly to the view that "the rationing of household-necessity hardware is run properly, fairly, and smoothly only through the intermediation of the wholesale traders, and moreover at low cost with good results," and set this out in the Tokyo Hardware News (東京金物新報). The conclusion, in essence, was the selection and establishment of fixed-number distribution shops.

Page 194 (一九四)

…lacking clear guidance, it had been forced to wander in a chaotic maze, and the core problem now facing the trade guild was the establishment and consolidation of this wholesale structure. Chairman Yamaguchi was, on the other side, the president (理事長) of the Household Hardware Wholesale Commercial Association (家庭金物卸商業組合); perceiving that the priority rationing of the people's daily necessities would be ever more compressed and concentrated, he gave particular weight, from the standpoint of daily necessities, to household-necessity hardware. Considering the comprehensive character of the trade guild, this activity required close coordination, and so, although the various split-off commercial and industrial associations moved out to new offices, the Household Hardware Wholesale Commercial Association alone remained co-located with the guild until its dissolution. Control still pressed on materials and prices and increasingly on labor; the frequency of comprehensive activity was as in the Takaoka chairmanship era (高岡組長時代).

Business-Conditions Performance Survey (業態實績調查)

Main trade Count
Hardware (金物) 214
General sundries (荒物雜貨) 452
Ceramics (陶磁器) 21
Secondhand goods (古物) 9
Furniture (家具) 6
Machine-hardware retail-association members (機械金物小賣商業組合加入者) 6
Refrigerators (冷藏庫) 3
Glass (硝子) 3
Magazines (雜誌) 1
Wire material (線材) 2
Tobacco (煙草) 3
Stationery (文具) 5

Page 195 (一九五)

(Continuation of the business-conditions breakdown by main trade, from p.194:)

Main trade Count
Patent medicine (同賣藥) 1
Textiles (同織物) 1
Confectionery (同菓子) 2
Ground steel material (同磨鋼材) 1
Miscellaneous commerce (同雜商業) 7
Saw trade (鋸業) 71
Wire-netting/sieve manufacture-repair-retail (金網篩製造修繕小賣) 16

(The individual counts across pp.194–195 sum to about 824 against the stated total of 842, a small discrepancy within the original tally.)

Besides this, in the 18th year, on a commission from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, a stock survey of guild members was carried out for steel (鋼), iron (鐵), brass (眞鍮), bronze (ブロンズ), and wire-netting (金網).

The Tokyo Prefecture Price-Assessment Committee (東京府價格查定委員會)

In view of the importance of price policy, Tokyo Prefecture, to unify and strengthen under prefectural supervision the assessment of official-price and agreed-price goods that had hitherto been carried out separately by kind of goods and by body, established this committee. Its founding assembly was held on 18 December of the 17th year at the Promotion Hall, and 815 members were appointed on commission. The members were producers, wholesalers, retailers, other traders, and persons of learning and experience; to assist the members, the committee was permitted to have cooperating members, appointed by the chairman. The sections were: Section 1, Machinery and Implements (機械器具); Section 2, Wood/Bamboo/Rattan products (木竹籐製品); Section 3, Leather, Fur and their products (皮革毛皮及其の製品); Section 4, Shinto and Buddhist ritual implements (神佛祭典具); Section 5, Sundries (雜貨類); Section 6, Chemical-Industry and Ceramic-Ware products (化學工業及窯業品); Section 7, Rental goods (賃貸品). Its work was: (1) the assessment of proper prices within the range of official and agreed prices; (2) certifying which category (official or agreed) a price falls under; (3) publicity, survey, facilities, and guidance concerning assessment and certification. Assessment began on 1 January of the 18th year [1943].

Page 196 (一九六)

Next, a Price-Assessment Committee Inspection Corps (價格查定委員會監察隊) was established; it was organized from corps members (one-year term) commissioned by the chairman from among the committee members, and was divided into squads, each under a squad leader (filled by the respective section heads). Inspections were carried out on an occasional basis at factories, warehouses, shops, and the storage or display places of goods.

Making Official Prices Known and Product Grading (公定價格周知と製品格付)

The official-price goods notified during the 17th year included: official prices for shovel and scoop wooden handles (シャベル及スコップ木柄), iron files (鐵工鑢), and ceramics; revised prices for wire-material products and rivet-power products among household hardware; official prices for sewing needles (縫針) and iron wood-screws (鐵木ネジ); pig-iron cast household items and household hardware; the standardized grades and official prices of aluminium products, notified together; a revised bucket price; salt and household prices; and rubber-hose and gas-pipe prices, notified together.

Ceramics stock goods were inspection-graded at the Japan Ceramics Industrial Associations Federation (日本陶磁器工業組合聯合會); household hardware was examination-graded by the two bodies, the Tokyo Household Hardware Wholesalers (東京家庭金物卸商) and the Department-Store Kyōwa-kai (百貨店協和會); diatomaceous-earth braziers (珪藻土焜爐) and ceramics were likewise inspection-graded at the Japan Ceramics Industrial Associations Federation and certified with a sticker.

Applications Concerning Sales (販賣に關する申請)

Regarding the 7-7 Prohibition Order: under the Luxury-Goods Restriction Rule, the retail-sale deadline was set at 31 August of the 18th year… (continues on p.197)

Page 197 (一九七)

"…to be postponed one year" — thus notified by Tokyo Prefecture.

Other matters:

Persons Quantity
Wholesalers (卸商) 55 1,137,670
Retailers (小賣商) 322 507,192
Total (合計) 377 1,644,862

Page 198 (一九八)

Prohibition of Off-Standard Goods (規格外品の禁止)

As prices soared ever within the frame of official prices and, on the other hand, materials grew scarce and prices shot up, control grew ever stricter, and off-standard goods leaked out under that pressure, appearing and daily multiplying in manufacture and sale; the guild cooperated desperately with the authorities' suppression.

Page 199 (一九九)

Restriction on the Use of Light Metals (輕金屬使用制限)

Promulgated on 18 October of the 18th year, this applied to goods using light metals, goods composed mainly of light-metal products, and unfinished light-metal items. By a Tokyo notice dated 7 December a survey of such on-hand goods was ordered, and the guild promptly made a consolidated report. On the 9th of the same month, members were convened at the Nihonbashi Club (日本橋俱樂部) for a lecture on preventing violations in light-metal and stainless-steel products.

Substitute Newly-Risen Goods (代用新興商品)

In early autumn of the 13th year [1938], the Tokyo Business Associations Federation (東京實業組合聯合會) hosted a round-table at its hall at which companies brought samples of substitute materials; this drew attention, and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry then held a fairly large-scale substitute-goods exhibition, after which exhibitions and lectures were held in succession in various places. In March of the 14th year [1939], Tokyo City and the Business Federation jointly held a touring substitute-goods exhibition in each ward, inviting retailers to view it and encouraging its sale. Among the exhibits, the army/navy-provision (陸海軍糧秣) stainless-steel products of the Okaya Hardware Section (岡谷金物部) and the same products of Morioka Shōten (森岡商店) drew attention; household substitutes (ceramic steamers, shichirin braziers, tinder, and the like) were shown. In the autumn of the 15th year [1940] a movement promoting substitute use arose; the promoting bodies included the Substitute Industry Association (社團法人代用工業協會), the National-Policy Substitute-Goods Diffusion Association (國策代用品普及協會), the Wartime Materials Utilization Association (財團法人戰時物資活用協會)…

Page 200 (二〇〇)

…of which the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (日本商工會議所) was the chief. In time a tendency arose for rather too many substitutes to spring up in profusion, so within the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry a Superior-Substitute-Goods Selection Committee was set up, in which authorities of the academic world conducted examination and research, separating the fine from the worthless, striving to develop and spread superior national-policy goods, and for the sake of their diffusion and promotion first urging their sale at the various department stores. Around this time, in our guild, through the advocacy and leadership of the stores with close department-store ties — Yoshikawa Hyakudayū (吉川百太夫), Ōkubo (大久保), Abe Hiko (阿部彥), and others — the members of the Household-Hardware Wholesale Department-Store Kyōwa-kai (家庭金物卸商百貨店協和會) became guild members, and the Tokyo Household-Hardware Substitute-Goods Wholesale Guild (東京家庭金物代用品卸組合) was established; it conformed to national policy and strove greatly.

The substitute-goods industry gradually developed and advanced in quality and in economical practicality; in the 17th year of Shōwa [1942] (the Yamaguchi era) the substitute-goods wholesale guild alone handled about 700 kinds of goods. The shopfronts of the city's hardware stores also changed completely in this period; apart from cutlery/edged-tools (利器) and construction hardware (建築金物), they took on a markedly general-sundries and earthenware-ware character. Bodies such as the Tokyo Hardware Retail Association made large joint purchases — at one point contracting to take the entire output of a leading ceramics production center in the central region — so that in this period the hardware world negotiated frequently with the ceramics and sundries worlds; and since substitutes for hardware became newly risen goods, the guild firmly grasped its role as their distribution organ.

From the trade, too, many distinguished products were created. Among them, the Tokyo Flat-plate Bucket Industrial Association (東京平板バケツト工業組合), after ten months of painstaking research, succeeded in making a wooden bucket, setting up a 100,000-yen-capital joint workshop for its members at Kameido (龜戶) in Tokyo; that the then chairman of the industrial association, Fujioka (藤岡淸玆; given-name reading uncertain), served as president of the new trading corporation (新興商事株式會社) and worked to ease the bucket-bottom shortage, deserves special mention as one example. Again, in the spring of the 16th year [1941], the substitute canning-can announced by Hideo (英雄), son of the chairman of the Tokyo Rivet-Power Products Industrial Association, Togawa (戶川鯉喜江; given-name reading uncertain) — which replaced tin cans using wood-shavings, cellophane, and imitation paper with chemicals and coatings added — was hailed as a remarkable invention, won the top first prize at the Ministry's substitute-goods show, and was granted a subsidy of 2,700 yen by the authorities. Generally, ceramic ware became an important item of the hardware world.

Page 201 (二〇一)

…However, since the Greater East Asia War, the former substitute materials themselves also all came within the scope of strengthened control, and civilian-demand materials were ever more pressed and cornered; yet the "securing of minimum quantities of daily necessities" that Chairman Yamaguchi had declared upon taking office grew ever more important, and in this time of extreme restriction of consumption the officers of the Household Hardware Section (家庭金物部), beginning with the chairman himself, exerted efforts, both open and hidden, that were considerable.

Matters Concerning Enterprise Consolidation (企業整備に關する件)

As national strength was concentrated and mobilized for war-power expansion, enterprise consolidation, too, took on a wholly different character from before. On 18 April of the 17th year [1942] the Retail-Business-Consolidation Outline was announced by the Information Bureau, and small-and-medium reorganization councils were set up in each prefecture; hardware retail (金物小賣業) was listed among the first-round consolidation trades.

Page 202 (二〇二)

…Eastern Wire-Netting (東部金網), Kantō Rivet-Power Can-Making (關東鋲力製罐), and Tokyo Rivet-Power Products (東京鋲力製品) — the various commercial and industrial associations.

Other Matters, Great and Small (其他の大小諸事項)

Page 203 (二〇三)

Chapter 3: The Tokyo Hardware Wholesale Commercial Patriotic Association (第三章　東京金物卸商業報國會)

The Tokyo Hardware Wholesale Commercial Patriotic Association had earlier held its inauguration ceremony in November of the 16th year of Shōwa [1941] at the Industrial Cooperative Central Hall (產業組合中央會), under Chairman Morioka Saburō (森岡三郎), with Miyauchi… (continues on p.204)

Page 204 (二〇四)

Photograph (top). Caption: 「東京金物卸商業報國會結成式（於產業組合中央會）」 — "Tokyo Hardware Wholesale Commercial Patriotic Association Inauguration Ceremony (held at the Industrial Cooperative Central Hall)."

…Junkorō (宮內準五郎, Miyauchi Junkorō) and others took up director (理事) posts and pressed forward in fulfilling the commercial-report mission. In November of the 17th year [1942] a propulsion-corps planning joint conference was held, and as a project for the first anniversary of the Greater East Asia War the Commercial-Report National Savings Association was formed (member savings of 50 sen per share, from 1 to 10 shares), deposited in the Yasuda Bank (安田銀行). The next December, on the 18th, an emergency meeting (the commercial-report chairman and the propulsion-corps chief) at the Tokyo Commerce-Industry Economic Association organized the "Tokyo Metropolitan Production Volunteer Corps" (東京都生產挺身隊), which, in response to the demands of the times, had members boldly cast aside their family businesses and devote themselves, in group formation, to vital production; for the guidance, training, and support this required, the Patriotic Association's structure was divided into squads and sections, posts were assigned, and members were sent to serve at important factories and workplaces. Further, in September of the 18th year [1943], with the domestic decisive-battle system established and under the great command "Let all one hundred million take up battle stations," the Patriotic Association took on an importance quite beyond before; strengthening and tightening its mobilization posture, it came to aim at devoted, resolute service in the vital-industry sectors, and accordingly, on 11 October, the "Tokyo Metropolitan Hardware-Wholesale Labor-Patriotic Corps Inauguration Ceremony" (東京都金物卸勤勞報國隊結成式) was held at the Nihonbashi Club (日本橋俱樂部). In attendance were Ishibashi (石橋), a staff member of the commercial-report headquarters, and Police Inspector Yazaki (矢崎警部) of the Guidance Section of the Economic Department of the Metropolitan Police; after the ceremony… (continues on p.205)

Page 205 (二〇五)

…a lecture was given to rouse the members. The duties of the Volunteer Corps (挺身隊) and its chief and vice-chiefs, decided that day, were as follows:

Duties:

  1. Protection of the materials storehouses.
  2. Distribution of emergency supplies in time of disaster.
  3. Procurement and transport of ordered supplies.
  4. Maintenance of normal distribution.
  5. Liaison and reporting.
  6. Other matters serving the corps's objectives.

Corps Chief: Yamaguchi Tamaki (山口環). Vice-Chiefs: Ishida Kōzō (石田耕造), Oguro Kikutarō (小黑菊太郎), Yamaguchi Tetsuji (山口哲爾), and Yoshikawa Hyakudayū (吉川百太夫).

Chapter 4: Overview of the Guild in the Yamaguchi-Chairmanship Era (第四章　山口組長時代の組合概觀)

The Imperial Rescript declaring war on America and Britain was received on 8 December of the 16th year [1941] — truly the first step, on that very day, toward realizing our nation's great ideal of rebuilding the whole world, unprecedented since the beginning of history. The total renewal of the domestic system and the radical reform of its foundations were of course a matter of course; wholly departing from a free economy, the country moved to state control, and the guild structure too — the Commercial-Industrial Association Bill having passed the 81st Diet, been promulgated in January of the following year, the 17th year [1942], and brought into force from July (its implementation period set at one year ahead) — was by September of the 18th year [1943], with the establishment of the domestic decisive-battle system, concentrated entirely upon war-power. Now the trade guild's mission came to bear both the proper handling of the pressing immediate situation and the great duty of winding up the guild after 30 years. One may well imagine the hidden efforts this required.

During this time, while the various commercial and industrial associations earlier split off from the trade guild were being overwhelmed with preparations to transform themselves into control associations, all but those who changed or closed their trades remained with the guild until its very day of dissolution — a point in which a subtle significance appears. That is, the trade guild served the hardware commerce-and-industry world (金物商工界) and also the wholesale [trade]… (continues beyond this section)

Page 206 (二〇六)

(Closing lines of Chapter 4.) …as a crystallization on the retail side, standing in comprehensive detachment upon fitting ground; in this respect it was trusted and able to carry out its economic conduct. By now the guild organ worked its utmost to simplify and strengthen itself, to bring everything together under comprehensive planning, and served as a favorable organ of cooperation on common problems. At this point the guild, in the era of Guild Head Yamaguchi (山口), perceiving a living historical pulse that it could not sever of its own will, brought the thirty-year history of the guild to a fitting and beautiful close.

Chapter 5: Dissolution of the Guild (第五章　組合解散)

"This guild was founded in November, Taishō 4 (1915) by the elders of the trade, in accordance with the Important-Products Trade Association Law (重要物産同業組合法). Since then thirty years have passed, during which it left many achievements, as set out in detail in each section of this book.

However, now, at the government's request, this guild — proud of its history and tradition — is likewise to be dissolved. On February 18 a guild assembly was convened at the guild office, where the resolution to dissolve was passed and all other procedures were completed; immediately, through the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, an application for approval of dissolution was submitted to the Minister of Agriculture and Commerce (農商大臣). Thus the guild, having fulfilled without regret its founding mission of promoting the development of the trade and the welfare of its members, here brings its course to a complete and fitting end.

The minutes of the guild assembly are as follows."

Guild Assembly Minutes (組合會決議錄)

Page 207 (二〇七)

"At the appointed time, after the national ceremony (國民儀禮), Guild Head Yamaguchi (山口) declared the meeting open. As Chairman Takagi (高木議長) was absent for personal reasons, Vice-Chairman Kawai (川合副議長) took the chair. As signatories of the minutes, Shimizu Kinsaku (清水金作) and Ogawa Chūsaku (小川忠作) were nominated, and the following bills were tabled."

Agenda (議案):

  1. Dissolution of the guild (組合解散ノ件)
  2. Appointment of liquidators (清算人選任ノ件)
  3. Sale of the guild office, fixtures and equipment, and inspection apparatus (組合事務所及什器備品並ニ檢査器具賣却ノ件)
  4. Approval of the FY Shōwa 18 (1943) business results (昭和十八年度事業成績承認ノ件)
  5. Approval of the FY Shōwa 18 income/expenditure settlement (昭和十八年度組合經費收支決算承認ノ件)
  6. Approval of the asset inventory (財産目錄承認ノ件)
  7. Compilation of the Guild History (組合史編纂ノ件) — the resolution that produced this very book
  8. Memorial service for deceased meritorious members, and holding of the dissolution ceremony (組合功勞物故者慰靈祭並ニ解散式擧行ノ件)
  9. Presentation of letters of thanks or commemorative gifts to members, officers, delegates and other meritorious persons (組合員並ニ役員代議員其ノ他組合功勞者ニ感謝狀又ハ記念品贈呈ノ件)
  10. Return of credit-guarantee deposits (信認金返還ノ件)
  11. Payment of staff retirement allowances and dissolution bonuses (職員退職金並ニ解散手當支給ノ件)
  12. Measures concerning the guild's agreed prices (組合協定價格措置ノ件)
  13. Dissolution of the Mutual-Aid Association (共濟會解散ノ件)

Page 208 (二〇八)

5. Matters resolved (議決シタル事項)

Page 209 (二〇九)

6. Closing (閉會)

Chairman Kawai (川合議長) declared all business concluded and the meeting closed at 4:30 p.m. — Shōwa 19 (1944), February 18.

Signatories (each with seal):

Chapter 6: Conclusion (第六章　結語)

In February, as this manuscript was completed, in the southwestern Pacific the enemy American forces mounted a fierce, bitter and relentless counter-offensive, while the elite Imperial forces fought on in loyal, desperate battle; and word of the enemy's repulse pierced our ears. The rise or fall of the Imperial nation rests on this single effort, this single instant. Now the hundred million subjects brim over with the one conviction of certain and complete victory, and with their whole bodies become a fireball to annihilate the foe. What, then, is there left to look back upon?

All is devoted to the ancestral nation: intelligence poured out to the full, wealth offered up entirely — this is the season to dedicate oneself, one's household, everything, to the public cause. This is no time to dwell on the past or fret over the future. The whole land is a battlefield, the whole hundred million are combatants, and there is no longer any distinction of front line and home front. The supreme command laid upon merchants and industrialists above all is the great increase of fighting strength. Now, that each person may fulfill his mission, the spirit to live is captured in a single phrase — the great spirit of "Shichishō Hōkoku" (七生報國, "to be reborn seven times to serve the nation") of Dai-Nankō (大楠公, Kusunoki Masashige).

Students, abandoning their studies midway, resolutely become soldiers of the winged corps; women wield the hammer in the factory with their delicate hands. Many a merchant and industrialist sends his sons to the front; and I too, gladly casting aside a business of several decades, rouse the courage of a thousand to join one wing of the production line, while those who remain in trade stand firm at the head of raging billows in the thick of the battle lines…

Page 210 (二一〇)

(Conclusion, continued.) …pressing forward for the public cause, so that the true worth of the tradition of Japan's merchants and industrialists, the genuine spirit of the Japanese tradesman, may be manifested without regret toward certain and complete victory, leaving not the slightest doubt.

The reason for publishing this commemorative history now, amid such great upheaval, is this: at this moment of extraordinary national crisis, as the guild dissolves, were these materials allowed to scatter and blur, it would be a thing to grieve. It is to transmit, as reference material for later days, one corner of the efforts, struggles and achievements of the guild.

The guild's active period fell in the age of the free economy; outwardly it resembled the Anglo-American model, yet its foundation never rested there. It stood unshakably upon the Imperial-nation industrial spirit (皇國産業精神) — state-first and public-serving, never merely profit-centered. With the opening of the holy war the shallow Anglo-American framework collapsed, and the Japanese enterprise-spirit (日本實業魂) rose high, surging like a great river pouring into the ocean. Through its many twists and turns the guild has, without interruption in its history, developed the local scene of the rising Japanese enterprise-spirit; and from within it we have wished to capture that living spirit — a fitting condensed epitome, and as such a proper trade-guild history, one link in the nation's industrial literature.

Now the imperial capital too must be made an air-defense iron wall; and amid air-defense drills and the evacuation of the population, in the very thick of the battle lines, this manuscript — dashed off in some three or four months, and crude in the extreme — begs the reader's indulgence for its very many shortcomings. We now, beyond the increase of production, hold a conviction firm as rock, of certain and invincible victory, and harbor no other thought. Our business world, meeting this vivid new scene of the world, firmly believes that, with the rising of the Japanese enterprise-spirit, the brilliant dawn of attaining the Imperial national ideal draws near.

Page 211 (二一一)

Part 10: Table of Successive Guild Officers (第十編　歴代組合役員表)

Guild Founders (組合創立者)

Founding Initiators (創立發起人) — then living:

Guild Heads and Deputy Heads (正・副組長)

Office Name Term Years served
1st Guild Head (初代) Ōkubo Sōzaemon (大久保惣左衞門) 7 yr 2 mo Taishō 4.11 – Taishō 11.11 (1915.11–1922.11)

Deputy heads serving under the 1st Guild Head (in small type): Yamaguchi Kōtarō (山口孝太郎) / Umeda Senkichi (梅田仙吉) / Shinohara Jūshirō (篠原十四郎) / Yoshikawa Hyakudayū (吉川百太夫) / Abe Hikoshirō (阿部彦四郎).

(The succession of guild heads continues on p.212.)

Page 212 (二一二)

Successive Guild Heads (組長), continued

Office Name Term Years served
2nd (二代) Yoshikawa Hyakudayū (吉川百太夫) 7 yr 5 mo Taishō 11.12 – Shōwa 5.4 (1922.12–1930.4)
3rd (三代) Hashimoto Takichi (橋本太吉) 3 yr 3 mo Shōwa 5.3 – Shōwa 8.7 (1930.3–1933.7)
4th (四代) Takaoka Nobutsugu (高岡宣次) 8 yr 4 mo Shōwa 8.8 – Shōwa 16.11 (1933.8–1941.11)
5th (五代) Yamaguchi Tamaki (山口環) 2 yr 4 mo Shōwa 16.12 – Shōwa 19.3 (1941.12–1944.3)

Deputy Guild Heads (副組長)

Name Term Years served
Yamaguchi Kōtarō (山口孝太郎, dec.) 1 yr 5 mo Taishō 4.11 – Taishō 6.3 (1915.11–1917.3)
Umeda Senkichi (梅田仙吉, dec.) ~1 yr Taishō 4.11 – Taishō 5.10 (1915.11–1916.10)
Shinohara Jūshirō (篠原十四郎, dec.) 1 yr 1 mo Taishō 5.11 – Taishō 6.11 (1916.11–1917.11)
Yoshikawa Hyakudayū (吉川百太夫, former head) 5 yr 8 mo Taishō 6.4 – Taishō 11.11 (1917.4–1922.11)
Abe Hikoshirō (阿部彦四郎, former) ~3 yr 6 mo Taishō 11.12 – Taishō 15.5 (1922.12–1926.5)
Ihara Sakutarō (井原作太郎, former) ~3 yr 6 mo Taishō 11.12 – Taishō 15.5 (1922.12–1926.5)
Takagi Kiyoshi (高木清, former) 2 yr 0 mo Taishō 15.6 – Shōwa 3.5 (1926.6–1928.5)

Page 213 (二一三)

Directors (理事) — continued from the preceding era

Name Years served
Ueno Tetsurō (上野鐵郎) Taishō 15.6 – Shōwa 3.5 (1926.6–1928.5)
Takaoka Nobutsugu (高岡宣次) Shōwa 3.6 – Shōwa 9.5 (1928.6–1934.5)
Tsuchikawa Tazō (土川太藏, dec.) Shōwa 3.6 – Shōwa 7.5 (1928.6–1932.5)
Okamura Toyokichi (岡村豐吉) Shōwa 7.6 – Shōwa 13.5 (1932.6–1938.5)
Sakai Zensaku (坂井善作) Shōwa 9.6 – Shōwa 11.5 (1934.6–1936.5)
Okaya Shōten, Okada Toshio (岡谷商店　岡田敏雄) Shōwa 11.6 – Shōwa 15.3 (1936.6–1940.3)
Ishida Kōzō (石田耕造) Shōwa 12.6 – Shōwa 16.11 (1937.6–1941.11)
Kubota Tokuzō (久保田德藏) Shōwa 12.9 – Shōwa 16.11 (1937.9–1941.11)
Fukushima Bunkichi (福島文吉) Shōwa 13.9 – Shōwa 16.11 (1938.9–1941.11)
Takagi Fusajirō (高木房次郎) Shōwa 13.12 – Shōwa 16.11 (1938.12–1941.11)
Shioda Teiju (鹽田貞壽) Shōwa 15.5 – Shōwa 16.11 (1940.5–1941.11)
Konishi Masataka (小西政敬) Shōwa 16.12 – Shōwa 19.3 (1941.12–1944.3)
Oguro Kikutarō (小黑菊太郎) Shōwa 16.12 – Shōwa 19.3 (1941.12–1944.3)
Tanabe Takezō (田邊猛三) Shōwa 16.11 – Shōwa 17.10 (1941.11–1942.10)
Suda Katsuichirō (須田勝一郎) Shōwa 16.12 – Shōwa 19.3 (1941.12–1944.3)
Miyasaka Tetsutarō (宮坂鐵太郎) Shōwa 16.12 – Shōwa 17.10 (1941.12–1942.10)
Tochigi Kamekichi (栃木龜吉) Shōwa 16.12 – Shōwa 19.3 (1941.12–1944.3)

(Some month digits in this dense column are best-effort.)

Page 214 (二一四)

Advisors (相談役)

Name Years served
Ōkubo Sōzaemon (大久保惣左衞門, dec.) Taishō 11.12 – Shōwa 4.1 (1922.12–1929.1)
Yuasa Shichizaemon Shōten (湯淺七左衞門商店) Taishō 11.12 – Shōwa 19.3 (1922.12–1944.3) — served to dissolution
Yoshikawa Hyakudayū (吉川百太夫, dec.) (dates not fully legible)
Hashimoto Takichi (橋本太吉, dec.) (dates not fully legible)
Takaoka Nobutsugu (高岡宣次) (dates not fully legible) — provided the cover title-calligraphy (see p.233)
Ishida Kōzō (石田耕造) Shōwa 16.12 – Shōwa 19.3 (1941.12–1944.3)
Kubota Tokuzō (久保田德藏) Shōwa 16.12 – Shōwa 19.3 (1941.12–1944.3)

Treasurers / Accountants (會計)

Name Term Years served
Ōtsuka Jūkichi (大塚重吉, dec.) 1 yr 4 mo Taishō 4.11 – Taishō 6.3 (1915.11–1917.3)
Tsuzuki Kyūshichi (都築久七) — Taishō 6.4 – Shōwa 3.4 (1917.4–1928.4)
Okaya Shōten (岡谷商店) 2 yr Shōwa 3.5 – Shōwa 5.4 (1928.5–1930.4)
Ishida Kōzō (石田耕造) ~11 yr 6 mo Shōwa 5.5 – Shōwa 16.11 (1930.5–1941.11)
Tanabe Takezō (田邊猛三) ~0 yr 11 mo Shōwa 16.12 – Shōwa 17.10 (1941.12–1942.10)
Oguro Kikutarō (小黑菊太郎) ~1 yr 4 mo Shōwa 17.11 – Shōwa 19.3 (1942.11–1944.3)

Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Guild Assembly (組合會正副議長) — section header; data on p.215.

Page 215 (二一五)

Assembly Chairman (議長)

Name Years served
Ueno Tetsurō (上野鐵郎) Shōwa 5.6 – Shōwa 11.5 (1930.6–1936.5)
Kamijō Kōsuke (上條幸助) Shōwa 11.6 – Shōwa 17.5 (1936.6–1942.5)
Takagi Tomitarō (高木富太郎) Shōwa 17.6 – Shōwa 19.3 (1942.6–1944.3)

Assembly Vice-Chairman (副議長)

Name Years served
Kamijō Kōsuke (上條幸助) Shōwa 5.6 – Shōwa 11.5 (1930.6–1936.5)
Ogawa Chūsaku (小川忠作) Shōwa 11.6 – Shōwa 17.5 (1936.6–1942.5)
Nakabayashi Shigezō (中林繁藏) Shōwa 17.6 – Shōwa 18.5 (1942.6–1943.5)
Kawai Motoyuki (川合基之) Shōwa 18.6 – Shōwa 19.3 (1943.6–1944.3) — acting chairman at dissolution

Table of Terms of Office of Councillors and Section Chiefs (評議員彙部長就任年限表) (the fourth character, printed 彙, is faint)

Copper-and-Iron Utensils Section (銅鐵器具部) — successive chiefs

Name Years served
Takaoka Nobutsugu (高岡宣次) Taishō 4.11 – Taishō 5.10 (1915.11–1916.10)
Satō Harukichi (佐藤春吉) Taishō 5.11 – Taishō 6.10 (1916.11–1917.10)
Takaoka Nobutsugu (高岡宣次) Taishō 6.11 – Shōwa 2.1 (1917.11–1927.1)
Sekine Yōjirō (關根要次郎) Shōwa 2.2 – Shōwa 4.1 (1927.2–1929.1)
Yoshioka Itsuji (吉岡逸次, dec.) Shōwa 4.2 – Shōwa 12.3 (1929.2–1937.3)
Tanaka Seigorō (田中清五郎) Shōwa 12.4 – Shōwa 16.1 (1937.4–1941.1)

(continues on p.216 with Takehara Unosuke)

Page 216 (二一六)

Copper-and-Iron Utensils Section (銅鐵器具部), continued

Name Years served
Takehara Unosuke (竹原卯之助) Shōwa 16.2 – Shōwa 19.3 (1941.2–1944.3)

Cast-Iron-Goods Section (鐵鑄物部) — successive chiefs

Name Years served
Tsuda Gen'emon (津田源右衞門, predecessor, dec.) Taishō 4.11 – Taishō 15.5 (1915.11–1926.5)
Yamaguchi Kōtarō (山口孝太郎) Taishō 15.6 – Shōwa 7.2 (1926.6–1932.2)
Yamaguchi Tamaki (山口環) Shōwa 7.3 – Shōwa 16.11 (1932.3–1941.11)
Tsuda Gen'emon (津田源右衞門) Shōwa 16.8 – Shōwa 18.1 (1941.8–1943.1)
Murao Kōjirō (村尾幸次郎) Shōwa 18.2 – Shōwa 19.3 (1943.2–1944.3)

Edge-Tools and Implements Section (利器工具部) — successive chiefs

Name Term Years served
Tominaga Sa'uemon (富永佐右衞門) 11 yr 3 mo Taishō 4.11 – Shōwa 2.1 (1915.11–1927.1)
Katō Isuke (加藤伊助) 4 yr Shōwa 2.2 – Shōwa 6.1 (1927.2–1931.1)
Sakai Zensaku (坂井善作) 2 yr Shōwa 6.2 – Shōwa 8.1 (1931.2–1933.1)
Mutō Kansuke (武藤勘助) 4 yr Shōwa 8.2 – Shōwa 12.1 (1933.2–1937.1)
Morioka Shōten, Hardware Dept., Yano Manjirō (森岡商店金物部　矢野萬次郎) 4 yr Shōwa 12.2 – Shōwa 16.1 (1937.2–1941.1)
Katō Isuke (加藤伊助) 2 yr Shōwa 16.2 – Shōwa 18.1 (1941.2–1943.1)
Manshin-sha, Mikogami Mitsutaka (萬伸社　御子神充昂) 1 yr 3 mo Shōwa 18.2 – Shōwa 19.3 (1943.2–1944.3)

Enamel-Ironware Section (琺瑯鐵器部) — successive chiefs (begins)

Name Years served
Nakamura Murashi (中村村司, dec.) Taishō 4.11 – Taishō 7.1 (1915.11–1918.1)

(continues on p.217)

Page 217 (二一七)

Enamel-Ironware Section (琺瑯鐵器部), continued

Name Years served
Kiyosu Shōten (清洲商店) Taishō 7.2 – Taishō 13.5 (1918.2–1924.5)
Azuma Enamel Ironware Co., Ltd. (東琺瑯鐵器株式會社, dissolved) Taishō 13.6 – Shōwa 2.1 (1924.6–1927.1)
Nakamura Jūsuke (中村重助, dec.) Shōwa 2.2 – Shōwa 4.1 (1927.2–1929.1)
Matsuhashi Rokunosuke (松橋錄之助) Shōwa 4.2 – Shōwa 14.1 (1929.2–1939.1)
Miyauchi Jungorō (宮内準五郎) Shōwa 14.2 – Shōwa 16.1 (1939.2–1941.1)
Matsuhashi Kuhachirō (松橋九八郎) Shōwa 16.1 – Shōwa 19.3 (1941.1–1944.3)

Architectural-Furniture Hardware Section (建築家具金物部) — successive chiefs

Name Years served
Shinohara Jūshirō (篠原十四郎, dec.) Taishō 4.11 – Taishō 5.10 (1915.11–1916.10)
Sano Hatsutarō (佐野初太郎, dec.) Taishō 5.11 – Shōwa 6.1 (1916.11–1931.1)
Tezuka Shuji (手塚守二, dec.) Shōwa 6.2 – Shōwa 8.1 (1931.2–1933.1)
Kawashima Hirokichi (川島廣吉, dec.) Shōwa 8.2 – Shōwa 13.7 (1933.2–1938.7)
Hashimoto Masajirō (橋本政次郎, dec.) Shōwa 13.8 – Shōwa 14.9 (1938.8–1939.9)
Konishi Masataka (小西政敬) Shōwa 14.10 – Shōwa 16.11 (1939.10–1941.11)
Wakō Bunji (若生文二) Shōwa 16.12 – Shōwa 19.3 (1941.12–1944.3)

Aluminum-Utensils Section (アルミニューム器具部) — successive chiefs (begins)

Name Years served
Nihon Alumi (日本アルミ), Takagi Kiyoshi (高木清, dec.) Taishō 4.11 – Taishō 15.5 (1915.11–1926.5)
Hashimoto Takichi (橋本太吉, dec.) Taishō 15.6 – Shōwa 4.1 (1926.6–1929.1)

Page 218 (二一八)

Nasu Aluminum (那須アルミニューム)

Name Years served
Nakayama Sotojirō (中山外次郎) Shōwa 4.2 – Shōwa 19.3 (1929.2–1944.3)

Tinplate ("Buriki") Section (錻力部) — successive chiefs

Name Years served
Yoshikawa Hyakudayū (吉川百太夫, dec.) Taishō 4.11 – Taishō 6.3 (1915.11–1917.3)
Nagai Kōtarō (永井幸太郎, dec.) Taishō 6.4 – Shōwa 4.1 (1917.4–1929.1)
Yoshida Junzō (吉田準三) Shōwa 4.2 – Shōwa 6.1 (1929.2–1931.1)
Tomii Yasaburō (富井彌三郎, predecessor, dec.) Shōwa 6.2 – Shōwa 12.1 (1931.2–1937.1)
Matsumoto Itarō (松本猪太郎) Shōwa 12.2 – Shōwa 13.7 (1937.2–1938.7)
Akabane Yagoji (赤羽彌吾司, dec.) Shōwa 13.8 – Shōwa 15.6 (1938.8–1940.6)
Togawa Rikie (戶川鯉喜江, dec.) Shōwa 15.7 – Shōwa 18.1 (1940.7–1943.1)

Wire-Mesh Section (金網部) — successive chiefs

Name Years served
Tsuzuki Kyūshichi (都築久七) Shōwa 4.11 – Shōwa 6.12 (1929.11–1931.12)
Igeta Heizaburō (井桁平三郎) Shōwa 7.1 – Shōwa 11.1 (1932.1–1936.1)
Fujihira Shinnosuke (藤平信之助, dec.) Shōwa 11.2 – Shōwa 12.1 (1936.2–1937.1)
Niwa Kyūjirō (丹羽久次郎) Shōwa 12.2 – Shōwa 16.1 (1937.2–1941.1)
Ogata Shin'ichirō (緒方新一郎) Shōwa 16.2 – Shōwa 19.3 (1941.2–1944.3)

Scrap-Iron Section (古鐵部) — successive chiefs (begins)

Name Years served
Umeda Senkichi (梅田仙吉, dec.) Taishō 4.11 – Taishō 7.5 (1915.11–1918.5)

Page 219 (二一九)

Miscellaneous-Wares Section (雜器部) — successive chiefs

Name Years served
Ishida Kōzō (石田耕造) Taishō 15.8 – Shōwa 4.1 (1926.8–1929.1)
Tanabe Takezō (田邊猛三) Shōwa 4.2 – Shōwa 8.1 (1929.2–1933.1)
Saitō Yōzō (齋藤要藏) Shōwa 8.2 – Shōwa 17.1 (1933.2–1942.1)
Suzuki Tōichirō (鈴木藤一郎) Shōwa 17.2 – Shōwa 19.3 (1942.2–1944.3)

Bucket Section (バケツ部)

Name Years served
Fujioka Seiji (藤岡清茲) Shōwa 12.1 – Shōwa 16.4 (1937.1–1941.4)
Kumakura Kamekichi (熊倉龜吉) Shōwa 16.5 – Shōwa 19.3 (1941.5–1944.3)

Western-Cutlery/Tableware Section (洋食器部)

Name Years served
Niimi Zen'ichi (新實善一) Shōwa 13.2 – Shōwa 19.3 (1938.2–1944.3)

Galvanized-Iron-Ware Section (亞鉛鐵器部)

Name Years served
Sumiyoshi Etsuzō (住吉悦藏) Shōwa 15.5 – Shōwa 19.3 (1940.5–1944.3)

1st Section (第一部) — successive chiefs

Name Years served
Chiyozaki Yasuke (千代崎彌助, dec.) Taishō 4.11 – Shōwa 3.5 (1915.11–1928.5)
Fukushima Bunkichi (福島文吉) Shōwa 3.6 – Shōwa 5.5 (1928.6–1930.5)
Yajima Kinnosuke (矢島金之助) Shōwa 5.6 – Shōwa 13.4 (1930.6–1938.4)
Takeuchi Kintarō (竹内金太郎) Shōwa 13.5 – Shōwa 16.4 (1938.5–1941.4)

(§1 continues on p.220 with Aoki Tametsugu)

Page 220 (二二〇)

1st Section (第一部), continued

Name Years served
Aoki Tametsugu (青木爲次) Shōwa 16.5 – Shōwa 18.8 (1941.5–1943.8)

2nd Section (第二部)

Name Years served
Ōyodo Eikichi (大淀英吉) Taishō 6.5 – Shōwa 9.5 (1917.5–1934.5)
Nakamura Bungorō (中村文五郎) Shōwa 9.6 – Shōwa 17.1 (1934.6–1942.1)
Ishikawa Hirokichi (石川廣吉) Shōwa 17.2 – Shōwa 19.3 (1942.2–1944.3)

3rd Section (第三部)

Name Years served
Tobari Matsunosuke (戶張松之助, dec.) Taishō 6.5 – Taishō 15.5 (1917.5–1926.5)
Ihara Sakutarō (井原作太郎, dec.) Taishō 15.6 – Shōwa 3.5 (1926.6–1928.5)
Itō Kichibee (伊藤吉兵衛) Shōwa 3.6 – Shōwa 10.5 (1928.6–1935.5)
Ogawa Chūsaku (小川忠作) Shōwa 10.6 – Shōwa 15.3 (1935.6–1940.3)
Matsushita Jinzō (松下甚藏) Shōwa 13.1 – Shōwa 15.3 (approx.)
Fujimori Denkichi (藤森傳吉) Shōwa 15.4 – Shōwa 19.3 (1940.4–1944.3)

4th Section (第四部)

Name Years served
Sōi Jinzō (宗意甚藏, dec.) Taishō 6.5 – Shōwa 3.5 (1917.5–1928.5)
Matsunaga Ryūzō (松永龍藏) Shōwa 3.6 – Shōwa 7.5 (1928.6–1932.5)
Ishikawa Ukichi (石川宇吉, dec.) Shōwa 7.6 – Shōwa 16.1 (1932.6–1941.1)
Atsumi Bunji (渥美文二) Shōwa 16.2 – Shōwa 16.10 (1941.2–1941.10)

(§4 continues on p.221 with Ishimori Kyūsuke)

Page 221 (二二一)

4th Section (第四部), continued

Name Years served
Ishimori Kyūsuke (石森久助) Shōwa 16.11 – Shōwa 19.3 (1941.11–1944.3)

5th Section (第五部)

Name Years served
Ueno Tetsurō (上野鐵郎) Taishō 6.5 – Taishō 10.5 (1917.5–1921.5)
Ishihara Kyōkichi (石原京吉, dec.) Taishō 10.6 – Taishō 15.5 (1921.6–1926.5)
Okamura Toyokichi (岡村豐吉) Taishō 15.6 – Shōwa 5.5 (1926.6–1930.5)
Suda Katsuichirō (須田勝一郎) Shōwa 5.6 – Shōwa 15.5 (1930.6–1940.5)
Yoshida Onojirō (吉田斧次郎) Shōwa 15.6 – Shōwa 19.3 (1940.6–1944.3)

6th Section (第六部)

Name Years served
Miyasaka Tetsutarō (宮坂鐵太郎) Taishō 6.5 – (mid-period)
Yano Kōjirō (矢野幸次郎) (to later period)

Former 6th Section, West Part (舊六部西部)

Name Years served
Namiki Kunigorō (並木國五郎) Shōwa 10.9 – Shōwa 11.4 (1935.9–1936.4)

7th Section (第七部)

Name Years served
Tsuchikawa Tazō (土川太藏, dec.) Taishō 6.5 – Shōwa 3.5 (1917.5–1928.5)
Kubota Tokuzō (久保田德藏) Shōwa 3.6 – Shōwa 13.4 (1928.6–1938.4)
Watanabe Magoichi (渡邊孫市) Shōwa 13.5 – Shōwa 19.3 (1938.5–1944.3)

Page 222 (二二二)

8th Section (第八部)

Name Years served
Obara Kichigorō (小原吉五郎, dec.) Taishō 6.5 – Taishō 15.5 (1917.5–1926.5)
Nakamatsu Toshio (仲松俊雄, dec.) Taishō 15.6 – Shōwa 3.5 (1926.6–1928.5)
Kamiyama Yūkichi (神山祐吉) Shōwa 3.6 – Shōwa 5.5 (1928.6–1930.5)
Okada Seijirō (岡田清次郎) Shōwa 5.6 – Shōwa 14.5 (1930.6–1939.5)
Sekine Yūjirō (關根佑次郎) Shōwa 14.6 – Shōwa 16.1 (1939.6–1941.1)
Okada Seijirō (岡田清次郎) Shōwa 16.2 – Shōwa 19.3 (1941.2–1944.3)

9th Section (第九部)

Name Years served
Suzuki Masujirō (鈴木益次郎) Taishō 6.5 – Taishō 15.5 (1917.5–1926.5)
Mori Shinkichi (森信吉) Taishō 15.6 – Shōwa 17.6 (1926.6–1942.6)
Iwane Chimatsu (岩根千松) Shōwa 17.7 – Shōwa 19.3 (1942.7–1944.3)

10th Section (第十部)

Name Years served
Hoshino Minosuke (星野巳之助, predecessor, dec.) Taishō 6.5 – Shōwa 3.5 (1917.5–1928.5)
Hirabayashi Mokichi (平林茂吉) Shōwa 3.6 – Shōwa 10.5 (1928.6–1935.5)
Hoshino Minosuke (星野巳之助) Shōwa 10.6 – Shōwa 15.4 (1935.6–1940.4)
Kobayashi Tahee (小林太兵衞) Shōwa 15.5 – Shōwa 16.1 (1940.5–1941.1)
Morikawa Shōji (森川勝司) Shōwa 16.2 – Shōwa 19.3 (1941.2–1944.3)

Page 223 (二二三)

Former 10th Section, North Part (舊第十部北部)

Name Years served
Nomura Keisuke (野村圭助) Shōwa 9.10 – Shōwa 10.4 (1934.10–1935.4)

11th Section (第十一部)

Name Years served
Hirabayashi Mokichi (平林茂吉) Shōwa 10.5 – Shōwa 14.8 (1935.5–1939.8)
Ozawa Sakae (小澤榮) Shōwa 14.9 – Shōwa 18.3 (1939.9–1943.3)
Kobayashi Gisuke (小林儀助) Shōwa 18.4 – Shōwa 19.3 (1943.4–1944.3)

Former 11th Section (舊第十一部)

Name Years served
Takagi Shinjirō (高木新次郎) Taishō 6.5 – Shōwa 8.2 (1917.5–1933.2)
Kinoshita Chikara (木下力) Shōwa 8.3 – Shōwa 11.4 (1933.3–1936.4)

12th Section (第十二部)

Name Years served
Sakuragi Yoshikuni (櫻木芳國) Shōwa 11.5 – Shōwa 15.1 (1936.5–1940.1)
Suzuki Morimasa (鈴木守正) Shōwa 15.2 – Shōwa 19.3 (1940.2–1944.3)

13th Section (第十三部)

Name Years served
Teranishi Jisaburō (寺西次三郎) Shōwa 11.5 – Shōwa 13.4 (1936.5–1938.4)
Ōno Taichi (大野太市) Shōwa 13.5 – Shōwa 15.11 (1938.5–1940.11)
Tsumiki[?] Shōtarō (摘木鐘太郎) (surname faint/uncertain) Shōwa 15.12 – Shōwa 17.4 (1940.12–1942.4)
Takahashi Kōjirō (高橋幸次郎) Shōwa 17.5 – Shōwa 19.3 (1942.5–1944.3)

Page 224 (二二四)

14th Section (第十四部)

Name Years served
Miyano Naoji (宮野直治) Shōwa 11.5 – Shōwa 13.4 (1936.5–1938.4)
Hagiwara Iichi (萩原彙一) Shōwa 13.5 – Shōwa 15.4 (1938.5–1940.4)
Miyano Naoji (宮野直治) Shōwa 15.5 – Shōwa 15.11 (1940.5–1940.11)
Asano Shinsaku (淺野新作) Shōwa 15.12 – Shōwa 17.3 (1940.12–1942.3)
Kaneko Shigesaku (金子繁作) Shōwa 17.4 – Shōwa 19.3 (1942.4–1944.3)

15th Section (第十五部)

Name Years served
Zōichirō (藏一郎) (printed as three characters; a surname character may be missing) Shōwa 15.4 – Shōwa 19.3 (1940.4–1944.3)

16th Section (第十六部)

Name Years served
Yoshihashi Tsurujirō (吉橋鶴次郎) Shōwa 11.5 – Shōwa 13.4 (1936.5–1938.4)
Kōno Shintarō (河野信太郎) Shōwa 13.5 – Shōwa 19.3 (1938.5–1944.3)

17th Section (第十七部)

Name Years served
Akimoto Masakichi (秋本政吉) Shōwa 11.5 – (mid-period)
Hiratsuka Tōzaburō (平塚藤三郎, dec.) (to later period)

18th Section (第十八部)

Name Years served
Andō Tomigorō (安藤富五郎) Shōwa 11.5 – Shōwa 13.4 (1936.5–1938.4)
Itō Sangorō (伊藤三五郎, dec.) Shōwa 13.5 – (continues)

(§18 continues on p.225 with Minowa Suekichi)

Page 225 (二二五)

18th Section (第十八部), continued

Name Years served
Minowa Suekichi (箕輪末吉, dec.) Shōwa 13.5 – Shōwa 15.4 (1938.5–1940.4)

19th Section (第十九部)

Name Years served
Saitō Chiyoji (齋藤千代示) Shōwa 15.5 – Shōwa 19.3 (1940.5–1944.3)
Takagi Fusajirō (高木房次郎) Shōwa 11.5 – Shōwa 13.11 (1936.5–1938.11)
Kozaki Arinari (小崎有成) Shōwa 13.12 – Shōwa 19.3 (1938.12–1944.3)

20th Section (第二十部)

Name Years served
Hirata Ryōsuke (平田良祐, dec.) Shōwa 11.5 – Shōwa 14.4 (1936.5–1939.4)
Noguchi Harukichi (野口春吉) Shōwa 14.5 – Shōwa 15.4 (1939.5–1940.4)
Katō Yaheiji (加藤彌平次) Shōwa 15.5 – Shōwa 19.3 (1940.5–1944.3)

21st Section (第二十一部)

Name Years served
Isogai Oginosuke (磯貝荻之助) Shōwa 11.5 – Shōwa 19.3 (1936.5–1944.3)

22nd Section (第二十二部)

Name Years served
Makita Kyōhei (牧田杏平) Shōwa 11.5 – Shōwa 15.5 (1936.5–1940.5)
Matsumoto Takeo (松本武男) Shōwa 15.6 – Shōwa 19.3 (1940.6–1944.3)

23rd Section (第二十三部)

Name Years served
Matsunaga Ryūzō (松永龍藏) Shōwa 11.5 – Shōwa 18.3 (approx.)
Kawasaki Teijirō (川崎禎次郎) Shōwa 18.4 – Shōwa 19.3 (1943.4–1944.3)

Page 226 (二二六)

24th Section (第二十四部)

Name Years served
Fukushima Bunkichi (福島文吉) Shōwa 11.5 – Shōwa 12.8 (1936.5–1937.8)
Maeda Takujirō (前田宅次郎) Shōwa 12.9 – Shōwa 16.10 (1937.9–1941.10)
Kurono Kesao (黒野今朝男) Shōwa 16.11 – Shōwa 19.3 (1941.11–1944.3)

25th Section (第二十五部)

Name Years served
Furuta Tsuruji (古田鶴二) Shōwa 12.1 – Shōwa 16.11 (1937.1–1941.11)
Suzuki Taneki (鈴木胤喜) Shōwa 17.1 – Shōwa 18.5 (1942.1–1943.5)
Maruyama Kawakichi (丸山川吉) Shōwa 18.6 – Shōwa 19.3 (1943.6–1944.3)

26th Section (第二十六部)

Name Years served
Ishihara Kōtarō (石原好太郎) Shōwa 12.1 – Shōwa 17.1 (1937.1–1942.1)
Miya Mankichi (宮萬吉) Shōwa 17.2 – Shōwa 19.3 (1942.2–1944.3)

27th Section (第二十七部)

Name Years served
Aihara Harushichi (相原春七) Shōwa 12.1 – Shōwa 14.5 (1937.1–1939.5)
Yano Mitsuo (矢野滿雄) Shōwa 14.6 – Shōwa 17.2 (1939.6–1942.2)
Nakabayashi Kuniji (中林國治) Shōwa 17.3 – Shōwa 19.3 (1942.3–1944.3)

28th Section (第二十八部)

Name Years served
Hashimoto Torazō (橋本寅藏) Shōwa 11.5 – Shōwa 19.3 (1936.5–1944.3)

Page 227 (二二七)

29th Section, incorporating the former 12th Section (第二十九部〔舊第十二部ヲ含ム〕)

Name Years served
Kinoshita Shinjirō (木下晉次郎, dec.) Taishō 6.5 – Taishō 15.5 (1917.5–1926.5)
Akiba Motoshichirō (秋葉元七郎) Taishō 15.6 – Shōwa 3.5 (1926.6–1928.5)
Sugihara [Hui]jirō (杉原彙次郎, dec.) (2nd character 彙 uncertain) Shōwa 3.6 – Shōwa 5.5 (1928.6–1930.5)
Yamazaki Chōji (山崎長治) Shōwa 9.6 – Shōwa 11.5 (1934.6–1936.5)
Yamashita Kabuyoshi (山下株由) Shōwa 15.4 – Shōwa 19.3 (1940.4–1944.3)

30th Section (第三十部)

Name Years served
Miyazaki Jisuke (宮崎治助) Shōwa 13.1 – Shōwa 16.4 (1938.1–1941.4)
Odagawa Ushitarō (小田川丑太郎) Shōwa 16.5 – Shōwa 19.3 (1941.5–1944.3)

31st Section (第三十一部)

Name Years served
Hiramoto Katsutoshi (平本勝利) Shōwa 13.1 – Shōwa 17.8 (1938.1–1942.8)
Kanzaki Hikosaburō (神崎彦三郎) Shōwa 17.9 – Shōwa 19.3 (1942.9–1944.3)

32nd Section (第三十二部)

Name Years served
Tanabe Eiichi (田邊榮一) Shōwa 13.1 – Shōwa 19.3 (1938.1–1944.3)

33rd Section (第三十三部)

Name Years served
Katō Toraji (加藤寅治) Shōwa 15.5 – Shōwa 19.3 (1940.5–1944.3)

Page 228 (二二八)

1st Wire-Mesh-Sieve Section (第一金網篩部)

Name Years served
Nagasawa Yoshiyuki (長澤美之) Shōwa 12.4 – Shōwa 16.4 (1937.4–1941.4)
Sone Jinzō (曾根甚藏) Shōwa 16.5 – Shōwa 17.5 (1941.5–1942.5)
Ishizaki Sentarō (石崎千太郎) Shōwa 17.6 – Shōwa 19.3 (1942.6–1944.3)

2nd Wire-Mesh-Sieve Section (第二金網篩部)

Name Years served
Morino Tokutarō (守野德太郎) Shōwa 11.10 – Shōwa 15.1 (1936.10–1940.1)
Ōta Katsumi (太田勝巳) Shōwa 15.2 – Shōwa 17.3 (1940.2–1942.3)
Minagawa Shōkichi (皆川庄吉) Shōwa 17.4 – Shōwa 19.3 (1942.4–1944.3)

3rd Wire-Mesh-Sieve Section (第三金網篩部)

Name Years served
Yamazaki Ginzō (山崎銀三) Shōwa 12.4 – Shōwa 13.4 (1937.4–1938.4)
Saitō Kazuo (齋藤一男) Shōwa 13.5 – Shōwa 14.5 (1938.5–1939.5)
Ōtsuka Tamizō (大塚民藏) Shōwa 14.6 – Shōwa 15.1 (1939.6–1940.1)
Itō Tomotake (伊藤友健) Shōwa 15.2 – Shōwa 16.5 (1940.2–1941.5)
Ōtsuka Tamizō (大塚民藏) Shōwa 16.6 – Shōwa 19.3 (1941.6–1944.3)

Saw-Trade Section (鋸業部)

Name Years served
Ishiguro Kisaburō (石黒喜三郎) Shōwa 11.9 – Shōwa 19.3 (1936.9–1944.3) — sole chief, 7 yr 7 mo

Page 229 (二二九)

Current Membership Status (組合員現況) — members by section: wholesale (卸部) / retail (小賣部) / total (合計). Head of table, sections 1–13.

Section Wholesale Retail Total
1st (第一部) 28 60 88
2nd (第二部) 8 35 43
3rd (第三部) 31 72 103
4th (第四部) 30 52 82
5th (第五部) 13[?] 51[?] 68[?]
6th (第六部) 8[?] 81[?] 93[?]
7th (第七部) 8[?] 47[?] —
8th (第八部) 13[?] 46[?] —
9th (第九部) 8[?] 36[?] 70[?]
10th (第十部) — 33[?] —
11th (第十一部) 7[?] 33[?] 45[?]
12th (第十二部) 9[?] 38[?] —
13th (第十三部) 7[?] 38[?] —

(The page is stained and several figures are only partly legible; sections 1–4 are firm, the remainder best-effort. Counts only — no names or addresses.)

Page 230 (二三〇)

Continuation of the membership-by-section table (same wholesale / retail / total structure), covering sections 14–30. For these sections the wholesale band is nil, so the retail and total figures coincide. The individual cell values are small and heavily foxed; representative total-row readings (right to left), best-effort: 35, 59, 41, 49, 39, 36, 37, 23, 44, 59, 29, 26, 24, 40, 21, 45. Recorded as present but not certified to the digit. Counts only — no names or addresses.

Page 231 (二三一)

Tail of the membership-by-section table (sections 31–33 and the special sections):

Section Wholesale Retail Total
31st (第三十一部) — 7 7
32nd (第三十二部) — 38 38
33rd (第三十三部) — 53 53
1st Wire-Mesh-Sieve (第一金網篩部) — 39 39
2nd Wire-Mesh-Sieve (第二金網篩部) — 46 46
3rd Wire-Mesh-Sieve (第三金網篩部) — 32 32
Saw-Trade (鋸業部) — 156 156
Total (合計) 505 1,722 2,227

Guild Budget, Settlement, Membership, Product Inspections, Approval Applications and Approvals (組合豫算額決算額及組合員數、製品檢査數、認可申請、認可件數). Rows Taishō 13 – Shōwa 4; monetary figures in yen·sen.

Year Budget (¥) Settlement (¥) Members Inspections Applications Approvals
Taishō 13 (1924) 7,485.60 6,425.16 700 8,238 4 3
Taishō 14 (1925) 7,515.60 6,659.07 700 109,495 3 3
Taishō 15 (1926) 7,554.00 6,215.38 706 123,065 5 5
Shōwa 2 (1927) 8,052.40 6,711.11 700 115,889 1 1
Shōwa 3 (1928) 7,138.20 6,032.05 689 86,498 2 2
Shōwa 4 (1929) 8,502.00 6,588.20 777 133,228 3 3

Page 232 (二三二)

Continuation of the same table, rows Shōwa 5 – Shōwa 18.

Year Budget (¥) Settlement (¥) Members Inspections Applications Approvals
Shōwa 5 (1930) 7,937.80 7,659.01 633 101,692 3 3
Shōwa 6 (1931) 10,091.40 9,225.23 655 142,521 4 4
Shōwa 7 (1932) 9,538.50 9,107.39 620 126,219.5 3 3
Shōwa 8 (1933) 9,847.30 7,915.81 594 167,824 2 2
Shōwa 9 (1934) 8,240.50 8,686.95 623 237,219 3 2
Shōwa 10 (1935) 8,621.50 9,705.4 617 209,678 3 2
Shōwa 11 (1936) 12,478.70 13,826.28 634 187,226 7 6
Shōwa 12 (1937) 34,389.50 36,506.1 376 152,349 4 4
Shōwa 13 (1938) 37,970.90 45,769.02 409 136,190 15 —
Shōwa 14 (1939) 52,158.90 41,054.16 420 100,151 8 8
Shōwa 15 (1940) 53,144.47 54,033.96 500 118,259 9 8
Shōwa 16 (1941) 48,118.20 46,675.20 403 162,345 8 8
Shōwa 17 (1942) 45,472.80[?] 48,500.80 294 162,665 7 7
Shōwa 18 (1943) 43,108.20 27,001.20 330 108,360 4 4

(Figures read from kanji numerals; monetary values are yen·sen. The Shōwa 17 budget sen digit is uncertain. The membership column shows the guild contracting under wartime consolidation, with a sharp drop after Shōwa 12.)

Page 233 (二三三)

With Respectful Thanks (謹謝)

"On this occasion, in compiling and authoring this book, we were graciously granted special title-calligraphy (題字) by Minister of State Kishi (岸國務大臣), Chief Cabinet Secretary Hoshino (星野内閣書記官長), and the Governor of the Tokyo Metropolis, Ōdachi (大達東京都長官); the entire membership expresses its deep and heartfelt gratitude.

In accordance with the guild's resolution, I — unworthy as I am — was entrusted with and undertook the various matters concerning this guild-published book. But owing to the suddenness of the decision, the time was extremely short; the editing and the solicitation of contributions could not be carried out as I wished; the printing trade in general was in the midst of enterprise consolidation (企業整備), and paper and other supplies were subject to the most severe restrictions. In these circumstances, there were not a few regrettable omissions and oversights throughout, for which I especially apologize and beg the reader's understanding.

Finally, the title-calligraphy for the cover was bestowed by Advisor Takaoka (高岡相談役); and for the editing I offer my deep thanks for the earnest cooperation of Mr. Kuroda Sōzan (黒田操山) and Mr. Wada Hitoshiyoshi (和田仁義), president of the Tokyo Kanamono Shinpō-sha (東京金物新報社長)."

— Tokyo Hardware Trade Guild, Secretary-General Hirasawa Den'ichi (東京金物同業組合書記長　平澤傳市)

Colophon (奥付)