介绍:
近日，《纽约时报》记者探访了一家特别的日本点心店：经由世代传承，它已经营业了一千多年。这家小店的成功秘诀是什么？这类依靠家族传承的日本小企业具有什么特点？一起来听今天的讲解。
英文原文
This Japanese Shop Is 1,020 Years Old. It Knows a Bit About Surviving Crises.
如何渡过危机？这家经营了1020年的日本老店有心得二三
By Ben Dooley and Hisako Ueno
Naomi Hasegawa's family sells toasted mochi out of a small, cedar-timbered shop next to a rambling old shrine in Kyoto. The family started the business to provide refreshments to weary travelers coming from across Japan to pray for pandemic relief - in the year 1000.
在京都一座格局凌乱的古神社旁，有一间由雪松木搭成的小店。长谷川直美一家在这里卖烤麻薯。自公元1000年起，长谷川家便开始营业，为的是给疲惫的游客们提供茶点：他们从日本各地赶到这里，祈祷疫情的消散。
Like many businesses in Japan, her family's shop, Ichiwa, takes the long view - albeit longer than most. By putting tradition and stability over profit and growth, Ichiwa has weathered wars, plagues, natural disasters, and the rise and fall of empires.
和许多日本企业一样，她家这间名为“一和”的小店看得很长远，比大多数企业都更长远。比起利润和增长，一和更看重传统和稳定。因此，它在战争、瘟疫、自然灾害和王朝更迭之后，依然还在。
Japan is an old-business superpower. The country is home to more than 33,000 with at least 100 years of history. Most of these old businesses are, like Ichiwa, small, family-run enterprises that deal in traditional goods and services. But some are among Japan's most famous companies, including Nintendo, which got its start making playing cards 131 years ago.
日本是老牌企业的超级大国。这里，有三万三千多家历史逾百年的企业。同一和一样，这些历史悠久的公司大部分是小型家族企业，经营的是传统商品和服务。不过，其中也有日本最富盛名的企业，例如131年前，靠制作游戏卡牌起家的任天堂。
"If you look at the economics textbooks, enterprises are supposed to be maximizing profits, scaling up their size, market share and growth rate. But these companies' operating principles are completely different," said Kenji Matsuoka, a professor emeritus of business at Ryukoku University in Kyoto.
松冈健次是京都龙谷大学的商学荣誉教授。他评价说：“根据经济学教科书的说法，企业该做的是利润最大化、扩大规模、提升市场份额、提高增长率。但这些公司的经营理念完全不同。”
"Their No. 1 priority is carrying on," he added. "Each generation is like a runner in a relay race. What's important is passing the baton."
他补充到：“他们的首要任务是延续。每一代人都像是一场接力赛的选手，关键是要把接力棒传递下去。”
To survive for a millennium, Ms. Hasegawa said, a business cannot just chase profits. It has to have a higher purpose.
长谷川女士说，一家企业如果想历经千年而不倒，就不能只追求利润。它必须有更高远的目标。
Those kinds of core values, known as "kakun," or family precepts, have guided many companies' business decisions through the generations. They look after their employees, support the community and strive to make a product that inspires pride.
一代又一代，这些被称为“kakun”或者“家训”的核心价值一直指导着很多企业的商业决策。他们照料员工，支持社区，并致力于制作令自己引以为傲的产品。
For Ichiwa, that means doing one thing and doing it well - a very Japanese approach to business.
对于一和而言，这意味着做一件事，并把它做好。这是一种非常有日本特色的经营模式。
But Ms. Hasegawa admits she sometimes feels the pressure of the shop's history. One reason "we keep going," she added, is "because we all hate the idea of being the one to let it go."
然而，长谷川女士承认，她有时也会因店铺的历史而感到压力。她说“我们坚持做下去”的原因之一，是“因为我们都不愿意做那个放弃的人。”
长谷川直美，Ichiwa（一和）的现任店长
一和家贩卖了1000多年的烤麻糬（toasted mochi）
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