Sanpō yoshi means good for three sides: good for the seller, good for the buyer, and good for society. It is used to describe the business spirit of the Ōmi merchants.
The phrase itself is modern. The Ōmi merchant scholar Ogura Eiichirō used it around 1988 to sum up their spirit. Its usual precursor is a testament written in 1754 by the Ōmi merchant Nakamura Jihei Sōgan, but the four characters do not appear in it. An earlier use of the phrase is found in a document from 1930.
Oseibo is a gift sent at the end of the year. It thanks people for their help, including people who have helped in one’s work.
In summer, ochūgen is sent to relatives and to people who have helped, as a seasonal greeting of thanks. It goes back to the Chinese festival of Zhongyuan, which merged with the Japanese festival of Obon.
Japanese tax law restricts the deduction of entertainment expenses, kōsaihi, under Article 61-4 of the Act on Special Measures Concerning Taxation. Food and drink below a set amount per person are excluded from these restricted expenses.
From April 1, 2024, the limit rose to 10,000 yen per person, for companies of any size. Until March 31, 2024, it was 5,000 yen.
Toyota’s association of parts suppliers, the Kyōhōkai, was founded in December 1943. Its first chairman was Akai Hisayoshi.
It grew out of an earlier association, the Kyōryokukai (Cooperation Association). That name was given in November 1939, at the first meeting with subcontractors in the Tōkai region.
Japan’s Economic White Paper of 1992 described the ties between parent companies and their parts suppliers. These relationships, it said, tend to be long-term and continuous, unlike ordinary spot market trading. Out of cooperation, a relationship of trust is thought to emerge that does not rest on an explicit contract. Shareholdings and the dispatch of directors reinforce the ties.
The paper called the keiretsu system very efficient for the buyers and sellers involved. It also noted its costs, such as the burden on subcontractors.
In Japanese business etiquette, a business card, meishi, plays the role of its owner’s face. It is received with both hands, while looking at the other person and saying chōdai shimasu (I humbly receive it).
Papers are not placed on top of it. Notes are not written on it in front of its owner. A card is taken from a card case, not from a pocket or a wallet.
To visit an ochaya, a traditional teahouse in Kyoto, a guest needs an introduction from someone the house knows. The custom is called ichigen-san okotowari, no first-time guests. Some teahouses are also homes where young maiko live.
Bills were traditionally settled on credit, twice a year, around Obon and New Year. A guide to Kyoto describes this as credit sales between people who know each other, a system that survives in the teahouses today.
Akinai wa ushi no yodare (商いは牛の涎): business is like a cow’s drool. Success in business comes from persistence and steadiness, not from quick profit.