Bodies and StructuresMain MenuWhat We're DoingOverview essayHow to Use This SiteAn orientationModulesList of modulesTag MapConceptual indexComplete Grid VisualizationGrid Visualization of Bodies and StructuresGeotagged MapGeographic IndexWhat We LearnedContributors share what they learned through the Bodies and Structures process.ReferencesReferences tag for all modules and essayContributorsContributor BiosAcknowledgementsAcknowledgementsContact usContact information pageLicensing and ImagesThe original content of this site is licensed under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND International 4.0 License.David Ambaras1337d6b66b25164b57abc529e56445d238145277Kate McDonald306bb1134bc892ab2ada669bed7aecb100ef7d5f This publication is hosted on resources provided by the College of Humanities and Social Sciences IT department at NC State University.
"(Kōkoku) Hoshi seiyaku-jo: Tokuyakuten," in Tokyo asahi shinbun, May 18 1910, morning edition
12018-04-23T13:40:32-04:00CHASS Web Resources398fc684681798c72f46b5d25a298734565e6eb821"(Kōkoku) Hoshi seiyaku-jo: Tokuyakuten," in Tokyo asahi shinbun, May 18 1910, morning editionplain2018-04-23T13:40:32-04:00CHASS Web Resources398fc684681798c72f46b5d25a298734565e6eb8"(Kōkoku) Hoshi seiyaku-jo: Tokuyakuten," in Tōkyō asahi shinbun, May 18 1910, morning edition; Tokuyaku-ten dai-bōshū [kōkoku]," appeared in the morning edition of the Tokyo asahi shinbun on December 18, 1912, February 4, 1913, March 23, 1913, April 24, 1913, and October 27, 1913 (all morning editions). It also appeared in the morning edition of the Yomiuri shinbun on January 13, 1913, and likely, in many other newspapers across the country.
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12018-04-23T13:40:25-04:00Hoshi Franchise Store12page describing Hoshi's franchisesplain2018-09-10T21:36:12-04:00Tim YangHoshi Pharmaceuticals originally did not have regulations concerning the spatial layout of its individual franchises. A franchise, by definition, was simply an exclusive contract. But as the company expanded, it examined ways to increase revenue. One of the most important ways was to control distribution, and most important of all was the attempt to control the point of contact between merchant and consumer. Controlling the space of the drugstore was so important for drug manufacturers because consumption was not a given. Indeed, the popularity of franchising across the world in the early twentieth century can be attributed, in large part, to how franchises helped ameliorate the loss of control over products once produced. Hoshi structured the space of its drugstores in order to define and delimit the boundaries of contact. These are, as the following pages illustrate: 1.) the local, 2.) the regional, and 3.) the global.
The "Exclusive Contract" Store
Hoshi Pharmaceuticals based its franchise system on a simple contract between the company and an independent, individual store. After signing an exclusive contract (tokuyaku) with the company, a store became a franchise -- literally an exclusive contract store (tokuyakuten). A franchise could engage in other side businesses and sell other goods, provided that they did not compete with Hoshi-manufactured products. In exchange, the franchise had access to the company's national advertising network, marketing advice, and, of course, merchandise.
Hoshi's franchise system depended on growth and recruitment. It pursued a strategy for recruiting franchise members that attempted to build loyalty and trust, not only between customers and stores, but also between the company and the franchise workers who sold the products. Hoshi set barriers to entry deliberately low: the cost of the contract was a deposit originally set a minimum of 10 yen in 1910, but later increased 25 yen by 1912, paid up front to the company.
The company did not just use franchises to market its products, but to advertise the franchises themselves. It lured prospective merchants with the potential for exponential profits. One its earliest national recruitment campaigns invited prospective franchisees to contact the company for an application, stating "any person, in any location, can with as little as 10 to 15 yen of capital, earn more than 80 yen in a year." Another recruitment campaign boasted that "Based on a calculation of growing profit from the use of newspaper advertising, there are those who have earned more than two-hundred yen with as little as 25 yen of initial capital, while there are many cases of those who, with a two hundred yen investment, earned more than 2,000 yen." The advertisement continues by guaranteeing that if a hardworking location puts down 50 yen of capital, it would earn more than 300 yen in a year.
