Japan: Once Upon a Time (1)

When we think of the great voyagers of the world, names like Columbus and Magellan come to mind. Here is a good opportunity to think about what I call the "niche" voyagers, explorers who went where others didn't think to go. One of my favorite niche voyagers is Takadaya Kahei.

Takadaya Kahei was born in a land of mild waters, in a part of Japan then called Awaji, near what is now called Kobe, in 1769. He found work as a fisherman, and as soon as he could afford it, he bought his own ship. It was a ship unlike any the western world has ever used. Why? Because in those days, Japan was a closed country and ships were deliberately built to be unfit to go very far: no sturdy sides to keep out wild waves, no protected cabins for shelter on long trips, no Viking dragon-boat sort of industrial strength steering system.

Still, Takadaya Kahei went as far as he could make his boat sail: to Hokkaido, a huge northern territory not yet incorporated into Japan. What did Hokkaido need? Rice! Salt! Sake! Takadaya had those. What did Hokkaido have to sell? Marine products like salmon and edible seaweed. Takadaya Kahei had a ready market for all of them.

There is a lot more to tell about this intrepid merchant seaman. If you go to Hakodate, a port city in Hokkaido, by all means visit the Takadaya Kahei museum where the tools of his trade are on exhibit. Takadaya Kahei was a man who made boatloads of money in the kinds of trade we today call "win-win" transactions. He was a merchant who not only did well but also did good. Hakodate became a wonderful place to live, largely because of the efforts of Takadaya Kahei.

Takadaya Kahei, merchant extraordinaire

Take a look at my statue, and think of what you might know of me by my appearance. Yes, you are right that I lived during the shogunate, a contemporary of the western world's George Washington. However, I much preferred trade to life by the sword and preferred to make peace rather than war. How can people trade when they are at war?

I was born on an island not far from Kobe, a city in mid-Japan that you probably have heard of, but it was in Hokkaido that I made my fortune. Do you see the map I am holding? I explored the island of Hokkaido and the islands that lead beyond Hokkaido to Russia. I opened them all up to trade. And what did I do with most of my profits? I poured a fortune into the building of infrastructure.

Hokkaido is blessed with an enormous, sheltered, natural harbor at Hakodate. I gave it wharves and warehouses. I filled it with ships, and not just my own. But anyone will tell you, it was the Takadaya brand that made it a success.

Come visit my company's original premises the next time you're in Hokkaido. We're easy to find, a few minutes away from the water, across the street from the red brick warehouses that still form the liveliest marketplace in Hakodate.

Hokkaido in Summer

Squid boats of Hakodate