JAPANESE COMPANY HISTORIES:CHARACTERISTICS AND CULTURAL VALUE

Katsuko Murahashi
Manager, Information Resources Group
Social Affairs Bureau
Japan Federation of Economic Organizations (Keidanren)

1 . Preface
In Japan, it is very common for companies to compile books about their history, marking
stages such as anniversaries of thirty years, fifty years, one hundred years, and so on.
Company histories are also published in countries other than Japan, for example, the UnitedStates and Germany. Those books are generally written by independent scholars orjournalists based on research into the company’s business management from historical
viewpoints. On the other hand, there are some peculiar aspects about Japanesecompany
histories:(1) Such a company history is compiled and published by the company itself;(2) It is usually intended for educational purposes of directors and employees, publicrelations, record keeping, and the like;(3) Writers are company employees, scholars, journalists, novelists and so forth;(4) Publishing companies are not limited to particular types of industry, and such publication
is not affected by economic situations. In recent years, publishing a company history is not “atemporary boom” but is a common and routine activity of companies

2 . Definition and Function of a Company History:“What is a company history?”

It is a common understanding in Japan that a company history is “a history book compiled bya business company on its history and delivered in its responsibility.” But the definition of acompany history varies depending on the academic researchers and libraries collecting them.
There are no authorized definitions.
The functions or purposes of a company history vary widely by company. In the past, thepurposes of compiling a company history were mainly anniversary mementos or publicrelations. But, recently management education, employee education, and public relations are41

regarded to be three major functions of a company history.
3 . Characteristics of a Company History as a Publication
In most cases in Japan, company histories are published privately and are not for sale. They
are then distributed as gifts by the companies at their discretion. Since company histories are
not distributed through normal commercial channels, it is very difficult to learn of theirexistence. It is really an example of gray literature.
There are no accurate statistics of company histories. It is unknown how many company
histories have been published so far or how many company histories are being publishedevery year. But, there are some sources of information. Libraries of universities and otherspecial libraries have developed library catalogues and other materials. According to oursurvey, the cumulative number of company histories compiled in Japan so far is much morethan 10,000, and the number of companies that have published corporate histories was about
6,000 as of 10 years ago. Perhaps the number of company histories published every year may
be about 300.

4 . Value of Company Histories as Reference Sources(1) What is different from other information about companies?
A variety of informational materials are published by companies, such as Business Reports,
Securities Exchange Reports, Corporate Profiles, publications for Public Relations, and soon. In addition, newspapers and magazines continue to produce mountains of information.
A large number of books are also written about companies. How is a company history
different from these materials?
Firstly, we can say that a company history is an encyclopedia containing a full picture of acompany’s historical business information. The other sorts of materials mentioned above
are more or less fragmentary and temporary in nature. In contrast to this, information
contained in a company history is comprehensive and durable in nature.
Secondly, a company history is a product of voluntary information disclosure by anenterprise and is a manifestation of the company’s “Business Culture.” While contentsof Business Reports and Security Exchange Reports are mostly financial data incompliance with legal requirements, a company history is based on internal information ofa company and is compiled according to the intention of a company. A company history
describes the “management culture” in relation to business vision, corporate culture,business behaviors, organizational structures, product development, marketing policies,
42and the like. Understanding of management culture will be very useful to analyze thecurrent information of the company.
Thirdly, a company history is often re-written as the time passes.History can varydepending on the interpretation of what happened in the past. Therefore, people’s interestsand points of view change with the times or according to a standpoint of looking at a fact.
That’s why it is necessary to re-write a company history periodically.
Fourthlv, it is a recent trend that a company publishes multiple history books at the sametime. Examples of such histories are “an orthodox history” centering on analysis ofbusiness management including all important matters, “a popular edition” that is madeeasy to read and understand the company history briefly, “a visual version” with photos
and illustrations, “a comic book” including comics and narratives, “a movie version”, “ahistory written in English” for foreigners, and “a computerized version in CD-ROM or on
the Internet.” They are intended for specific purposes and targeted to a particular group ofpeople.
(2) Usefulness of Company Histories as Library Items
The first point is the value of a company history as a case study textbook of corporate
strategy. It provides comprehensive information about a company over decades, or evenmore than one hundred years. In fact, it is a treasure house of case studies of corporatemanagement.
The second point is the value as public archive containing historical information, statistics,photos, and illustrations. Everybody can see original materials directly.
The third point is that you can get time-series data. For instance, if you need time-series
data of financial statements, number of employees or other information, a company history
will be a handy reference source. In some cases, a company history has more information
than mere history of the company. For example, “Centennial History of Nippon Oil
Company” contains historical data of oil products in Japan dating back to early 1900.
“Fifty-year History of Bridgestone” and “Thirty-year History of Japan Synthetic Rubber
Company” contain the statistics of rubber.
The fourth point is that you can read about important events including related facts andbackground. A company history will come in handy when you want such information.
The fifth point is, a company history can be a good textbook of industrial history, economichistory, or history of technology. For example, “Fifty-year History of Sumitomo Trust &Banking Company” is really a history of trust banks in Japan. “Centennial History of Asahi
43

Mutual Life Insurance Company” is not only a corporate history of the company but ahistory book on life insurance in Japan. As such, a company history published in Japan isfrequently a history of an industry. In the case of manufacturing companies, many
company histories have detailed descriptions of technical developments. They can serve
as a history of technology.
The sixth point is that a company history can be a textbook of cultural history or manners
and customs in Japan. In the case of companies that have a long history or householdproducts, company histories can give you far more useful information about culture andcustoms than ordinary textbooks. For example, the history of Kao Corporation is “ahistory of washing.” That of Shiseido, which is located in Ginza, Tokyo, is “a history ofcosmetics” and “a history of Ginza” as well.

5 . How to Access Company Histories(1) How to accessCompany Histories
You may want to know which companies have published a company history. To know theoverall picture of company histories, a book titled “Union Catalogue of Company Histories”
will come in handy. This has a list of about 9,000 company histories and about 1,400
histories of economic organizations owned by 50 representative libraries as of March 1992.
It covers almost all histories published up to early 1990’s.
To know new publications, “Union Catalogue of Company Histories and Economic
Organization Histories” is convenient. The Kanto District Branch of the Japan SpecialLibraries Association (@FE3 •~@%E&%~~tilX~~~)
has been updating thiscatalogue semiannually since 1977. It is also a good policy to use OPAC (Online PublicAccess Catalogue). I recommend
the OPACs of the Kawasaki Library of Kanagawa Prefecture and of Ryukoku University.
I have included a list of libraries that have large holdings of company histories.
(2) How to get a Company History
To obtain a real copy of a company history, there are two ways:
One is to get a copy from the publishing company.
The second way is to purchase at a secondhand bookstore.
In case you ask a company to contribute a copy, please address your request to Public
Relations or any department in charge of corporate history. Unless you specify an addressee
44correctly, the mail will not reach the right department.
Company histories are distributed according to the publishing company’s intention, usually
free of charge. But, actual expenses may be charged if a requesting organization is not very
familiar to the publishing company. In addition, since publishing a company history is very
expensive, more than 30,000 yen may be charged in some cases. In such a case, you should
go to a secondhand bookstore. It may be far cheaper. Prices of most company histories atsecondhand bookstores range from 3,000 to 5,000 yen. Rare ones would be more expensive.
The most expensive one I know was 450,000 yen.
Secondhand booksellers usually publish an inventory catalogue. You can ask them to send acatalogue when it is updated. They will accept your request to register your name in themailing list. Recently, most of secondhand booksellers have their homepages. Please try andaccess those shops. I have also included a list of such secondhand booksellers.
Although a company history used to be a sort of gray literature, librarians have worked tosummarize necessary information about company histories. Current information is limited
to nominal aspects. I plan to develop a company history databasefor retrieval so that you cansearch information according to a keyword of the contents.

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