was the head of Apothecary Shiseidō (which in 1927 would be incorporated as Shiseidō

Shiseido

is a major Japanese hair care and cosmetics producer. It is the oldest cosmetics company in the world and the fourth largest cosmetics company in the world.-History:...

) and . In addition, this businessman's name is known internationally because of the Arinobu Fukuhara House at Hakone, which Frank Lloyd Wright

Frank Lloyd Wright

Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...

 designed in 1918 as a Prairie-style vacation villa for the extended Fukuhara family.

Born 1848 in Awa, Chiba-ken, he rose in due course to become Chief Pharmacist of the Japanese Navy. In retirement, he embarked on a second career which would bring fame and fortune. He was also president of the Aikoko Insurance Company.

Family patriarch

Arinobu was the father of photographers , and , who would gain fame as . His sons became quintessential mobo, or "modern boys" —- the sobriquet coined to describe the young, sophisticated, up-to-date young men who frequented the fashionable Ginza district in the late 1920s -— and they shared a fascination and persistent attraction to photography as an art form. The Fukuharas helped to bring photography into the mainstream of Japanese modernism. The two brothers were founding organizers of the in 1924; and Shinzō was its first president. The organization was a major pre-war influence on Japanese photography and still exists today despite a temporary dissolution during the years of the Pacific War.

Grandson continues this family tradition of fostering the development of Japanese photography. He has been Director of the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography

Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography

The is an art museum focused on photography. The museum was founded by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, and is located in Meguro-ku, a short walk from Ebisu station in southwest Tokyo...

 since his appointment by Tokyo Governor Shintarō Ishihara

Shintaro Ishihara

is a Japanese author, actor, politician and the governor of Tokyo since 1999.- Early life and artistic career :Shintarō was born in Suma-ku, Kobe. His father Kiyoshi was an employee, later a general manager, of a shipping company. Shintarō grew up in Zushi...

 in 2000.

Shiseido

"Beauty is universal, thus the products which serve beauty should also be universal."

-Yushin Fukuhara, company founder

As Shiseido has grown to become an international cosmetics giant, the company has managed to avoid some of the pitfalls and problems which have attended generational transitions in other successful family businesses. For example, Arinobu's grandson, Yoshiharu Fukuhara, joined Shiseido immediately after receiving his B.A. in economics from Keio University, Tokyo, in 1953. He was appointed President & CEO of Shiseido in 1987, then Chairman of the Board in 1997 and Honorary Chairman in 2001.

Three Fukuhara leaders in the Shiseido hierarchy were:

• 1st President: Fukuhara, Shinzo—son of company founder
• 2nd President: Fukuhara, Nobuyoshi—younger brother of company's 1st president
• 3rd President: Fukuhana, Yoshibaru—son of company's 2nd president

Japan Pharmaceutical Association

Arinobu served as the third president of the , 1907-1909. During his administration, JPA applied for and obtained approval from the Japanese government to become what was known as a "corporate juridical person" (public corporation).

Arinobu Fukuhara House

The commissioned house was designed and built; but the siting near a hot spring left the building vulnerable to the cataclysmic earthquake of 1923. A fissure opened up below the structure, swallowing it up and then closing around the below-ground debris.

External links

• Shisheido Net-TV: "Photo Exhibition of "Poets of Light" -Fukuhara Shinzo, Nobutatsu, Nobuyoshi" (3 mins.)