7 ms·

Do shops like these mostly inherited? I'm also aware of Japan's adult adoptions. Is there pressure on the next gen. to take over the family business? I would th

Do shops like these mostly inherited? I'm also aware of Japan's adult adoptions. Is there pressure on the next gen. to take over the family business? I would think yes. In my mind, just imagining operating for a Millennium, these institutions are more temples than businesses. Brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it. Thankfully the practice is not very widespread as I could easily have found myself taking care of a breakfast place by a moderately busy highway in Southern India.

jacobwilliamroy 6y ago
Oh no, owning property and having a place in the community. What a nightmare.
- kiddico 6y ago
  Or you can read it as "social pressure to do something for your entire life that you don't really want to do."
  - iratewizard 6y ago
    Like work?
    - kiddico 6y ago
      No, like work you want to do. Imagine everyone around you is allowed the opportunity to choose their career. You however are the son of a plumber, and have no choice but to be a plumber. This plumbing business is 1000 years old! Why throw away the family name?! Well, because I'd rather not be a plumber and I'm perfectly capable of something else.
      - ardy42 6y ago
        > No, like work you want to do. It doesn't work like that for most people. > Imagine everyone around you is allowed the opportunity to choose their career. You however are the son of a plumber, and have no choice but to be a plumber. Many people end up doing something similar to their parents. Maybe you won't be a plumber if your dads is one, but it's far more likely you'd be a blue-collar tradesman than a doctor. It's also far more likely that a doctor's one will become a doctor or a lawyer than an electrician. Also, IMHO, this idea that the path to satisfaction by pursuing some kind of dream profession is a fairy tale.
        greggman3 6y ago
        Sounds like you didn't find yours. I know plenty of people that did find their dream profession so it's might not happen to everyone but it's factually not a fairy tale
      - eeZah7Ux 6y ago
        It's not that simple.
        iratewizard 6y ago
        It is for the simple minded
  - Barrin92 6y ago
    that's what maturation into adulthood is, taking responsibility for social institutions that are larger than oneself and endure longer than oneself, rather than being a 35 year old owning nothing and playing paintball, which is, in contrast to the business culture on display here the future sold to us by the beloved SV companies. Most of which if I had to bet will not last longer than this store.
    - threatofrain 6y ago
      Maturity means different things for people at different income levels. I've seen young children mature by managing a real estate portfolio, and then moving onto greater relations and responsibilities. I've seen other children mature by rotting in a failing Filipino bakery.
      - Barrin92 6y ago
        maturity has nothing to do with your income level. Maturation is the integration of the individual into a community and the establishment of mutual responsibility. You can be livelong rich and at the age of 70 have not progressed one day at all, and you can be poor and be well integrated. The purpose of these Japanese companies is the latter, integrate into society in a way that strengthens the community they surround. The purpose of SV is the opposite, advocate a culture of individualism, 'disruption' and 'freedom', and then sell you an anti-anxiety smartphone app with a subscription service because you're lonely.
        greggman3 6y ago
        Japanese companies massively exploit their employees and the presidents often live like kings. They might not get an SV salary but they get an expense account, cars, vacation homes, and other perks all provided by the company. Meanwhile their employees get paid shit and work 10-12hr days and don't get paid overtime. I'd chose SV over that anytime. SV at least pays on average 6x what a similar employee makes in Japan and effectively treats their staff like royalty. Flex hours, lots of vacation, space, good equipment, breaks, gyms, meals, etc...
  - munificent 6y ago
    That's true. But at the same time, for many people, what they want to do is to carry on a legacy and contribute to something larger than themselves. A culture that forces all young people to build from scratch denies those opportunities just as surely as a culture that forces everyone to follow in their parent' footsteps denies opportunities to start afresh.
    - lostcolony 6y ago
      I think it really depends on the legacy. I mean...how many of the misty eyed people commenting are doing the same thing one of their parents do/did, or wishing they were? I certainly am not.
      - munificent 6y ago
        I am not either. But I also would not want to make any moral claims that would make it harder for those who do want to follow some legacy. And, honestly, my disconnection to my past and structures larger than myself is a source of unhappiness for me. I don't know if I would necessarily advocate for my own life choices. I think I made the best choices I could at the time based on what I knew then, but there are real downsides to building a life more or less from scratch.
- EB66 6y ago
  Or more accurately: owning property and being told your place in the community.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
- felipemnoa 6y ago
  A lot of us do not want to work in the family business but rather want to pursue our dreams. You only have the one life after all.
  - randmeerkat 6y ago
    From the outside looking in it seems romantic, having the opportunity, safety net, and shared experiences of operating a family owned business sounds pretty amazing. Realistically I’m guessing it’s more complex than this, depending on the family and what the business actually is.
  - supernova87a 6y ago
    I would hazard to say it is only in relative recent history (and in capitalism) that new and adventurous = prosperity. For much of history, leaving behind what you know was no guarantee of success (and maybe great risk of material poverty).
    - ardy42 6y ago
      > I would hazard to say it is only in relative recent history (and in capitalism) that new and adventurous = prosperity. For much of history, leaving behind what you know was no guarantee of success (and maybe great risk of material poverty). That hasn't really changed. Taking risk is no guarantee of success. Sure, some risk takers win big, but some people win the lottery, too.
      - supernova87a 6y ago
        Oh I would say it has changed a lot throughout history. For quite a long time, setting out on your own from your family, profession, town, etc. was a great risk, and there was nowhere near the social/economic mobility that we have today.
  - goldforever 6y ago
    Dumbass!
  - 6y ago
- hn_throwaway_99 6y ago
  The documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi has a poignant commentary on this. Jiro's oldest son is expected to eventually take over Jiro's sushi place, so as a result essentially is toiling for his father into old age. On the other hand, somewhat ironically Jiro's younger son actually has more freedom, so he strikes out on his own pretty early and has his own very successful sushi joint.
  - supernova87a 6y ago
    This is a phenomenon (harsh in the case of Jiro's son amid modern sensibilities about free will and obligation), which is said to have fueled some aspects of human exploration (and also unfortunately the bad aspects of it) in history. The 2nd son didn't inherit under the doctrine of primogeniture, leading the later sons to be the (often) neglected or less favored / wealthy, motivating them (for better and worse) to set out on their own and prove their worth.
    - jamiek88 6y ago
      The crusades too. Too many second and third sons this too many knights. Inherit, clergy or war.
      - jacobwilliamroy 6y ago
        The first son would inherit the family assets. Second son would join clergy. The third son would be sent off to join a knight's group such as the Knights of St. John.
        User23 6y ago
        Unless the first son was a total fuckup, in which case he'd get Uriah gambited.
      - Turing_Machine 6y ago
        Yes. A son in the Church was sort of a hot-swappable backup, as the Church would cut him loose if you had a good reason, such as the primary heir having died (and, of course, subject to the payment of a ...modest donation...), but while he was in the Church he was no threat to the primary. Any children he himself had (this was far from unheard of) would be automatically be illegitimate and not in the line of succession. Extra sons were, yep, often sent off to war. They'd either conquer their own territories or be killed. In either case, they were no longer a threat to the primary heir.
- rsynnott 6y ago
  This sort of thing might appeal to some people, but a lot of people would not be at all keen on having their life pre-determined by what their ancestors did.
- dpoochieni 6y ago
  Meanwhile, what's the slogan being pushed by the World Economic Forum: "2030: you'll own nothing and you'll be happy." Raite...
romanoderoma 6y ago
It's about legacy, legacy brings personal satisfaction too. I would be very happy to be part of something that dates back hundreds of years.
knolax 6y ago
Have a bunch of kids. One of them's bound to be interested in the family business.

jacobwilliamroy 6y ago

Oh no, owning property and having a place in the community. What a nightmare.

kiddico 6y ago
Or you can read it as "social pressure to do something for your entire life that you don't really want to do."
- iratewizard 6y ago
  Like work?
  - kiddico 6y ago
    No, like work you want to do. Imagine everyone around you is allowed the opportunity to choose their career. You however are the son of a plumber, and have no choice but to be a plumber. This plumbing business is 1000 years old! Why throw away the family name?! Well, because I'd rather not be a plumber and I'm perfectly capable of something else.
    - ardy42 6y ago
      > No, like work you want to do. It doesn't work like that for most people. > Imagine everyone around you is allowed the opportunity to choose their career. You however are the son of a plumber, and have no choice but to be a plumber. Many people end up doing something similar to their parents. Maybe you won't be a plumber if your dads is one, but it's far more likely you'd be a blue-collar tradesman than a doctor. It's also far more likely that a doctor's one will become a doctor or a lawyer than an electrician. Also, IMHO, this idea that the path to satisfaction by pursuing some kind of dream profession is a fairy tale.
      - greggman3 6y ago
        Sounds like you didn't find yours. I know plenty of people that did find their dream profession so it's might not happen to everyone but it's factually not a fairy tale
    - eeZah7Ux 6y ago
      It's not that simple.
      - iratewizard 6y ago
        It is for the simple minded
- Barrin92 6y ago
  that's what maturation into adulthood is, taking responsibility for social institutions that are larger than oneself and endure longer than oneself, rather than being a 35 year old owning nothing and playing paintball, which is, in contrast to the business culture on display here the future sold to us by the beloved SV companies. Most of which if I had to bet will not last longer than this store.
  - threatofrain 6y ago
    Maturity means different things for people at different income levels. I've seen young children mature by managing a real estate portfolio, and then moving onto greater relations and responsibilities. I've seen other children mature by rotting in a failing Filipino bakery.
    - Barrin92 6y ago
      maturity has nothing to do with your income level. Maturation is the integration of the individual into a community and the establishment of mutual responsibility. You can be livelong rich and at the age of 70 have not progressed one day at all, and you can be poor and be well integrated. The purpose of these Japanese companies is the latter, integrate into society in a way that strengthens the community they surround. The purpose of SV is the opposite, advocate a culture of individualism, 'disruption' and 'freedom', and then sell you an anti-anxiety smartphone app with a subscription service because you're lonely.
      - greggman3 6y ago
        Japanese companies massively exploit their employees and the presidents often live like kings. They might not get an SV salary but they get an expense account, cars, vacation homes, and other perks all provided by the company. Meanwhile their employees get paid shit and work 10-12hr days and don't get paid overtime. I'd chose SV over that anytime. SV at least pays on average 6x what a similar employee makes in Japan and effectively treats their staff like royalty. Flex hours, lots of vacation, space, good equipment, breaks, gyms, meals, etc...
- munificent 6y ago
  That's true. But at the same time, for many people, what they want to do is to carry on a legacy and contribute to something larger than themselves. A culture that forces all young people to build from scratch denies those opportunities just as surely as a culture that forces everyone to follow in their parent' footsteps denies opportunities to start afresh.
  - lostcolony 6y ago
    I think it really depends on the legacy. I mean...how many of the misty eyed people commenting are doing the same thing one of their parents do/did, or wishing they were? I certainly am not.
    - munificent 6y ago
      I am not either. But I also would not want to make any moral claims that would make it harder for those who do want to follow some legacy. And, honestly, my disconnection to my past and structures larger than myself is a source of unhappiness for me. I don't know if I would necessarily advocate for my own life choices. I think I made the best choices I could at the time based on what I knew then, but there are real downsides to building a life more or less from scratch.
EB66 6y ago
Or more accurately: owning property and being told your place in the community.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
felipemnoa 6y ago
A lot of us do not want to work in the family business but rather want to pursue our dreams. You only have the one life after all.
- randmeerkat 6y ago
  From the outside looking in it seems romantic, having the opportunity, safety net, and shared experiences of operating a family owned business sounds pretty amazing. Realistically I’m guessing it’s more complex than this, depending on the family and what the business actually is.
- supernova87a 6y ago
  I would hazard to say it is only in relative recent history (and in capitalism) that new and adventurous = prosperity. For much of history, leaving behind what you know was no guarantee of success (and maybe great risk of material poverty).
  - ardy42 6y ago
    > I would hazard to say it is only in relative recent history (and in capitalism) that new and adventurous = prosperity. For much of history, leaving behind what you know was no guarantee of success (and maybe great risk of material poverty). That hasn't really changed. Taking risk is no guarantee of success. Sure, some risk takers win big, but some people win the lottery, too.
    - supernova87a 6y ago
      Oh I would say it has changed a lot throughout history. For quite a long time, setting out on your own from your family, profession, town, etc. was a great risk, and there was nowhere near the social/economic mobility that we have today.
- goldforever 6y ago
  Dumbass!
- 6y ago
hn_throwaway_99 6y ago
The documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi has a poignant commentary on this. Jiro's oldest son is expected to eventually take over Jiro's sushi place, so as a result essentially is toiling for his father into old age. On the other hand, somewhat ironically Jiro's younger son actually has more freedom, so he strikes out on his own pretty early and has his own very successful sushi joint.
- supernova87a 6y ago
  This is a phenomenon (harsh in the case of Jiro's son amid modern sensibilities about free will and obligation), which is said to have fueled some aspects of human exploration (and also unfortunately the bad aspects of it) in history. The 2nd son didn't inherit under the doctrine of primogeniture, leading the later sons to be the (often) neglected or less favored / wealthy, motivating them (for better and worse) to set out on their own and prove their worth.
  - jamiek88 6y ago
    The crusades too. Too many second and third sons this too many knights. Inherit, clergy or war.
    - jacobwilliamroy 6y ago
      The first son would inherit the family assets. Second son would join clergy. The third son would be sent off to join a knight's group such as the Knights of St. John.
      - User23 6y ago
        Unless the first son was a total fuckup, in which case he'd get Uriah gambited.
    - Turing_Machine 6y ago
      Yes. A son in the Church was sort of a hot-swappable backup, as the Church would cut him loose if you had a good reason, such as the primary heir having died (and, of course, subject to the payment of a ...modest donation...), but while he was in the Church he was no threat to the primary. Any children he himself had (this was far from unheard of) would be automatically be illegitimate and not in the line of succession. Extra sons were, yep, often sent off to war. They'd either conquer their own territories or be killed. In either case, they were no longer a threat to the primary heir.
rsynnott 6y ago
This sort of thing might appeal to some people, but a lot of people would not be at all keen on having their life pre-determined by what their ancestors did.
dpoochieni 6y ago
Meanwhile, what's the slogan being pushed by the World Economic Forum: "2030: you'll own nothing and you'll be happy." Raite...

romanoderoma 6y ago

It's about legacy, legacy brings personal satisfaction too. I would be very happy to be part of something that dates back hundreds of years.

knolax 6y ago

Have a bunch of kids. One of them's bound to be interested in the family business.