論文
近世鴻池家における別家制度の変容
―通説の検証を通して―
2017 年 52 巻 1 号 p. 3-23
詳細
2017 年 52 巻 1 号 p. 3-23
Under the Edo period's hokonin system, the goal of a merchant house hokonin, a business employee having completed the minimum apprentice-type training period, was becoming an independent merchant — running a business under the master's name with some capital and goodwill — and being raised to bekke (non-kin branch family). During the Meiji period, this system transformed into an employment system based on employer–employee relations.
Recently, there have been several studies concerning the hokonin system of individual merchant families and its transformation process, but they do not offer generalized discussions. Despite numerous published research outcomes about the House of Mitsui, a largescale merchant family, no research has generalized it as a hokonin system.
Shigeaki Yasuoka compared the bekke-system of the Houses of Konoike and Mitsui, discussing their foresight into the modern era, especially the uniqueness of the House of Mitsui because of their innovative and modernized management. Today, Yasuoka's theory is an important, commonly accepted theory, making it challenging to discuss the commonalities between the hokonin systems of large-scale merchant families.
This study attempts to verify Yasuoka's hypothesis using historical records of Konoike's hokonin published after Yasuoka's hypothesis was presented. We produced data on 256 individuals who joined the House of Konoike as hokonin between the end of the 17th century and latter half of the 19th century and clarified the trend of the ages at which they joined the family, began living outside the main family's premises, started their own business, and passed away. Moreover, we verified three of Yasuoka's hypotheses: (1) the House of Konoike had no family-run business aside from inheriting the existing bekke; (2) bekke was non-autonomous from the House of Konoike; and (3) management of hokonin at Konoike was “drifting management.” As a result, we revealed that the House of Konoike also implemented pragmatic management much like the House of Mitsui.
