Soma Aizo (相馬愛蔵)
Aizo SOMA (1870 – 1954), who is a social business person coming from Nagano Prefecture, is the founder of Shinjuku Nakamuraya restaurant in Tokyo.
Biography
Aizo was born in a farmer's family in Shirogane Village, Azumi County, Nagano Prefecture (later, Hotaka-cho Town, currently Azumino City) in 1870, and dropped out Matsumoto Fukashi High School, Nagano Prefecture at the 3rd grade, and enrolled in Tokyo Senmon Gakko (the predecessor of Waseda University). While staying in Tokyo, Aizo was invited by his friend to go to Ushigome Church in Ichigaya, and signed up to Christianity and was baptized a Christian. He was taught by Kanzo UCHIMURA, etc., and also had an opportunity to be in touch with Ukitchi TAGUCHI (a historian and business person).
In 1890, he moved to Hokkaido at the same time after the graduation, and studied sericulture at Sapporo Agricultural School, then returned to his home town. In 1891, he started to produce silkworm eggs as a family business, and attracted early attention from sericulturists across the country as the author of a "theory of producing silkworm eggs."
In 1891, Aizo advocated Higashihotaka Temperance Society following the spirit of Christianity, and talked about Christianity to the young people in the village who would yearn for large cities and intend to search for new knowledge, and recommended them not to drink alcohol. This temperance movement also developed an opposition movement against the plan to staff geisha girls in the village, and submitted a petition to Toyoshina police station in 1894.
Further, there was Kigenji IGUCHI, who was one of like-minded friends of Aizo's. IGUCHI met a missionary, named Elmer who was an English teacher while he was in Prefectural Jinjo Chugakko (Ordinary Middle School) Matsumoto Branch School (currently, Matsumoto Fukashi High School), and was already influenced by Christianity.
Aizo helped IGUCHI, and also cooperated in establishing a private cram school on the basis of Christianity, 'Kensei Gijuku.'
Afterward, he visited Sendai City to raise funds for building orphanages, and got to know Kokko SOMA (also called Kokko, 1876 – 1955), a daughter of a feudal retainer of Sendai Domain, and got married her in 1898. Ryo was engaged in sericulture and agriculture, however, impaired her health, and went up to Tokyo to cure the illness and came to live in Tokyo as they were.
In 1901, he bought Nakamuraya in front of Akamon (Red Gate) of Tokyo Imperial University, started a bakery and invented Creampan (custard cream bread) in 1904. Thereafter, he moved to Shinjuku in 1907, and opened a shop at the present location in 1909.
Aizo paid high salaries, employed foreign engineers and coped with the advance of department stores, designing new products one after another, including international products, such as Chinese steamed bread, Geppei, Russian chocolate, Korean pine nut Castella (sponge cake) and Indian curry. In addition, his business had become gradually larger along with running restaurants, cafes, etc., and he built the foundation of the prosperity of the present Nakamuraya. On the other hand, he established Kensei Gakuin in order to improve personality and qualification of store clerks. Aizo's commercial morality has consisted in the fact that he excluded meaningless compliments, and thoroughly practiced selling good products at cheaper prices.
Further, Aizo built an atelier at the back of his shop, and Rokuzan OGIWARA, Tsune NAKAMURA, Teijiro NAKAHARA and Kogan TOBARI, and other artists came to visit there actively, and he was asked by an authority of the right wing, Mitsuru TOYAMA and sheltered a patriot escaping from India, Rash Behari Bose in 1915, and his first daughter, Toshiko was married to Bose in 1918. This destiny led to the fact that Nakamuraya could have learned how to cook Indian curry and sell it for the first time in Japan.
His wife, Kokko SOMA had been a patron of Rokuzan OGIWARA all her life, and took care of a Russian blind poet, Eroshenko, and was also on friendly terms with Naoe KINOSHITA, which made Nakamuraya just like a literary saloon, and made her a female lead character of the saloon.
Aizo died at the age of 85 in 1954, and his wife, Kokko died at the age of 80 in the next year.
Personality
When the refugees from the Great Kanto Earthquake escaped into Shinjuku, he never sold products at a higher price taking advantage thereof, and sold lower priced bread, etc. each and every day and satisfied people's hunger. There exists a photograph sowing that he was selling bread while advertising as "service bread," "earthquake steamed bread," etc.
A bank run occurred due to the Showa financial crisis, and the people who tried to secure their deposit in Yasuda Bank, one of his business partners, created a line. At that time, he had his subordinate run to the bank with all the money he had, and say in a loud voice that 'I'm from Nakamuraya, and please deposit all this money,' which subsided people's panic.
Writings
"Theory of producing silkworm eggs"
"How to breed autumn silkworm"
"As a merchant" – A book teaching what a merchant should be and the essence of business. "My business" – A book stating interest and pleasure as a merchant. "30 years of store management" – A book organizing the countermeasures against the advance of department stores in Shinjuku.