, or formerly Nissan

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 signi ...

, was one of Japan's most powerful business groupings. Founded in 1928 by

Yoshisuke Aikawa was a Japanese entrepreneur, businessman, and politician, noteworthy as the founder and first president of the Nissan ''zaibatsu'' (1931–1945), one of Japan's most powerful business conglomerates around the time of the Second World War. Biog ...

, the group was originally a holding company created as an offshoot of ''Kuhara Mining Co.''(became Nippon Mining & Metals Company; currently part of

JXTG Holdings is a Japanese petroleum and metals conglomerate headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. In 2012 the multinational corporation consisted of 24,691 employees worldwide and, as of March 2013, JX Holdings was the forty-third largest company in the world by ...

), which Aikawa had taken over as president of from his brother-in-law,

Fusanosuke Kuhara was an entrepreneur, politician and cabinet minister in the pre-war Empire of Japan. Biography Kuhara was born in Hagi, Yamaguchi Prefecture into a family of ''sake'' brewers. His brother was the founder of Nippon Suisan Kaisha and his uncle F ...

. After the bankruptcy of the ''Kuhara

'' following

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Aikawa reorganized its assets into Japan Industries or , Nissan for short. The group's core business was real estate and insurance with hundreds of member companies, including fisheries, mining companies, and is affiliated with Hitachi Group companies, as well as what Nissan is now known for—its automobile industry. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the zaibatsu was disbanded, and reformed into Nichiyo-kai, otherwise known as Nissan Group. Although the Nissan name was primarily known for its car manufacturing outside Japan,

Nissan Motors , trading as Nissan Motor Corporation and often shortened to Nissan, is a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the Nissan, Infiniti, and Datsun brands, ...

was a comparatively small side business compared to its core real estate business until the real estate crash of the early 1990s (see

Japanese asset price bubble The was an economic bubble in Japan from 1986 to 1991 in which real estate and stock market prices were greatly inflated. In early 1992, this price bubble burst and Japan's economy stagnated. The bubble was characterized by rapid acceleration ...

). Like the similar

subprime crisis The United States subprime mortgage crisis was a multinational financial crisis that occurred between 2007 and 2010 that contributed to the 2007–2008 global financial crisis. It was triggered by a large decline in US home prices after the coll ...

, the crash dealt a devastating blow to the Nissan Group by leaving it with several hundred billions of dollars of debt. The Nissan Group has long since shed the majority of its real estate assets (which were sold to Mitsui & Co. and still operates as the Bussan Real Estate Company), and has focused on manufacturing and insurance. Nissan Motors was given more independence as French automotive manufacturer

Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...

bought a 38.8% stake in the company for $5.4 billion in 1999 and appointed

Carlos Ghosn Carlos Ghosn (; ; ar, كارلوس غصن; , born 9 March 1954) is a businessman who holds Brazilian and French nationality. Ghosn was the CEO of Michelin North America, chairman and CEO of Renault, chairman of AvtoVAZ, chairman and CEO of Ni ...

as CEO of the new Renault–Nissan Alliance. Nissan Motors' successful turnaround was attributed to CEO Ghosn's ability to detach it from its

keiretsu A is a set of companies with interlocking business relationships and shareholdings. In the legal sense, it is a type of informal business group that are loosely organized alliances within the social world of Japan's business community. The ''ke ...

connections and eliminate 23,000 jobs from the Japanese workforce.

Nissan Concern member companies

* Nissan Subgroup ** 日産自動車

** 日産化学工業

Nissan Chemical Corporation is a Japanese company and constituent of the Nikkei 225 stock index. History The company was founded in 1887 as the Tokyo Jinzo Hiryo (Tokyo Artificial Fertilizer Company) by Jokichi Takamine, Eiichi Shibusawa and Takashi Masuda Baro ...

** 日産証券

Nissan Securities , trading as Nissan Motor Corporation and often shortened to Nissan, is a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the Nissan, Infiniti, and Datsun brands, ...

** 日産農林

NNK Nicotine-derived nitrosamine ketone (NNK) is one of the key tobacco-specific nitrosamines derived from nicotine. It plays an important role in carcinogenesis. The conversion of nicotine to NNK entails opening of the pyrrolidine ring. Synthesis a ...

Kinugawa Rubber Industrial Company , is a river on the main island of Honshu in Japan. It flows from the north to the south on the Kantō plain, merging with . At 176.7 km in length, it is the longest tributary of Tone-gawa. From ancient times, it has been known to cause flood ...

Kayaba Industry is a Japanese, Tokyo-based automotive company. Among KYB's main products company are shock absorbers, air suspensions, power steering systems, hydraulic pumps, motors, cylinders, and valves. It is one of the world's largest shock absorber m ...

* Hitachi Group **

Hitachi, Ltd () is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It is the parent company of the Hitachi Group (''Hitachi Gurūpu'') and had formed part of the Ni ...

*** INES Corporation ***

Hitachi Maxell , commonly known as Maxell, is a Japanese company that manufactures consumer electronics. The company's name is a contraction of "Maximum capacity dry cell". Its main products are batteries, wireless charging products, storage devices, LCD/laser ...

*** Nisseicom Limited ** 日立キャピタル株式会社 Hitachi Capital ** 日立金属

Hitachi Metals () is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It is the parent company of the Hitachi Group (''Hitachi Gurūpu'') and had formed part of the Ni ...

Hitachi Cable was established in 1956 as a manufacturer of electric wire and cable for power distribution. The company, based in Tokyo, Japan, was formed from Hitachi Densen Works, the Hitachi Works spin-off previously known as Densen Works. In the half-cen ...

** 日立化成工業株式会社

Hitachi Chemical () is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It is the parent company of the Hitachi Group (''Hitachi Gurūpu'') and had formed part of the Nissan ''zaibatsu'' and later DKB Group and Fuyo Gr ...

*** 新神戸電機株式会社 Shin-Kobe Electric Machinery Company ** 株式会社ニチレイ

Nichirei Corporation is one of Japan's top producers of frozen foods and a leader in cold storage warehousing, headquartered in Tokyo. Operating through around 80 subsidiaries and affiliates worldwide, its businesses include processed food; logistics; marine product ...

Hitachi Zosen Corporation is a major Japanese industrial and engineering corporation. It produces waste treatment plants, industrial plants, precision machinery, industrial machinery, steel mill process equipment, steel structures, construction machinery, tunnel boring ma ...

** 日立建機株式会社

Hitachi Construction Machinery is a Japanese construction equipment company which is into the manufacturing, sales and service of construction machinery, transportation machinery, and other machines and devices. It is a subsidiary of the Hitachi Group. History Hitachi Cons ...

*** TCM株式会社 TCM Corp **

Nippon Suisan Kaisha , is a marine products company based in Japan. It had annual revenues of US$5.1 billion in 2014.Until November 30, 2022, the company name will be . The company was established in 1911, and is a commercial fishing and marine product procurement ...

** 日油株式会社 NOF Corporation *** ニッサン石鹸株式会社 Nissan Soap Company *** 昭和炭酸株式会社 Showa Tansan Company, Limited ** りんかい日産建設 Rinkai Nissan Construction * JXTG Group ** JXTGホールディングス株式会社 JXTG Holdings Incorporated ***

JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy , formerly , or NOC or ''Shin-Nisseki'' (新日石) is a Japanese petroleum company. Its businesses include exploration, importation, and refining of crude oil; the manufacture and sale of petroleum products, including fuels and lubricants; and ...

*** JX金属株式会社 JX Nippon Mining & Metals Company * Sompo Holdings (formerly Yasuda Fire & Marine Insurance Company) **

Sompo Japan Nipponkoa Insurance , formerly NKSJ Holdings and , is a Japanese insurance company. It is the second-largest property insurance company in Japan only behind Tokio Marine, with market share of 19.3% in 2007. The “Sompo” in the company's name means in Japanese, t ...

*** 日産センチュリー証券 Nissan Century Security Company, Limited *** 兼松日産農林株式会社 Kanematsu-NNK Corporation

Former members

* Victor Company of Japan or

JVC JVC (short for Japan Victor Company) is a Japanese brand owned by JVCKenwood corporation. Founded in 1927 as the Victor Talking Machine Company of Japan and later as , the company is best known for introducing Japan's first televisions and for ...

, sold to

Panasonic formerly between 1935 and 2008 and the first incarnation of between 2008 and 2022, is a major Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation, headquartered in Kadoma, Osaka, Kadoma, Osaka P ...

in 1953, spun-off as an independent; merged into

Kenwood Corporation is a Japanese brand of consumer electronics. It has been owned by JVCKenwood ever since October 2011, when Kenwood Corporation merged with JVC. Kenwood manufactures audio equipment such as cassette tape decks/recorders, amateur radio (ham) equ ...

to create JVCKenwood Corp. *

Nippon Columbia , often pronounced ''Korombia'', operating internationally as , is a Japanese record label founded in 1910 as Nipponophone Co., Ltd. It affiliated itself with the Columbia Graphophone Company of the United Kingdom and adopted the standard UK C ...

- founded 1910 and divested from Nissan Group 2002 *

Denon is a Japanese electronics company started in 1910 by Frederick Whitney Horn, an American entrepreneur. Denon produced the first cylinder audio media in Japan and players to play them. Decades later, Denon was involved in the early stages of de ...

- founded 1910 and merged with Marantz Japan Incorporated in 2002 to form D&M Holdings * Nissan Mutual Life Insurance (Nippon Mutual Life) - founded in 1909 and bankrupt in 1997 *

Nitto Denko is a Japanese company that produces tapes, vinyl, LCDs, insulation, and several other products. It was founded in Osaki, Tokyo in 1918 to produce electrical insulation and it survived World War II, despite the destruction of its central offices ...

- founded 1918 *

UD Trucks UD Trucks Corporation (UDトラックス株式会社, ''UD Torakkusu Kabushikigaisha'') is a Japanese company whose principal business is the manufacturing and sales of diesel trucks, buses, bus chassis and special-purpose vehicles. Its headquarte ...

- sold to

Volvo The Volvo Group ( sv, Volvokoncernen; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distributio ...

in 2010 * 日産マリーン

Nissan Marine {{unreferenced, date=April 2008 Nissan Marine began their North American operations in 1984 in Memphis, Tennessee as a division of Nissan Industrial Equipment Co. Over the next 6 years, the Marine Division experienced explosive growth and in 1991 Ni ...

(Merged into

Tohatsu is a Japanese company manufacturing and selling outboard motors, pleasure boats, portable fire pumps, small fire trucks, pumps for construction and drainage, and refrigeration units for transportation. It also does real estate property managem ...

in 2014) * Nissan Outboard Motors (Merged into

in 2014)

Nissan Concern member companies

Former members

See also