The challengersThree weavers who went to Lyon
In early Meiji, with the court gone, Nishijin weaving was in crisis: its biggest customers — the imperial court and aristocracy — had moved to Tokyo. Fact
In 1872 Kyoto Prefecture sent three Nishijin weavers, Sakura Tsuneshichi, Inoue Ihei and Yoshida Chūshichi, to Lyon, the silk capital of France, to bring back the technology of the latest loom: the Jacquard loom. In a country whose language they didn't speak, they studied furiously. Fact
Sakura and Inoue returned the next year with Jacquard mechanisms. Yoshida stayed on to learn more, then sailed home in 1874 aboard the French ship Nil, carrying exhibits from the Vienna World's Fair. The ship sank off the Izu Peninsula and he died. Fact A Kyoto carpenter, Araki Kohei, later built a domestic wooden Jacquard loom, and the technology spread rapidly through Nishijin. Fact
Up closeA playing-card shop becomes a gaming giant
In 1889 a Kyoto craftsman, Yamauchi Fusajirō, opened a shop selling hand-made hanafuda ("flower cards"). It became Nintendo. Fact The name is often explained as "leave luck to heaven". Likely
Nintendo grew through playing cards and karuta, then toys, and finally home video game consoles. The company whose games are played by children everywhere still keeps its headquarters in Kyoto. Fact
On the front lineWhy Kyoto companies don't move to Tokyo
Kyoto is home to a surprising number of global companies.
| Company | Founded | The Kyoto angle |
|---|---|---|
| Shimadzu | 1875 | Credited with launching Japan's first manned gas balloon in Kyoto in 1877. Employee Tanaka Kōichi won the 2002 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. |
| Nintendo | 1889 | Started as a hanafuda maker. |
| Wacoal | 1946 | A lingerie maker that began after the war selling women's accessories in Kyoto. |
| Murata Manufacturing | 1944 | The founder's family ran a Kiyomizu-ware pottery; ceramic know-how became electronic components. Likely |
| Kyocera | 1959 | Founded in Kyoto by Inamori Kazuo; fine ceramics. |
A common explanation: traditional crafts turned into high tech. Pottery (Kiyomizu ware) led to ceramic electronic parts, dyeing chemistry to precision instruments, Nishijin's punched cards to control technology. Likely Add Kyoto University and other schools, and researchers and industry sit close together.
The other factor is merchant temperament: never do what your neighbour does. Rather than become a subcontractor for a big firm, build a technology nobody else has and deal with the world directly. The many companies that go global without moving head office to Tokyo are said to reflect this spirit. Likely
Solving the mysteryA town with "thousand-year-old" shops
Kyoto has a remarkable number of shinise, businesses over a century old. Some claim astonishingly long pedigrees.
- Ichiwa: a teahouse selling grilled rice cakes (aburi-mochi) at the gate of Imamiya Shrine, said to have been founded in the year 1000. Legend
- Honke Owariya: a soba shop said to date from 1465; it began as a confectioner serving the palace. Legend
- Tanaka Iga Butsuguten: a Buddhist altar-goods shop said to date from the Heian period. Legend
Most founding dates come from family or shop tradition and can't always be verified. But having survived the Ōnin War, the Great Tenmei Fire and the Don-don Fire while carrying on the same trade in the same place says a great deal about the city's resilience.