1 · Position
Iida Shinshichi opened in Kyoto in 1831 dealing in used clothing and cotton, later *gofuku* — formal kimono. The transformation into a full-scale department store began in 1903, a year before Mitsukoshi's.
2 · Why it is in the Library
Its starting point is the opposite of every European house in this group. Le Bon Marché, Printemps and Selfridges began by selling new goods to people with money; Takashimaya began in the second-hand trade and moved up. It is the clearest case in the register of a luxury house whose origin was thrift, and it did not conceal it.
3 · Candour
⚑ The Library recorded Takashimaya's generational succession under §21 earlier this week without holding the founding facts; those are now here. The modern ownership, the store network and the current position are not established in this entry.