After a series of jobs in banking and other sectors, his father Shushiro had become the manager of the Jitsueisha, a publicity company that made slide commercials for display at movie theaters.
In 1923, when the young Fujisawa was in his first year at Kyoka Middle School, the Great Kantō earthquake dealt the whole family a terrible blow.
The young Fujisawa hoped to become a teacher but failed the official Tokyo school examinations and worked as a professional copyist, writing addresses on envelopes in order to support the family and devoting his leisure time to reading literature.
His hidden talent suddenly blossomed and he gradually developed relationships with a range of new clients, becoming the company’s top-performing salesman.
He adopted the slogan “Always tell your clients the truth” and if ever it looked as though a delivery was going to be late, he would not try to make up excuses but would apologize and give an honest explanation of the reason for the delay.