Continuity and Change in the Employment and Promotion of Japanese White-Collar Employees: The Case of the House of Mitsui

Lifetime employment is one of the most conspicuous featuresof contemporary large Japanese corporations. The employmentpractices of merchant houses in the Edo period (1603–1868)are sometimes proposed as one origin of such lifetime commitment.Little attention has been paid, however, to the connectionsbetween long-term employment in the Edo period and its practicein the twentieth century. This article examines how Edo employmentpractices were adapted to the environment of the early twentiethcentury within a new context of modern educational institutionsand the need for professional managers.