Genda Shigyō ( ja, 源田紙業株式会社, translit=Genda Shigyō Kabushiki gaisha) is a Japanese
paper production
The pulp and paper industry comprises companies that use wood as raw material and produce pulp, paper, paperboard and other cellulose-based products.
Manufacturing process
The pulp is fed to a paper machine where it is formed as a paper web a ...
company
A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of people, whether Natural person, natural, Legal person, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common p ...
which has produced ceremonial paper goods such as ''
mizuhiki
is an ancient Japanese artform of knot-tying, most commonly used to decorate envelopes, called , which are given as gifts during holidays like Japanese New Year (and are then called ) or for special occasions such as births and weddings () o ...
,'' gift wrapping and betrothal gifts since 771. It is often known as one of the oldest still-operating companies in the world.
History
Genda Shigyō was said to have been founded in 771 (Hogame 2) during the
Nara period
The of the history of Japan covers the years from CE 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the cap ...
(710-794). Moved to
Kyoto
Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...
with the relocation of the capital to
Heian period
The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese. ...
(794-1192). In the late
Edo period
The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...
, the Genda family took over the business of Zenbe Yagiya and it became Yagizen Genda Shoten. The company supplied
mizuhiki
is an ancient Japanese artform of knot-tying, most commonly used to decorate envelopes, called , which are given as gifts during holidays like Japanese New Year (and are then called ) or for special occasions such as births and weddings () o ...
to the Imperial Palace until the
Meiji Era
The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912.
The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization b ...
, when mizuhiki became popular among the general public. In 1986, Genda Shigyo Co. Ltd. was engaged in the manufacture of mizuhiki until the prewar period at its current location, and now handles the wholesale and printing of products using mizuhiki, ceremonial goods such as yuzuna (betrothal gifts), and other paper products.
See also
*
List of oldest companies
This list of the oldest companies in the world includes brands and companies, excluding associations and educational, government, or religious organizations. To be listed, a brand or company name must remain operating, either in whole or in part, ...
References
External links
*
Pulp and paper companies of Japan
{{Japan-company-stub