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Cultural Entrepreneurship and the Spirit of Japanese Capitalism

Author

Listed:
  • Innan Sasaki
  • Gerardo Patriotta
  • Michael Lounsbury

Abstract

While cultural entrepreneurship research has highlighted how entrepreneurs craft stories to legitimize their ventures, we know much less about how entrepreneurs gain legitimacy for a novel organizational form. Drawing upon a detailed, historical examination of Japanese family mottos from the Edo period (1603–1868), we show how stories embedded in family mottos enabled legitimation by symbolically leveraging two core socio-cultural institutions of Edo Japan (religion and family), advancing our understanding of how broader cultural resources can be leveraged to legitimate a new organizational form. We discuss implications for scholarship on family business and cultural entrepreneurship.

Suggested Citation

  • Innan Sasaki & Gerardo Patriotta & Michael Lounsbury, 2026. "Cultural Entrepreneurship and the Spirit of Japanese Capitalism," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 50(3), pages 889-930, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:entthe:v:50:y:2026:i:3:p:889-930
    DOI: 10.1177/10422587251393963
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    References listed on IDEAS

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