From the middle years of the Meiji era,
the tobacco industry gradually changed to a factory
enterprise. As the volume of pro- duction increased,
some manufacturers restructured their busines- ses
into modern stock-companies. New tobacco wares appeared,
and effective use was made many different publicity
media.
Sometimes, contending films even engaged in "publicity
wars".
The most famous example was the rivalry between
the Tokyo- based Iwaya Company and the Kyoto firm
known as Murai Brothers.
 Tengu
The Meiji-era entrepreneur Matsuhei Iwaya,produced
the popular Tengu brand, named for a comical red-faced
goblin of Japanese legend. His advertising methods
were colourful in several senses of the word, for
he saw to it that buildings, vehicles, and other
Iwaya appurtenances were tinted a uniform red.
Posters and sign- boards popularised a constant
stream ofcatch-phrases to increase the fame of Tengu
tobacco, so that Iwaya was justified in calling
himself the "tobacco publicity king."
Matsuhei Iwaya(1849-1920)
Poster for Tengu cigarettes (ca. 1900)
Murai's
Strategy of Modernism
In contrast to Iwaya's home-produced tobacco
for a popular market, Murai appealed to other consumer
strata by importing bulk tobacco for modern-style
cigarettes of European design.
This tendency extended even to the use of English
names.
Eye-catching posters in Western fashion advertised
Murai products, and the use of cigarette-cards was
another Murai innovation.
Kichibei Murai(1864-1926)
Poster for Peacock cigarettes(ca. 1903)
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