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But in the West, even if you just gave your business away to another person who continued to run it, we would still consider that the same business.
by swampthing 7y ago
But in the West, even if you just gave your business away to another person who continued to run it, we would still consider that the same business.
- austhrow743 7y agoSure but you would't then advertise it as having been in the family for a thousand years.
- TheSpiceIsLife 7y agoBut you might still say "family run for a thousand years"
- Barrin92 7y agomore as ad advertisement slogan though. I've never seen someone in the west adopt another adult just to authentically continue a legacy (outside of European monarchies maybe). There is a sense of tradition to these Japanese companies that one doesn't see so often outside of Japan.
- TheSpiceIsLife 7y agoThoroughly agree.
- aurelianito 7y agoRomans used to do adult adoptions. Off the top of my hat, I clearly remember that Cesar adopted Brutus, his killer, as an adult.
- swampthing 7y agoThe article is about century+ old businesses in general, of which family-run ones are a subset.
- austhrow743 7y agoThe article doesn't mention temples being burned down at all.
- Danieru 7y agoIndeed, the business would continue. The issue is that in the west business owners would not see the merit in just giving a business away for the sake of the age ticking up. In the west the business would get sold and merged. Only in Japan does the adoption make it a family or lineage thing.
- droithomme 7y ago> Only in Japan does the adoption make it a family or lineage thing. No. Every culture worldwide accepts adoption. A child, grandchild, nephew, etc, continuing a business keeps the business in the family. Whether the child is adopted or not, and regardless of the age of adoption.
- RandallBrown 7y ago> regardless of the age of adoption Are adult adoptions common at all?
- keiferski 7y agoBecoming a son-in-law or daughter-in-law certainly counts in this context.
- regularfry 7y agoThis is apparently a very common thing in farming.
- adrianN 7y agoPretty common to save tax on inheritance I'd say.
- tshanmu 7y agoit is quite common in the part of India where I come from.
- irq11 7y ago
- droithomme 7y agoEven in the West we consider adoption to be legitimate.
- brigandish 7y agoOf adult males for the sole purpose of keeping a business as a "family" business?
- Danieru 7y agoConsidering it is illegal in the UK and frowned upon by the IRS, it leads me to think you are confusing adoption of children with the adoption of adult men. Note how often these adult men are being adopted along with marrying the daughter of the family. I dare say outside of Japan such an arrangement would be considered weird.
- VintageCool 7y agoDoesn't America have a history of adoption of adult men in gay couples? That allowed them to secure the legal rights of family members before gay marriage was legal. I remember some stories of it being a problem when gay marriage became legal, and they faced legal difficulties if they wanted to marry their adopted father or son.
- icebraining 7y ago> being adopted along with marrying the daughter of the family. How does that work? They become both husband and brother to the same person?
- samatman 7y agoYes, with the proviso that everyone understands that it's different and the taboo against incest doesn't kick in. In practice what it means is that the couple adopts the family name of the wife, not the husband, which is the name associated with the family business that he's taking over.
- OJFord 7y agoNot always though, sometimes we say they've 'sold out' or are 'not the same'. E.g. Fuller's (London brewer) now owned by Japanese conglomerate, Church (Northampton shoes, was still in the family) bought by Prada.
- pjc50 7y agoOnly because the new owner tends not to have a sense of continuity or respect, and it usually is different.
- spoovy 7y agoThe Churches clearly regretted selling after seeing what Prada did to their company (made it a parody of itself), so they now run Cheaney (a rival) and arguably make better shoes than Church's ever did. Still a sad story though.