In July 2007, the study team of Matazaemon Kazuhide of Mizkan was formed. Mizkan Group is one of the oldest firms in Japan and the team looks into the history of 8 generations of Matazaemon Nakano.

All the members of the team were interested in the process of the traditional vinegar brewer turned into a truly global firm. Mizkan was established in Edo era at Handa, Chita-Gun in Owari (currently renamed as Nagoya-city Aichi prefecture). The current president is Matazaemon Kazuhide Nakano VIII, who is the 8th generation descendant of the original founder. As we search into the details of its history, we noticed that there were many cycles of creation, amendment and destruction in its 200 year history. The family, sometimes forced to be on the verge of collapse,　vigorously took on innovations when necessary and survived the ups and downs in each of the generations.

The history of Mizkan is impressive. It is so profound that participating students claim that they have lost a sense of learning ‘corporate management and corporate managers’. The 8 generations of Matazaemon can be briefly summarized as follows:

Mizkan was founded in 1805 by Matazaemon I as a manufacturer of vinegar using sake cake. In those days, most vinegar was made of rice or sake. At the time when Matazaemon II took the office, sushi had become very popular in Edo (present Tokyo) and many sushi shops were attracting a lot of customers. This triggered the increase in production of vinegar made of sake cake, less expensive and higher in quality than the rice vinegar. Naturally, their vinegar eventually dominated the market in Edo. Matazaemon III is notable as the manager who employed a brand strategy. While most vinegar shops sold their products under the trademark ‘Marukan,’ he created three brands depending on their qualities. They were ‘Yamabuki,’ ‘Nakano’ and ‘Fuki.’ Among these, ‘Owari-Handa-Nakano’ vinegar became popular and spread throughout the Edo market. The famous ‘Main Residence of the Nakano Family’ was built at this time. In the era of Matazaemon IV, their vinegar started to sell in volume. Backed by abundant funds, the family diversified the business portfolio, including milk manufacturing and brewing beer. The famous ‘Mizkan Mark’ started to be used around this time. Matazaemon V pushed for the further diversification, and Mizkan owned a spinning company, a bank and a gas company under its group. Matazaemon VI experienced the tragic Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923 and the devastating World War II. It lost many plants across the country except for some in Handa.

In the post war period, Matazaemon VII led the company under its vigorous reconstruction. During his period, a various innovations took place. For example, using bin in lieu of barrel, developing new distribution channel to cope with then changing Japanese retailers. Sales in Japan expanded to 100 billion yen. As their sales soars, they became aggressive in new product development. They endeavored to make the ratio of new products over existing products to 70%. Subsequently, products such as ‘Gomoku Chirashi’ and ‘Oigatsuo’ became a mega-hit and the company has completely grown out of the traditional vinegar dependent business and became the muti-food producer. The company celebrated its 200-year anniversary and the business was handed over to Matazaemon VIII.

In September 2007, we visited the Mizkan Head Office in Handa City, Aichi Prefecture. From the top floor of the building, we saw its Handa Plant, the Main Residence of Nakano Family and the hand-made brick-structured building used as a beer brewery. While walking along the canal where brewery houses built in the Edo Period (1603 – 1867) and the Meiji Period (1868 – 1912), we sensed a good fragrance of vinegar. Pondering on the 200 year history of the firm, we felt something special in the fragrance.