Corporate Museums in Japan: Institutionalising a Culture of Industry and Technology

Corporate museums in Japan: institutionalising a culture of industry and technology

Kim Lehman Lecturer School of Management, University of Tasmania, Australia. John Byrom Lecturer School of Management, University of Tasmania, Australia. Biography of the authors Kim Lehman’s particular research interest is marketing strategies in the museum, cultural and not for profit sectors. He is also interested in how firms use corporate museums as part of a brand strategy or as a resource for other corporate purposes. Kim has a strong background in the arts and as a writer has published both short stories and social commentary. John Byrom lectures in marketing and management at the University of Tasmania, Launceston. His PhD was in the area of retail marketing/geography, and his research currently centres on the areas of place management and museum management and marketing, amongst others. John’s research has been presented at various international conferences, and has also appeared in the academic and practitioner press.

Abstract Corporate museums are situated at a complex juncture between the profit-oriented business world and the more traditional realm of the public museum. Corporate museums are taken here as referring to museums with managed collections which are situated within for-profit organisations. In this paper, the nature of the corporate museum in Japan is explored through the use of observation techniques in five such establishments on the main island of Honshū. The museums chosen operated across different industrial sectors and differed markedly in their scale, collections and focus. A major theme emerging from the data related to how the museums reflect and institutionalise aspects of industry and technology. This is considered at three scales: that of the firm, the industry, and broader Japanese society. In summary, further research into the corporate museum phenomenon is recommended, both in Japan and in other national contexts. Keywords Communication,...