Definition of Ibasen
Ibasen Philosophy
Since our founding in 1590, Ibasen has upheld “trust” and “contributing to society” through our business as our family creed. During the mid-Edo period, repeated floods washed away the bridges over the Yahagi River in our hometown of Okazaki.Each time this happened, we merchants from Enshū and Mikawa took the initiative to undertake the bridge reconstruction work, thereby contributing to our local communities. Today, while we return a fair share of the company’s profits to our employees and contribute to society through taxes, our philosophy remains unchanged.The “trust” born of this unbroken tradition is our foundation. We also believe that our long-standing reputation is built upon the cumulative effort of offering products that we can proudly present to our customers—who support us—and ensuring their satisfaction.
Motto
The motto Nobuo Yoshida the late 14th-generation Ibasen, Nobuo Yoshida, was “Kannichi Seisei Shintenka”—a seven-character phrase from an ancient Chinese classic. Translated into Japanese, it means, “If one strives with sincerity day by day, one can even shake the world.” Expressed in more modern terms, it could be rendered as, “If one continues to live with sincerity every day, one will eventually be able to achieve great feats.”It is said that even in the war-torn ancient China, sages taught many people that no matter how difficult life might be, if one lives with sincerity, one will eventually achieve great feats that shake the world. Incidentally, the current president’s name, Nobuo, contains this very character.
The Distant Ocean
The
Story of the Birth of the World City “Edo” Author: Nobuo Yoshida
From the Afterword
In the year 2020, our company celebrated its 430th anniversary. An ordinary company would likely publish a commemorative booklet detailing its history to mark such an occasion. However, even if we wanted to publish such a booklet, we have absolutely no records dating back 400 years.According to oral traditions passed down through the generations, our founder moved to Edo alongside Tokugawa Ieyasu from Iba Village in Enshū (present-day Higashi-Iba-chō, Chūō-ku, Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture) and was involved in the development of Edo at that time. (Excerpt omitted) Therefore, I decided to compile our company’s history in the form of a “novel.”
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