The Brothers The Tsutsumi Family eBook Lesley Downer
Download As PDF : The Brothers The Tsutsumi Family eBook Lesley Downer 
‘Talking about business - you have to go right to the gates of prison ...’
‘The Brothers’ is the hundred year saga of the loves, lives and rivalries of one of Japan’s most glamorous business dynasties. Set against the background of Japan’s rise to become one of the world’s most prosperous and technically advanced countries, this is the epic story of two generations of the Tsutsumi family, famous in Japan as much for their hatred of each other as for their fabled wealth.
At the heart of it are three men the roguish father with his string of mistresses who built the family fortune before and during World War II; the illegitimate son who inherited it and turned it into a multi-million dollar empire; and the spurned legitimate son - rebel, poet, one-time communist - who inherited a single run-down department store which he used as the basis of an empire of style.
The Tsutsumis are one of Japan’s greatest dynasties and, like the Rockefellers or Getty’s in the west, have achieved a near-mythic status. Theirs is the ultimate rags-to-riches tale, a drama of cut throat business intrigues and ties of honour, family rivalry and the trials of wives and concubines, set against the turbulent background of Japan in the twentieth century.
Lesley Downer gained unprecedented access to the Tsutsumi family and those close to them. Here is a unique window on vast wealth and power Japanese style, taking us beyond the stereotype of pinstriped drones to a sweeping drama of Shakespearian proportions.
‘The Brothers’ was a ‘The New York Times’ Book of the Year in 1995.
‘Lesley Downer ... has written a gripping book.’ David Sanger, New York Times Book Review
‘.. traces in vivid and entertaining detail the tale of two generations of Tsutsumis. ... an absorbing tale of our times, entertainingly told.’ The Times
‘Ms Downer .. uses the Tsutsumi family as a way to bring human colour to Japan’s recent history.’ The Economist
‘Lesley Downer’s light-footed recounting of their story is very welcome. She manages an attractive balance between the general history of the period and the domestic details of this sprawling, stylish and terrifyingly ambitious family.’ Independent on Sunday
‘The Brothers reads like an epic novel. [She brings] Japanese history and the Tsutsumis to life.’ Newsday
‘One of the most remarkable stories around.’ - Sunday Telegraph
Lesley Downer went to Japan in 1978 and has been studying and writing about its people and culture ever since. Her books include On the Narrow Road to the Deep North, which was shortlisted for the Thomas Cook Travel Book of the Year 1990 and made into a Channel 4 television documentary. She has also written on Japanese cooking and presented the series A Taste of Japan on BBC2. She writes on Japan for a variety of newspapers and magazines, including The Times, the Independent, the Financial Times and the Sunday Telegraph. She lives in London and Tokyo. The Brothers was named as one of The New York Times ‘Books of the Year’ 1995.
The Brothers The Tsutsumi Family eBook Lesley Downer
Very captivating story of a powerful business dynasty - essentially the story of a man and his two sons, and everything around them, bridging the gap from the old Japan to the new. These are not just any businessmen, but at the peak, in spite of humble beginnings, they are the richest in the world, and their lifes become closely intertwined with the inner circles of Japan. I have read other books by Downer, too, and her writing is as always detailed and colorful, rendering rich images in my mind. It also seems she's done very thorough research for the book. I've been a lot to Japan, but I still learnt so much about the Japanese society, culture and politics from this book. Recommended!Product details
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The Brothers The Tsutsumi Family eBook Lesley Downer Reviews
For avid readers, this is an underrated book not to be missed. It is the story about one of Japan's most powerful, wealthiest, and influential family, the Tsutsumis. Lesley Downer wrote this book with such vigour and prose that it reads like a compelling thriller. That is by no mean an easy feat considering that we are discussing about a business family here but not Kennedys. Lesley made it succinctly clear in the beginning that this is not an authorised biographies of the clan but she did manage to interview people that are related to the clan directly and indirectly. To aid readers in comprehending the family structure, a family tree is provided. A map of Japan is shown and as we slowly read through the book, we would start to appreciate the tentacles that the Tsutsumis are spreading through Japan over the years. Later in the book, we would find out that the territory would branch off overseas. The book is separated mainly into three major components first, the founding father by the name of Yasujiro and subsequently, Seiji and lastly, Yoshiaki. There is also a mention of the sister, Kuniko (the so-called black sheep of the family and who would eventually path her way in Paris). There are discussions about Yasuhiro's wives and mistresses, business and political intrigues, and how that would eventually pass down to the younger generations; how the two brothers would tackle business in dramatically different ways. After reading this book, I can say that I have better appreciation of major corporations such as Saison and Seibu which the brothers have created, how much business and politics are interrelated in Japan, how management attitudes are changing over the years (what is deemed necessary and relevant post World War 2 might not necessarily be as effective in this modern days), the winter Olympics held in Nagano and the list goes on. I have no hesitation in recommending this book for those Japanophiles. A book written about Japan by a Japan-enthusiast. Highly recommended.
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 is 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 tis 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 conclcuson.
The topic of the super-wealthy in any country is interesting to many, but this one is so unique and so very "Japanese". I liked the topic, but I felt like it was more like a bland documentary on TV. I wish there was a little more contextual excitement presented. It reads a bit like a chronology in a history book.
If you like reading about Japan, it's worth checking-out.
iKnow
Very revealing and entertaining. A great book.
This book speaks about a growth.
I felt slightly boring at first..
Believe me,
Your learning might be invaluable.
Warning The reader might become ruthless
Very captivating story of a powerful business dynasty - essentially the story of a man and his two sons, and everything around them, bridging the gap from the old Japan to the new. These are not just any businessmen, but at the peak, in spite of humble beginnings, they are the richest in the world, and their lifes become closely intertwined with the inner circles of Japan. I have read other books by Downer, too, and her writing is as always detailed and colorful, rendering rich images in my mind. It also seems she's done very thorough research for the book. I've been a lot to Japan, but I still learnt so much about the Japanese society, culture and politics from this book. Recommended!
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