The Brothers: The Hidden World of Japan's Richest Family

by Lesley Downer

The epic, untold story of the men behind Japan's greatest business dynasty, and their rise from obscurity to extreme wealth and power, The Brothers recounts the public and private lives of the Tsutsumi family, who are to Japan what the Rockefellers or the Gettys are to the West.

Genres: Japan, History, Business, Nonfiction, Asia, Biography

418 pages, Hardcover

First published November 21, 1994

About the author

I write historical fiction set in Japan - women’s untold stories, largely true and based on meticulous and detailed research, though primarily, of course, good yarns. I’ve just finished The Shogun’s Queen, the fourth of The Shogun Quartet, four novels set in the nineteenth century during the tumultuous fifteen years when Japan was convulsed by civil war and transformed from rule by the shoguns into a society that looked to the west.
Preorder: http://bit.ly/TheShogunsQueen
The second, The Last Concubine, was shortlisted for Romantic Novel of the Year 2009 and translated into 30 languages. The other two novels are The Courtesan and the Samurai and The Samurai’s Daughter. My non-fiction on Japan includes Geisha: The Remarkable Truth Behind the Fiction and Madame Sadayakko: The Geisha who Seduced the West. I’m also a journalist and travel writer, give lectures and teach Creative Writing at City University in London.

Reviews

[CL · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was intrigued by the book’s description especially as it was a family saga and you do not find many family sagas written about the Japanese. I was curious to see if this family was relatable as to allowing me to understand their culture and customs. I found it very interesting and had you taken out the Japanese aspect you would think it was an American tail of two brothers struggling to come to terms with the different beginnings. Great read. I would like to thank the publisher and Net Galley for the chance to read this ARC.

[Rishi Prakash · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a must read to understand how Japan as a country evolved from 1930's to 1990's in all sense. It was a massive change from being a poor destitute country to reaching the top of the World in terms of the wealth of the Country as a whole.

The story of one family in the backdrop here perfectly fits as they also rose from being farmers in a small village to becoming the richest Company of Japan in this same time period. They did not stop at being the top in Japan but went on to become the richest in the world acknowledged by Forbes in their yearly ranking which was amazing in that era. And then there is story of two brothers in the same family which runs parallelly after their father hands over the family business to them. It is the healthy competition which takes the family to the peak of Japan covering almost all kind of business from one end to other. The two brothers are completely different and they build their business lines in their own ways which catches the attention of the world. This is a tale of real entrepreneurs - very inspiring and eye opening for all.

[Vinothraj · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic read if the description catches your fancy.

[Visalakshi Kannan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up this book because I work for a Japanese Financial Services company that was set up by one of the "Brothers" (Seiji Tsutsumi), in the title of this book. The HQ I visit, in Ikebukura and Sunshine City form a large chunk of Seiji's legacy and were very relatable.

The book is about the Tsutsumi family - starting with patriarch, Yasujiro Tsutsumi, who starts from very humble beginnings and goes on to become one of the wealthiest and most influential people in Japan. Yasujiro is born in the 1880s and the book charts his rise up until his death in 1964 and then the rise of his sons - Seiji and Yoshiaki (who tops the Forbes billionaire list in 1987) up until the 1990s. Effectively it covers a century of Japanese history alongside the story of the Tsutsumi family.

There is nothing boring about Yasujiro - he is a tyrant at work, a bully and womaniser in his private life and a very effective businessman. His empire was largely built on using debt to buy up tracts of land, and developing them into something that he thought there would be demand for (e.g. a second home for the middle class, who had seen some prosperity after World War I). He entered the railways business right after the Tokyo earthquake in 1923, when people were desperate to move out of Tokyo.

He sires many children with many women and in the end, despite Seiji being the older one, his chosen successor is Yoshiaki. Both show a similar instinct for business. While Seiji makes the Seibu department store a retail mammoth, Yoshiaki expands the railways, hospitality businesses and gets into sports in a big way. The rivalry forms the second half of the book - true to the Japanese way os doing things, it's all dealt with very politely.

I found the history of Japan told alongside equally fascinating - today, we think of Japan as prosperous, a market that the big brands covet, Japanese manufacturing and products as a hallmark of quality. But in the late '50s/early '60s, "Made in Japan" was synonymous with cheap and shoddy. The growth comes in the late '60s/early '70s and transforms Japan into what it is today.

Overall, could've been better edited but an interesting read for anyone with some nexus to and curiosity in Japan.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well researched account of one of the most famous business families in modern Japan. The first half of the book deals with the father who founded the Seibu group, and the second half gives equal time to the two brothers who took over the running of the various branches of the organisation. The book also serves as an interesting social and political history of 20th century Japan.

[Carol Glassman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wouldn't say this book is either compelling or great, but it certainly is interesting if you are at all intrigued about international business and how it is handled in Japan. The Tsutsumi brothers are part of a dynasty begun by their very successful, ruthless father who did his best to train his sons to carry on in his image. That involved, in the Japanese way, wives, mistresses, and mingled families. In general, I found the book very repetitious and unnecessarily long. It would have read better and been less confusing, in my opinion, if the author had simply followed through with each character chronologically. He obviously did a lot of time-consuming research but following all that, the book itself seems thrown together with much less care.
I learned a lot about pre- ad post-war Japan, customs, government and business. I am familiar with the Prince Hotel in one city and had no idea of its origins. I had no idea about the Olympic incidents with the Spaniard Samaranch and bringing the Olympics to Nagano. It was interesting to see how Japan adopted baseball and adapted to ice hockey through this family.
However, reading about the Tsutsumi family itself, the parts that weren't conjecture, was like leafing through a rather smutty low-class newspaper. Brothers Seiji and Yoshiaki were fascinating men, no doubt, who didn't get along with each other.In spite of all the detail about them we come away from the book feeling we never knew them at all. Perhaps that is really what they were like and because of their reluctance to 'go public' with the press, we have to be satisfied with a half-baked version of their personalities. By the time I realized that I really didn't care too much about the brothers or what happened to their business, I had invested too much time and energy into reading the book and felt compelled to finish it.
Too bad the book was published around 1994, before Yoshiaki was convicted of violation of securities trading, and his brother Seiji died in 2013. The book is screaming for a conclusion.

[Mandy · Rating 2 out of 5]

As it says on the author’s website, this (rather overlong) book is “The hundred year saga of the loves, lives and rivalries of one of Japan’s most glamorous business dynasties”. As in any such dynasties, there is immense business acumen and ambition, there are family feuds, there is ruthlessness and lust for power, and sometimes spectacular failure. So all the ingredients for a compelling group biography are here, but somehow Downer comes up with a very pedestrian and sometimes frankly dull exploration of the Tsutsumi family. None of them ever came alive for me and I had trouble identifying some of the less prominent ones. Although she has clearly done a good deal of research, much of the book is speculation as she interviewed none of the principal characters. And the reliance on reconstructed conversation became increasingly irritating. She couldn’t possibly know what was actually said on many of the occasions she describes. Nevertheless, I was interested enough to keep reading and I certainly enjoyed learning about the family, but overall this wasn’t a book I enjoyed.

[Jonathan Yu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rich people! Japanese people! Money! Land! Sex! Women! Power! Gots it all.

[Miki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very intriguing to learn about the rise of the Seibu empire.

[Aurelio Ippandoza · Rating 4 out of 5]

And great read...I picked this book because I thought it would tell me something about Japan that I didn't know...it was a good find,enjoyed the story.recommend if interest in Japanese culture.

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found it a bit dry but considering the subject...

[Mary Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, fine, nothing ground-breaking.

[Natalie Tsutsumi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lesley Downer's 1995 biographical account of the Tsutsumi family offers not only offers well-researched insight into Japanese history, but a compelling character study that keeps its readers hooked.

Downer kept her story fresh by narrating each member of the family with unique, memorable characterization while maintaining a fair and unbiased perspective; she recounted both the positive and negative actions/personality traits of each person. Her choice of switching back and forth in time instead of telling the entire story in chronological order can be confusing at first, but allows her to give the audience a detailed perspective from each member of the family.
In addition, Downer's book was well-researched and teaches the audience about modern Japanese history. Throughout her narration, Downer provides historical context to the family members' actions. Even though I had an overall idea of Japanese history, I learned about many events I didn't know about before, such as the 1923 Great Kantō Earthquake and the Japanese Economic Miracle. Readers can tell that Downer made sure to get the most accurate information by drawing upon a variety of sources, including extended family members, business associates, and Japanese news publications.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this book and would recommend to anyone looking for an intriguing family story, especially those with with an interest in Japanese history.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a re-read: I first read this book about 25 years ago. Back then I probabaly would've given it 5 stars. It's still a rip-roaring yarn of capitalism, complicated families, and sons living with the legacy of a towering giant of a father. Well researched, evocative of an era, fair to all sides. But on re-reading it all this time later, I found it not as great as I remembered it. It jumped around a bit too much, tried to be a littel too impartial, hinted at too many things that weren't explained later or clarified... And really, not a single picture of any of the protaganists or the famous buildings described?! That was the worst omission. Thanks to the internet for providing the latter, but if I'm going to be reading an oldschool paperbook, I'm not doing it next to the computer and wikipedia, to look up images as I go along. Will definitely look up other books by this author now, so still a strong recommendation!

[Bala · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a bit of a drag. Have you looked up the president of Seibu Railways? It will definitely put a smile on your face.