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A Japanese shop is 1,020 years old

nytimes.com

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Re: A Japanese shop is 1,020 years old

#71

Post by supernova87a »

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #40
jacobwilliamroy wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh no, owning property and having a place in the community. What a nightmare.

The documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi has a poignant commentary on this. Jiro's oldest son is expected to eventually take over Jiro's sushi place, so as a result essentially is toiling for his father into old age. On the other hand, somewhat ironically Jiro's younger son actually has more freedom, so he strikes out on his own pretty early and has his own very successful sushi joint.

This is a phenomenon (harsh in the case of Jiro's son amid modern sensibilities about free will and obligation), which is said to have fueled some aspects of human exploration (and also unfortunately the bad aspects of it) in history.

The 2nd son didn't inherit under the doctrine of primogeniture, leading the later sons to be the (often) neglected or less favored / wealthy, motivating them (for better and worse) to set out on their own and prove their worth.

Re: A Japanese shop is 1,020 years old

#72

Post by Turing_Machine »

jbjbjbjb wrote: post #59
lapetitejort wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could Nintendo be the oldest company currently involved with tech?

British Telecom’s origins date back to the founding in 1846 of the Electric Telegraph Company. ETC was the first public telegraph company.

That's got Western Union beat by a few years. WU was founded in 1851.

On the other hand, Western Union is still trading under its original name.

Re: A Japanese shop is 1,020 years old

#73

Post by agar »

A colleague took me to Tamahide restaurant in Tokyo, which opened in 1760 and is known for creating oyakodon, a chicken and egg rice bowl. (Oyakadon translates to "parent and child donburi" which somehow makes eating a combination of chicken and egg a little less appealing).

Looking at reviews today, people apparently see the food as a mixed bag - some are clearly disappointed. In my opinion, it was excellent, with the signature dish having balanced flavors that seem to have been refined for generations. I found it endlessly fascinating that a humble lunch place with a simple dish could survive for 250+ years - but it also makes perfect sense that simple things last.

My colleague (a local in our Japan office) told me that emperors of old had ordered the dish to be delivered to them, well before Japan had even been "opened" to the world. Perhaps the stories were apocryphal (he was a sales guy after all), but still entertaining and gave a sense of the history behind the meal.

Tokyo is an amazing city, though it can be very lonely for an expat.

Re: A Japanese shop is 1,020 years old

#74

Post by mxcrossb »

> The Japanese companies that have endured the longest have often been defined by an aversion to risk — shaped in part by past crises — and an accumulation of large cash reserves.

> It is a common trait among Japanese enterprises and part of the reason that the country has so far avoided the high bankruptcy rates of the United States during the pandemic. Even when they “make some profits,” said Tomohiro Ota, an analyst at Goldman Sachs, “they do not increase their capital expenditure.”

I found this part very interesting; it seems like Japan’s monetary policy would present a huge disincentive to this.

Re: A Japanese shop is 1,020 years old

#75

Post by supernova87a »

felipemnoa wrote: post #39
jacobwilliamroy wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh no, owning property and having a place in the community. What a nightmare.

A lot of us do not want to work in the family business but rather want to pursue our dreams. You only have the one life after all.

I would hazard to say it is only in relative recent history (and in capitalism) that new and adventurous = prosperity. For much of history, leaving behind what you know was no guarantee of success (and maybe great risk of material poverty).

Re: A Japanese shop is 1,020 years old

#77

Post by jamiek88 »

supernova87a wrote: post #71
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi has a poignant commentary on this. Jiro's oldest son is expected to eventually take over Jiro's sushi place, so as a result essentially is toiling for his father into old age. On the other hand, somewhat ironically Jiro's younger son actually has more freedom, so he strikes out on his own pretty early and has his own very successful sushi joint.

This is a phenomenon (harsh in the case of Jiro's son amid modern sensibilities about free will and obligation), which is said to have fueled some aspects of human exploration (and also unfortunately the bad aspects of it) in history. The 2nd son didn't inherit under the doctrine of primogeniture, leading the later sons to be the (often) neglected or less favored / wealthy, motivating them (for better and worse) to s…

The crusades too. Too many second and third sons this too many knights.

Inherit, clergy or war.

Re: A Japanese shop is 1,020 years old

#78

Post by herodoturtle »

agar wrote: post #73

A colleague took me to Tamahide restaurant in Tokyo, which opened in 1760 and is known for creating oyakodon, a chicken and egg rice bowl. (Oyakadon translates to "parent and child donburi" which somehow makes eating a combination of chicken and egg a little less appealing). Looking at reviews today, people apparently see the food as a mixed bag - some are clearly disappointed. In my opinion, it was excellent, with t…

This was really cool to read, thanks for sharing.

I had a similar experience in Greece, where some locals recommended an out of town Gyro shop ("Gyro" is a popular Greek dish, simply put, it's your choice of meat, wrapped or stuffed in a pita, along with ingredients such as tomato, onion, and tzatziki sauce).

At a measly 2 euros, it was vastly cheaper than the Gyro shops dotted around the popular hot-spots of the island.

And yet it had been open for a very long time indeed.

Re: A Japanese shop is 1,020 years old

#79

Post by Turing_Machine »

tpmx wrote: post #55
moron4hire wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was originally looking for "old companies that currently work in tech", but even their original industry of copper smelting was pretty high tech for the 15th century.

Maybe let's do it in two classes: oldest information-managing tech company and oldest mechanical tech company?

If you consider banking to be information-managing tech (which it seems to me that it is), then the oldest may be either Berenberg Bank (1590) or Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena (1472). It depends on the definition of "bank". The later is certainly a bank now, but was more like a pawnbroker in its early years.

Re: A Japanese shop is 1,020 years old

#80

Post by jacobwilliamroy »

jamiek88 wrote: post #77
supernova87a wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a phenomenon (harsh in the case of Jiro's son amid modern sensibilities about free will and obligation), which is said to have fueled some aspects of human exploration (and also unfortunately the bad aspects of it) in history. The 2nd son didn't inherit under the doctrine of primogeniture, leading the later sons to be the (often) neglected or less favored / wealthy, motivating them (for better and worse) to s…

The crusades too. Too many second and third sons this too many knights. Inherit, clergy or war.

The first son would inherit the family assets. Second son would join clergy. The third son would be sent off to join a knight's group such as the Knights of St. John.
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