| Born in Tsuruga in [[Echizen province]], his childhood name was Nakano Tetsujirô. While apprenticing under a Kyoto [[textiles]] merchant, he took the name Shinshichi. Then, in [[1828]], he married into the family of rice merchant Takashimaya Iida Gihee, whose shop was named after his hometown, in the Takashima district of [[Omi province|Ômi province]]. Shinshichi began selling secondhand clothes out of the rice shop, and in [[1831]], opened his own shop, calling it Takashimaya, and selling secondhand clothes. | | Born in Tsuruga in [[Echizen province]], his childhood name was Nakano Tetsujirô. While apprenticing under a Kyoto [[textiles]] merchant, he took the name Shinshichi. Then, in [[1828]], he married into the family of rice merchant Takashimaya Iida Gihee, whose shop was named after his hometown, in the Takashima district of [[Omi province|Ômi province]]. Shinshichi began selling secondhand clothes out of the rice shop, and in [[1831]], opened his own shop, calling it Takashimaya, and selling secondhand clothes. |
− | He eventually passed on his business to his son, [[Iida Shinshichi II]], under whom it prospered. The business was strong enough, and flexible enough, to survive the turbulent [[Bakumatsu period]] and to adapt to new circumstances after the [[Meiji Restoration]]. | + | He eventually passed on his business to his son-in-law, [[Iida Shinshichi II]], under whom it prospered. The business was strong enough, and flexible enough, to survive the turbulent [[Bakumatsu period]] and to adapt to new circumstances after the [[Meiji Restoration]]. |