Mitsui Mining
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

is a Japanese corporate group and ''
keiretsu A is a set of companies with interlocking business relationships and shareholdings that dominated the Japanese economy in the second half of the 20th century. In the legal sense, it is a type of business group that is in a loosely organized al ...
'' that traces its roots to the ''
zaibatsu is a Japanese language, Japanese term referring to industrial and financial vertical integration, vertically integrated business conglomerate (company), conglomerates in the Empire of Japan, whose influence and size allowed control over signifi ...
'' groups that were dissolved after
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. Unlike the ''zaibatsu'' of the pre-war period, there is no controlling company with regulatory power. Instead, the companies in the group hold shares in each other, but they are limited to exchanging information and coordinating plans through regular meetings. The major companies of the group include Mitsui & Co. ( general trading company),
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation is a Japanese multinational banking financial services institution owned by the Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, which is also known as the SMBC Group. It is headquartered in the same building as SMBC Group in Marunouchi, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. ...
,
Nippon Paper Industries is a Japanese paper manufacturing company. The company's stock is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. As of April 2013 the company has 33 subsidiaries A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company completely or partially ...
, Pokka Sapporo Holdings,
Toray Industries is a multinational corporation headquartered in Japan that specializes in industrial products centered on technologies in organic synthetic chemistry, polymer chemistry, and biochemistry. Its founding business areas were fibers and textiles, ...
,
Mitsui Chemicals is a Japanese chemicals company listed on the Nikkei with business interests in Japan, Europe, China, Southeast Asia and the USA. It is one of the leading chemical companies in Japan and is part of the Mitsui conglomerate. The company mainly ...
,
Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings () is a holding company with the Mitsukoshi and Isetan department stores as its wholly owned subsidiaries. Operations In August 2007, Isetan Co. Ltd. and Mitsukoshi Ltd. announced that the two companies "have agreed to merge and form a new ho ...
,
Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings , formerly Chuo Mitsui Trust Holdings, Inc., is a Japanese financial holding company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo. It provides an assortment of financial products to retail and wholesale customers, with a focus on asset management, financial ...
,
Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding () is a Japanese heavy industries company. Despite its name, it no longer builds ships and now focuses mainly on production of high-value ship equipment such as Marine propulsion, engines and automated gantry cranes. Mitsui E&S is the largest ...
, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines and
Mitsui Fudosan is a major Japanese real estate developer with properties located globally. Mitsui Fudosan is one of the core companies of Mitsui Group. Corporate structure The company is organized into four divisions. *Office Building Division *Real Estate ...
.


History


Edo period origins

Founded by
Mitsui Takatoshi was the founder of the Mitsui family of merchants and industrialists that later emerged as the Mitsui Group, a powerful Japanese ''zaibatsu'' (business conglomerate). Life Mitsui was born in 1622, in Matsusaka, Ise Province (present-day M ...
(1622–1694), who was the fourth son of a shopkeeperRíkarðsson, Árni (2020). ''Origins of the Zaibatsu conglomerates''. Bachelor's thesis. Supervisor: Kristín Ingvarsdóttir. Reykjavik, University of Iceland, p. 15. in Matsusaka, in what became
Mie prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Mie Prefecture has a population of 1,781,948 () and has a geographic area of . Mie Prefecture is bordered by Gifu Prefecture to the north, Shiga Prefecture an ...
. From his shop, called Echigoya (越後屋), Mitsui Takatoshi's father originally sold
miso is a traditional Japanese seasoning. It is a thick paste produced by fermenting soybeans with salt and kōji (the fungus ''Aspergillus oryzae''), and sometimes rice, barley, seaweed, or other ingredients. It is used for sauces and spreads; p ...
and ran a
pawn shop A pawnbroker is an individual that offers secured loans to people, with items of personal property used as collateral. A pawnbrokering business is called a pawnshop, and while many items can be pawned, pawnshops typically accept jewelry, ...
. The family would later open a second shop in
Edo Edo (), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the '' de facto'' capital of Japan from 1603 as the seat of the Tokugawa shogu ...
(modern
Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
). Takatoshi moved to Edo when he was 14 years old, and later his older brother joined him. Sent back to Matsusaka by his brother, Takatoshi waited for 24 years until his older brother died before he could take over the family shop, Echigoya. He opened a new branch in 1673; a large
gofukuya Gofuku (呉服) is a Japanese word meaning cloth (for Japanese clothes); kimono fabrics; textile; drapery; dry goods; or piece goods. kimono The is a traditional Japanese garment and the national dress of Japan. The kimono is a wrapped-front garment with square sleeves and a rectangular body, and is worn Garment collars in hanfu#Youren (right lapel), left side wrapped over ri ...
shop) in
Nihonbashi is a business district of Chūō, Tokyo, Japan, which sprung up around the bridge of the same name that has linked two sides of the Nihonbashi River at this site since the 17th century. The first wooden bridge was completed in 1603. The curre ...
, a district in the heart of Edo. The genesis of Mitsui's business was in the ''
Enpō (contemporarily written as 延寳) is the after ''Kanbun'' and before '' Tenna.'' This period spanned the years from September 1673 to September 1681. The reigning emperor was . Change of era * 1673 : The new era of ''Enpō'' (meaning "Prolon ...
'' era, which was a ''
nengō The or , is the first of the two elements that identify years in the Japanese era calendar scheme. The second element is a number which indicates the year number within the era (with the first year being "", meaning "origin, basis"), followed b ...
'' meaning "Prolonged Wealth". In time, the gofukuya division separated from Mitsui, and became
Mitsukoshi is an international Department stores in Japan, department store chain with headquarters in Tokyo, Japan. Its holding company, Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings, is a member of the Mitsui, Mitsui Group. History It was founded in 1673 with the (sho ...
. Traditionally, gofukuyas provided products made to order; a visit was made to the customer's house (typically a person of high social class or who was successful in business), an order taken, then fulfilled. The system of accountancy was called "margin transaction". Mitsui changed this by producing products first, then selling them directly at his shop for cash. This was then an unfamiliar mode of operation in Japan. Even as the shop began providing dry goods to the government of the city of Edo, cash sales were not yet a widespread business practice. Edo's government had struck a business deal with
Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...
. Osaka would sell crops and other material to pay its land tax. The money was then sent to Edo—but moving money was dangerous in middle
feudal Japan The first human inhabitants of the Japanese archipelago have been traced to the Paleolithic, around 38–39,000 years ago. The Jōmon period, named after its cord-marked pottery, was followed by the Yayoi period in the first millennium BC whe ...
. In 1683, the shogunate granted permission for money exchanges (''ryōgaeten'') to be established in Edo. The Mitsui "exchange shops" facilitated transfers while mitigating risks.


Formation of Mitsui ''zaibatsu''

After the
Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...
, Mitsui was among the enterprises that were able to expand to become
zaibatsu is a Japanese language, Japanese term referring to industrial and financial vertical integration, vertically integrated business conglomerate (company), conglomerates in the Empire of Japan, whose influence and size allowed control over signifi ...
not simply because they were already big and rich at the start of modern industrial development. Firms like Mitsui and
Sumitomo The is a Japanese corporate group and '' keiretsu'' that traces its roots to the ''zaibatsu'' groups that were dissolved after World War II. Unlike the ''zaibatsu'' of the pre-war period, there is no controlling company with regulatory power. I ...
were led by non-family managers such as Minomura Rizaemon, who guided the business by accurately forecasting the coming political and economic situations, by acquaintance with high-ranking government officials or politicians, and bold investment. Mitsui's main business in the early period was drapery, finance, and trade, the first two being the businesses it inherited from the
Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...
. It entered into mining when it acquired a mine as collateral from a loan it had made, partly because it could buy a mine cheaply from the government, Mitsui then diversified to become the biggest business in pre-war Japan. The diversification was mainly into related fields to take advantage of accumulated capabilities; for instance, the trading company entered into chemicals to attain forward integration. On July 1, 1876, Mitsui Bank, Japan's first private bank, was founded with
Masuda Takashi Baron , was a Japanese industrialist, investor, and art collector. He was a prominent entrepreneur in Meiji, Taishō and early Shōwa period Japan, responsible for transforming Mitsui into a ''zaibatsu'' through the creation of a general t ...
(1848–1938) as its president. Mitsui Bank, which following a merger with Taiyō-Kobe Bank in the mid-1980s became part of
Sakura Bank The was a Japanese bank with dual headquarters in Tokyo and Kobe. It was formed in April 1990 as the Mitsui Taiyo Kobe Bank (MTKB) by the merger of Mitsui Bank (founded 1876) and Taiyo Kobe Bank (founded 1973). The Sakura Bank name was adopte ...
, survives as part of the
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation is a Japanese multinational banking financial services institution owned by the Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, which is also known as the SMBC Group. It is headquartered in the same building as SMBC Group in Marunouchi, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. ...
. During the early 20th century, Mitsui was one of the largest
zaibatsu is a Japanese language, Japanese term referring to industrial and financial vertical integration, vertically integrated business conglomerate (company), conglomerates in the Empire of Japan, whose influence and size allowed control over signifi ...
, operating in numerous fields. Mitsui Bank became the holding company of the Mitsui zaibatsu from 1876. It was joined as an ultimate parent company by Mitsui & Co. and Mitsui Mining in 1900, with various industrial concerns owned by various combinations of these companies and their subsidiaries. Likewise, Mitsui invested in maritime transportation to support its trading activities as well as invest in passenger transportation, first with the creation in 1878, of Osaka Shosen Kaisha (OSK), which was merged with Mitsui Steamship in 1964, to become
Mitsui OSK Lines Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (; abbreviated MOL) is a Japanese transport company headquartered in Toranomon, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It is one of the largest shipping companies in the world. Founded as a key part of the Mitsui ''zaibatsu'' (family-owned ...
(MOL), which became one of the largest ocean shipping groups in the world. When the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
withdrew from the
gold standard A gold standard is a backed currency, monetary system in which the standard economics, economic unit of account is based on a fixed quantity of gold. The gold standard was the basis for the international monetary system from the 1870s to the ...
in 1931, during the height of the
Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
, Mitsui Bank and Mitsui & Co. were found to have speculated around the transaction. This raised a political furor in Japan and resulted in the assassination of Mitsui executive
Dan Takuma was a Japanese businessman who was Director-General of Mitsui, one of the leading Japanese zaibatsu (family conglomerates). He was a graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and was married to the younger sister of statesman Kaneko Ke ...
. During the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, Mitsui employed American
prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...
as slave laborers, some of whom were maimed by Mitsui employees.Unfinished Business
''Foreign Policy'', June 28, 2010


Postwar development as ''keiretsu''

In 1947 and 1948, the
Supreme Commander Allied Powers The Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (), or SCAP, was the title held by General Douglas MacArthur during the United States-led Allied occupation of Japan following World War II. It issued SCAP Directives (alias SCAPIN, SCAP Index Number) ...
pressed the Japanese government to dismantle the ten largest ''
zaibatsu is a Japanese language, Japanese term referring to industrial and financial vertical integration, vertically integrated business conglomerate (company), conglomerates in the Empire of Japan, whose influence and size allowed control over signifi ...
'' conglomerates, including Mitsui. The Mitsui Group, broken into many separate companies, reorganized itself as a horizontal coalition of independent companies in the 1950s, once the
occupation of Japan Japan was occupied and administered by the Allies of World War II from the surrender of the Empire of Japan on September 2, 1945, at the war's end until the Treaty of San Francisco took effect on April 28, 1952. The occupation, led by the ...
had ended and some of the smaller companies were allowed to re-coalesce. The central firms in the ''keiretsu'' became
Mitsui Bank was a major Japanese bank from 1876 to 1990. The home bank of the Mitsui conglomerate, it was one of the largest Japanese banks for much of the 20th century, together with Dai-Ichi Bank, Mitsubishi Bank, Sumitomo Bank, and Yasuda / Fuji Bank. I ...
and Mitsui & Co. Mitsui lagged somewhat behind its rivals
Mitsubishi The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group traces its origins to the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company that existed from 1870 to 194 ...
and
Sumitomo Group The is a Japanese corporate group and ''keiretsu'' that traces its roots to the ''zaibatsu'' groups that were dissolved after World War II. Unlike the ''zaibatsu'' of the pre-war period, there is no controlling company with regulatory power. In ...
in reorganization. Mitsui Bank, which should have been the mainstay and principal capital provider of the group, declined in size due to the collapse of the Imperial Bank after the war, which resulted in reduced cohesion of the conglomerate. Many companies that were once part of the Mitsui Group have become independent or tied to other conglomerates. Specifically,
Toshiba is a Japanese multinational electronics company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. Its diversified products and services include power, industrial and social infrastructure systems, elevators and escalators, electronic components, semiconductors ...
,
Toyota Motors is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the largest automobile manufacturer in the world, producing ...
, and
Suntory (commonly referred to as simply Suntory) is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational brewing and distilling company group. Established in 1899, it is one of the oldest companies in the distribution of alcoholic beverages in Japan, and ...
, once part of the Mitsui Group, became independent, with the Toyota Group becoming a conglomerate in its own right. Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries (
IHI Corporation , formerly known as is a Japanese engineering corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan that produces and offers ships, space launch vehicles, aircraft engines, marine diesel engines, gas turbines, gas engines, railway systems, turbocharge ...
) is now considered to be part of the Mizuho Group, and many companies in the
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group , initialed as SMFG until 2018 and SMBC Group since, is a major Japanese multinational financial services group and holding company. It is the parent of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), SMBC Trust Bank, and SMBC Nikko Securities. SMB ...
are more closely tied to the
Sumitomo Group The is a Japanese corporate group and ''keiretsu'' that traces its roots to the ''zaibatsu'' groups that were dissolved after World War II. Unlike the ''zaibatsu'' of the pre-war period, there is no controlling company with regulatory power. In ...
than the Mitsui Group. there were signs that
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group is a Japanese bank holding and financial services company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. MUFG was created in 2005 by merger between and UFJ Holdings (株式会社UFJホールディングス; ''kabushikigaisha yūefujei hōrudingusu'' ...
and the
Mitsubishi Group The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group traces its origins to the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company that existed from 1870 to 1946 ...
could be taking over other parts of the Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group. Mitsukoshi merged into
Isetan ( unlisted on March 26, 2008, ) is a Japanese department store. Based in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Isetan has branches throughout Japan and South East Asia, including in Jakarta, Jinan, Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Shanghai, Singapore, Surabaya and Tianjin, ...
, a major department store with close ties to the
Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ is a Japanese bank holding and financial services company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. MUFG was created in 2005 by merger between and UFJ Holdings (株式会社UFJホールディングス; ''kabushikigaisha yūefujei hōrudingusu'' ...
, to form Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings in April 2008.


Makeup of the Mitsui Group

Companies associated with the Mitsui keiretsu include Mitsui & Co.,
Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings , formerly Chuo Mitsui Trust Holdings, Inc., is a Japanese financial holding company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo. It provides an assortment of financial products to retail and wholesale customers, with a focus on asset management, financial ...
,
Japan Steel Works The is a steel manufacturer founded in Muroran, Hokkaidō, Japan in 1907. History Japan Steel Works was set up with investment from British firms Vickers, Armstrong Whitworth and Mitsui. During World War II, they manufactured what was then t ...
,
Mitsui Chemicals is a Japanese chemicals company listed on the Nikkei with business interests in Japan, Europe, China, Southeast Asia and the USA. It is one of the leading chemical companies in Japan and is part of the Mitsui conglomerate. The company mainly ...
, Mitsui Construction Co.,
Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding () is a Japanese heavy industries company. Despite its name, it no longer builds ships and now focuses mainly on production of high-value ship equipment such as Marine propulsion, engines and automated gantry cranes. Mitsui E&S is the largest ...
,
Mitsui Fudosan is a major Japanese real estate developer with properties located globally. Mitsui Fudosan is one of the core companies of Mitsui Group. Corporate structure The company is organized into four divisions. *Office Building Division *Real Estate ...
, Mitsui-gold, Mitsui Mining & Smelting Co., Ltd., Mitsui Oil Exploration Co. (MOECO), Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Mitsui Petrochemical Industries Ltd, Mitsui-Soko,
Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group is a Japanese insurance holding company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. MSIG was formed in 2001 from the merger of Mitsui Marine & Fire Insurance Co. (itself descended from the Taishō Marine and Fire Insurance Co. founded in 1918) and The Sum ...
,
Nippon Paper Industries is a Japanese paper manufacturing company. The company's stock is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. As of April 2013 the company has 33 subsidiaries A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company completely or partially ...
, Pacific Coast Recycling,
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation is a Japanese multinational banking financial services institution owned by the Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, which is also known as the SMBC Group. It is headquartered in the same building as SMBC Group in Marunouchi, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. ...
,
Taiheiyo Cement is a Japanese cement company. It was formed in 1998 with the merger of Chichibu Onoda (itself a merger of Chichibu Cement and Onoda Cement) and Nihon Cement (formerly Asano Cement). In July 2024, Secretary Alfredo Pascual and Mayor Mytha Ann ...
,
TBS Holdings (formerly ) is a Japanese media and licensed broadcasting holding company. It is the parent company of the television network TBS Television and radio network TBS Radio. It has a 28-affiliate television network called Japan News Network, as we ...
,
Toray Industries is a multinational corporation headquartered in Japan that specializes in industrial products centered on technologies in organic synthetic chemistry, polymer chemistry, and biochemistry. Its founding business areas were fibers and textiles, ...
, Tri-net Logistics Management, and Mitsui Commodity Risk Management (MCRM).


Mitsui companies in the

Nikkei 225 The Nikkei 225, or , more commonly called the ''Nikkei'' or the ''Nikkei index'' (), is a stock market index for the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE). It is a price-weighted index, operating in the Japanese yen, Japanese Yen (JP¥), and its compone ...

* Aim Services Co., Ltd *
Denka ; formerly is a Japan, Japanese chemical company, established in 1915, and headquartered in Tokyo, manufacturing organic and inorganic chemicals, cement, special cement additives, electronic component transfer materials and food packaging material ...
*
Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings () is a holding company with the Mitsukoshi and Isetan department stores as its wholly owned subsidiaries. Operations In August 2007, Isetan Co. Ltd. and Mitsukoshi Ltd. announced that the two companies "have agreed to merge and form a new ho ...
* JA Mitsui Leasing *
Japan Steel Works The is a steel manufacturer founded in Muroran, Hokkaidō, Japan in 1907. History Japan Steel Works was set up with investment from British firms Vickers, Armstrong Whitworth and Mitsui. During World War II, they manufactured what was then t ...
* Mitsui & Co. *
Mitsui Chemicals is a Japanese chemicals company listed on the Nikkei with business interests in Japan, Europe, China, Southeast Asia and the USA. It is one of the leading chemical companies in Japan and is part of the Mitsui conglomerate. The company mainly ...
*
Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding () is a Japanese heavy industries company. Despite its name, it no longer builds ships and now focuses mainly on production of high-value ship equipment such as Marine propulsion, engines and automated gantry cranes. Mitsui E&S is the largest ...
*
Mitsui Fudosan is a major Japanese real estate developer with properties located globally. Mitsui Fudosan is one of the core companies of Mitsui Group. Corporate structure The company is organized into four divisions. *Office Building Division *Real Estate ...
* Mitsui Life Insurance Co. * Mitsui Mining & Smelting Co., Ltd. * Mitsui O.S.K. Lines *
Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group is a Japanese insurance holding company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. MSIG was formed in 2001 from the merger of Mitsui Marine & Fire Insurance Co. (itself descended from the Taishō Marine and Fire Insurance Co. founded in 1918) and The Sum ...
* Mitsui-Soko Holdings *
Nippon Paper Industries is a Japanese paper manufacturing company. The company's stock is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. As of April 2013 the company has 33 subsidiaries A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company completely or partially ...
* Nihon Unisys * Sanki Engineering *
Sapporo Brewery is a Japanese brewery, beer brewing company founded in 1876. Sapporo, the oldest brand of beer in Japan, was first brewed in Sapporo, Hokkaido, in 1876 by Seibei Nakagawa. The world headquarters of Sapporo Breweries is in Ebisu, Shibuya, Ebisu, ...
* Shin Nippon Air Technologies *
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation is a Japanese multinational banking financial services institution owned by the Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, which is also known as the SMBC Group. It is headquartered in the same building as SMBC Group in Marunouchi, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. ...
* Sumitomo Mitsui Construction *
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group , initialed as SMFG until 2018 and SMBC Group since, is a major Japanese multinational financial services group and holding company. It is the parent of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), SMBC Trust Bank, and SMBC Nikko Securities. SMB ...
*
Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings , formerly Chuo Mitsui Trust Holdings, Inc., is a Japanese financial holding company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo. It provides an assortment of financial products to retail and wholesale customers, with a focus on asset management, financial ...
*
TBS Holdings (formerly ) is a Japanese media and licensed broadcasting holding company. It is the parent company of the television network TBS Television and radio network TBS Radio. It has a 28-affiliate television network called Japan News Network, as we ...
*
Toray Industries is a multinational corporation headquartered in Japan that specializes in industrial products centered on technologies in organic synthetic chemistry, polymer chemistry, and biochemistry. Its founding business areas were fibers and textiles, ...
* Toyo Engineering Corporation


Other investments

*
Greater Anglia Greater Anglia (legal name Transport UK East Anglia Limited) is a British train operating company owned as a joint venture by Transport UK Group and Mitsui & Co. It operates the East Anglia franchise, providing the commuter and inter-city se ...
– Mitsui & Co owns 40% of the British rail operator. *
West Midlands Trains West Midlands Trains (WMT) is a British train operating company. It operates passenger trains on the West Midlands franchise between London and the English Midlands under two trading names: within the West Midlands region as West Midlands Rai ...
- Mitsui owns 15% of the British rail operator. *
BHP BHP Group Limited, founded as the Broken Hill Proprietary Company, is an Australian multinational mining and metals corporation. BHP was established in August 1885 and is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria. As of 2024, BHP was the world ...
*
Columbia Asia Columbia Asia is a multinational chain of hospitals and one of the largest and fastest-growing healthcare companies in Southeast Asia. Columbia Asia started its operations in 1996, with the first hospital acquired a year later in Sarawak, Ea ...
*
Fujifilm , trading as , or simply Fuji, is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, operating in the areas of photography, optics, Office supplies, office and Biomedical engine ...
* IHH Healthcare Berhad – Mitsui & Co owns 20.5% of the company and is represented on its board. *
Ito-Yokado is a Japanese Hypermarket, general merchandise, shopping center, grocery store and department store originally founded in 1920. In 2005, it was reorganized, as part of a corporate restructuring, as a subsidiary of the Seven & I Holdings Co. ...
(
Seven & I Holdings Seven & i Holdings Co., Ltd. (株式会社セブン&アイ・ホールディングス, ) is a Japanese diversified retail holdings company headquartered in Nibanchō, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Nibanchō, Chiyoda, Tokyo. On September 1, 2005, it was esta ...
* Kanebo (
Kao Corporation is a Japanese global chemical and cosmetics company headquartered in Nihonbashi-Kayabacho, Chūō, Tokyo, Japan. History Kao was established in 1882 by Tomiro Nagase as a manufacturer of domestic toiletry soap. Until 1954, they were known a ...
) * Komatsu * Multi X ( Multiexport Foods)– Mitsui owns 24.5% of the company and is represented on its board. *
Oji Paper Company is a Japanese manufacturer of paper products. In 2012 the company was the third largest company in the global forest, paper and packaging industry. The company's stock is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the stock is constituent of the ...
- once had a transaction in its development on the purchase of several Mitsui subsidiaries by Oji. *
The Oriental Land Company The , also known as Oriental Land is a Japanese leisure and tourism company headquartered in Urayasu, Chiba, Japan where it also owns and operates the Tokyo Disney Resort. The company operates in three segments, divided as theme parks, hotels, ...
(
Keisei Electric Railway The (stylized as K'SEI since 2001) is a major private railway in Chiba Prefecture and Tokyo, Japan. The name ''Keisei'' is the combination of the kanji 京 from and 成 from , which the railway's main line connects; the combination uses diffe ...
) *
Paul Stuart Paul Stuart is a men's luxury clothing brand founded in 1938 in New York City and owned by Mitsui since 2012. The company has four standalone boutiques in the US and one in Japan. Sanyo Shokai has been its sole distributor in Japan since 199 ...
- wholly owned * Rio Tinto *
Sagami Railway The , or , is a private railway company operating three lines in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of holding company Sōtetsu Holdings, Inc. Sōtetsu Holdings is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange; 6.58% of it is own ...
*
Sims Metal Sims Limited (formerly Sims Metal Management Limited) is a global environmental services conglomerate, operating through a number of divisions, with a focus on: (a) Ferrous and Non-ferrous metal recycling, (b) enterprise data destruction and c ...
– Mitsui & Co owns 18% of the company and is represented on its board. *
Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...
*
Suntory (commonly referred to as simply Suntory) is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational brewing and distilling company group. Established in 1899, it is one of the oldest companies in the distribution of alcoholic beverages in Japan, and ...
*
Toyota is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...
*
Vale A vale is a type of valley. Vale may also refer to: Places Georgia * Vale, Georgia, a town in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region Norway * Våle, a historic municipality Portugal * Vale (Santa Maria da Feira), a former civil parish in the municip ...
*
Yamaha Yamaha may refer to: People * Torakusu Yamaha, a Japanese businessman and founder of the Yamaha Corporation Companies * Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese musical instrument and audio equipment manufacturer ** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organi ...
*
Yanmar is a Japanese diesel engine, heavy machinery and agricultural machinery manufacturer founded in Osaka, Japan, in 1912. Yanmar manufactures and sells engines used in a wide range of applications, including seagoing vessels, pleasure boats, cons ...


See also

*
List of Japanese companies Location of Japan This is a list of notable companies based in Japan. For further information on the types of business entities in this country and their abbreviations, see " Business entities in Japan". Note that 株式会社 can be (and frequ ...
*
Mitsui & Co is a Japanese general trading company (Sogo shosha, ''sogo shosha'') and a core member of the Mitsui, Mitsui Group. For much of the post-war period, Mitsui & Co. has been among the largest of the five great ''sogo shosha'' (Mitsui, Mitsubishi Co ...
*
Mitsui family The is one of the most powerful families of merchants and industrialists in Japan. The Mitsui, Mitsui enterprise (present-day Mitsui Group) was established in 1673 when Mitsui Takatoshi (1622–1694), the son of merchant parents, established Ec ...
*
Mitsui Golden Glove Award The Mitsui Golden Glove Award, sponsored by Japan's Mitsui Group, is an annual award for the best fielders in Japan's professional baseball leagues by the Nippon Professional Baseball Association. It is awarded to nine fielders. The players are s ...
* Mitsui O.S.K. Lines *
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group , initialed as SMFG until 2018 and SMBC Group since, is a major Japanese multinational financial services group and holding company. It is the parent of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), SMBC Trust Bank, and SMBC Nikko Securities. SMB ...


Citations


General sources

* Hall, John Whitney (1970). ''Japan: From Prehistory to Modern Times''. Delacorte Universal History no. XX. New York: Delacorte Press. . * Shinjō, Hiroshi (1962). ''History of the Yen: 100 Years of Japanese Money-economy''. Kobe: Research Institute for Economics & Business Administration, Kōbe University.


External links


The Mitsui Public Relations Committee

The Tsunamachi Mitsui Club






{{Authority control Companies established in 1876 Companies in the Nikkei 225 Conglomerate companies based in Tokyo Japanese companies established in 1876 Keiretsu Sumitomo Group Zaibatsu Japanese war crimes