Shop Clerk Guidance on Shopping Streets from the late 1930s to the early 1940s: The Dojo of the Kitazawa Shopping Street Merchants’ Association

Abstract

  This study examines lifestyle reform efforts that target young shop clerks, focusing on a dojo for shop clerks established in the Kitazawa Shopping Street after the enactment of the Shop Law. While this dojo’s efforts ended after a few years, the expectations that it provoked indicate the strong interest in improving the lives of young shop clerks forced to move to cities. Communal accommodations in the Kitazawa Shopping Street, were established with reference to the farmers’ dojo because the physical development of shop clerks was inferior to that of other industries, and it was difficult to recruit shop clerks. Therefore, the challenge was to modify the clerks’ living environment. The shop clerks’ dojo was created to form create an environment in which clerks from rural areas, who tended to be isolated, could develop autonomy and self-esteem through receiving regular care from others. While accommodating the circumstances of the various stores situated on the shopping street, the schedule was changed to a more relaxed one so that shop clerks could take time for themselves. These efforts were also required for the modernization of the stores.