The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group historically descended from the Mitsubishi

zaibatsu is a Japanese term referring to industrial and financial vertically integrated business conglomerates in the Empire of Japan, whose influence and size allowed control over significant parts of the Japanese economy from the Meiji period unt ...

, a unified company which existed from 1870 to 1946. The company was disbanded during the occupation of Japan following

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 opposing ...

. The former constituents of the company continue to share the Mitsubishi

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create ...

and

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from othe ...

. Although the group of companies participate in limited business cooperation, most famously through monthly "Friday Conference" executive meetings, they are formally independent and are not under common control. The four main companies in the group are

MUFG Bank is the largest bank in Japan. It was established on January 1, 2006, following the merger of the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Ltd. and UFJ Bank Ltd. MUFG is one of the three so-called Japanese "megabanks" (along with SMBC and Mizuho). As such, ...

(the largest bank in Japan),

Mitsubishi Corporation is Japan's largest trading company (sogo shosha) and a member of the Mitsubishi keiretsu. As of 2022, Mitsubishi Corporation employs over 80,000 people and has ten business segments, including finance, banking, energy, machinery, chemical ...

(a general trading company), Mitsubishi Electric and

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is a Japanese multinational engineering, electrical equipment and electronics corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. MHI is one of the core companies of the Mitsubishi Group and its automobile division is the predecessor of Mitsubishi Mo ...

(both diversified manufacturing companies).

History

Iwasaki Yataro Photo Mitsubishi Archives

The Mitsubishi company was established as a

shipping Freight transport, also referred as ''Freight Forwarding'', is the physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it has been ...

firm by

Iwasaki Yatarō was a Japanese industrialist and financier known as the founder of Mitsubishi, one of Japan's largest conglomerates. Early life Iwasaki Yatarō was born on 9 January 1835 in Aki, Tosa Province (now Kōchi Prefecture) into a provincial far ...

(1834–1885) in 1870 under the name . In 1873, its name was changed to ''Mitsubishi Shokai''; consists of two parts: "''mitsu''" (三) meaning "three" (as in the three oak leaves from the

crest Crest or CREST may refer to: Buildings *The Crest (Huntington, New York), a historic house in Suffolk County, New York *"The Crest", an alternate name for 63 Wall Street, in Manhattan, New York *Crest Castle (Château Du Crest), Jussy, Switzerla ...

of the Yamauchi or Tosa family that ruled over Yatarō's birthplace and employed him) and "''hishi''" (菱, which becomes "''bishi''" under

rendaku is a phenomenon in Japanese morphophonology that governs the voicing of the initial consonant of a non-initial portion of a compound or prefixed word. In modern Japanese, ''rendaku'' is common but at times unpredictable, with certain words un ...

) meaning "

water caltrop The water caltrop is any of three extant species of the genus ''Trapa'': ''Trapa natans'', ''Trapa bicornis'' and the endangered ''Trapa rossica''. It is also known as buffalo nut, bat nut, devil pod, ling gok ( Chinese: 菱角), ling nut, lin ko ...

", and hence "

rhombus In plane Euclidean geometry, a rhombus (plural rhombi or rhombuses) is a quadrilateral whose four sides all have the same length. Another name is equilateral quadrilateral, since equilateral means that all of its sides are equal in length. The ...

", which is reflected in the company's

logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name it represents as in a wo ...

. It is also translated as "three diamonds". Mitsubishi was established in 1870, two years 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 practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

, with shipping as its core business. Its diversification was mostly into related fields. It entered into coal-mining to gain the coal needed for ships, bought a shipbuilding yard from the government to repair the ships it used, founded an iron mill to supply iron to the shipbuilding yard, started a

marine insurance Marine insurance covers the physical loss or damage of ships, cargo, terminals, and any transport by which the property is transferred, acquired, or held between the points of origin and the final destination. Cargo insurance is the sub-branch o ...

business to cater for its shipping business, and so forth. Later, the managerial resources and technological capabilities acquired through the operation of shipbuilding were used to expand the business further into the manufacture of aircraft and equipment. The experience of overseas shipping led the firm to enter into a trading business. In 1881, the company bought into coal mining by acquiring the Takashima Mine, followed by

Hashima Island , commonly called , is a tiny abandoned island off Nagasaki, lying about from the centre of the city. It is one of 505 uninhabited islands in Nagasaki Prefecture. The island's most notable features are its abandoned concrete buildings, undistu ...

in 1890, using the production to fuel their extensive steamship fleet. They also diversified into shipbuilding,

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

ing,

insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...

, warehousing, and trade. Later diversification carried the organization into such sectors as

paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, rags, grasses or other vegetable sources in water, draining the water through fine mesh leaving the fibre evenly distrib ...

, steel,

glass Glass is a non-crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling ( quenching ...

, electrical equipment,

aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engine ...

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

, and

real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...

. As Mitsubishi built a broadly based conglomerate, it played a central role in the modernization of Japanese industry. In February 1921, the

Mitsubishi Internal Combustion Engine Manufacturing Company is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational engineering, electrical equipment and electronics corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. MHI is one of the core companies of the Mitsubishi Group and its automobile division is the predec ...

in Nagoya invited British

Sopwith Camel The Sopwith Camel is a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter aircraft that was introduced on the Western Front in 1917. It was developed by the Sopwith Aviation Company as a successor to the Sopwith Pup and became one of the ...

designer Herbert Smith, along with several other former Sopwith engineers to assist in creating an aircraft manufacturing division. After moving to Japan, they designed the

Mitsubishi 1MT The Mitsubishi 1MT was a Japanese single-seat triplane torpedo bomber built by Mitsubishi for the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service. Designed by the former Sopwith designer Herbert Smith it was intended for use aboard the Japanese aircraft car ...

Mitsubishi B1M The Mitsubishi B1M was a Japanese torpedo bomber of the 1920s, also known as the Navy Type 13 Carrier-Borne Attack Aircraft. It was designed and built by Mitsubishi and used in combat against China. The aircraft was used by the air services of ...

, Mitsubishi 1MF, and Mitsubishi 2MR. The merchant fleet entered into a period of diversification that would eventually result in the creation of three entities: *

Mitsubishi Bank was a major Japanese bank that served as the main bank for the Mitsubishi conglomerate/''keiretsu''. It merged with The Bank of Tokyo in 1996 to form The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi (now MUFG Bank). The bank's operations date to 1880, when Mitsubi ...

(now a part of the

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group is a Japanese bank holding and financial services company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. MUFG holds assets of around US$3.1 trillion as of 2016 and is one of the "Three Great Houses" of the Mitsubishi Group alongside Mitsubishi Corp ...

) was founded in 1919. After its mergers with the Bank of Tokyo in 1996, and

UFJ Holdings UFJ, which stands for the United Financial of Japan, is used in the former companies of UFJ Bank, UFJ Group, and UFJ Holdings. These related institutions disappeared after the merger of The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi and UFJ Bank in 2005. UFJ Bank i ...

in 2004, this became Japan's largest bank. *

, founded in 1950, Japan's largest general trading company *

, which includes these industrial companies: **

Mitsubishi Motors is a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.car manufacturer. ** Mitsubishi Atomic Industry, a

nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced ...

company. ** Mitsubishi Chemical, the largest Japan-based

chemical A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., w ...

s company ** Mitsubishi Power, the energy systems division **

Nikon Corporation (, ; ), also known just as Nikon, is a Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, specializing in optics and imaging products. The companies held by Nikon form the Nikon Group. Nikon's products include cameras, cam ...

, specializing in optics and imaging. The firm's prime real estate holdings in the Marunouchi district of Tokyo, acquired in 1890, were spun off in 1937 to form

Mitsubishi Estate is one of the largest real-estate developers in Japan and is involved in property management and architecture research and design. As of 2018, Mitsubishi Estate has the most valuable portfolio in the Japanese real estate industry, with a total ...

, now one of the largest real estate development companies in Japan.

World War II

During

, Mitsubishi manufactured military aircraft under the direction of Dr.

Jiro Horikoshi was the chief engineer of many Japanese fighter designs of World War II, including the Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter. Early life Jiro Horikoshi was born near the city of Fujioka, Gunma Prefecture, Japan, in 1903. Horikoshi graduated from the new ...

. The

Mitsubishi A6M Zero The Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" is a long-range carrier-based fighter aircraft formerly manufactured by Mitsubishi Aircraft Company, a part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and was operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy from 1940 to 1945. The A6M w ...

was a primary naval fighter of the Japanese military. It was used by

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrend ...

pilots throughout the war, including in ''

kamikaze , officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending t ...

'' attacks during the later stages. Allied pilots were astounded by its maneuverability, and it was very successful in combat until the Allies devised tactics to use their advantage in armor and diving speed.Green and Swanborough 2001Hawks, Chuck
"The Best Fighter Planes of World War II"
chuckhawks.com. Retrieved: 30 July 2015.Thompson with Smith 2008, p. 231.Angelucci and Matricardi 1978, p. 138. Mitsubishi made use of forced labor during this tenure. Laborers included Allied prisoner of war, as well as Chinese and Korean citizens. In the post-war period, lawsuits and demands for compensations were presented against the Mitsubishi Corporation, in particular by former Chinese workers. On July 24, 2015, the company agreed to formally apologize for this wartime labor, and compensated 3,765 Chinese laborers who were conscripted to Mitsubishi Mining during the war. On July 19, 2015, the company apologized for using American prisoners of war as forced laborers during World War II, making them the first major Japanese company to apologize for doing so. Mitsubishi was involved in the opium trade in China during this period.

Post-war era

Mitsubishi was among a number of major Japanese conglomerates targeted for dissolution during the occupation of Japan. It was broken up into a large number of smaller enterprises whose stock was offered to the public. For several years, these companies were banned from coordinating with each other and from using the Mitsubishi name and trademarks. These restrictions were lifted in 1952, as the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

generated a need for a stronger industrial base in Japan. Mitsubishi Corporation and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which had themselves been broken up into many smaller entities, again coalesced by the mid-1950s. Mitsubishi companies participated in Japan's unprecedented economic growth of the 1950s and 1960s. For example, as Japan modernized its energy and materials industries, the Mitsubishi companies created Mitsubishi Petrochemical, Mitsubishi Atomic Power Industries, Mitsubishi Liquefied Petroleum Gas, and Mitsubishi Petroleum Development. The traditional Mitsubishi emphasis on technological development was in new ventures in such fields as space development, aviation, ocean development, data communications, computers, and semiconductors. Mitsubishi companies also were active in consumer goods and services. In 1970, Mitsubishi companies established the Mitsubishi Foundation to commemorate the centennial anniversary of the founding of the first Mitsubishi company. The companies also individually maintain charitable foundations. Mitsubishi pavilions have been highlights of expositions in Japan since EXPO'70 in Osaka in the 1970s to 1980s. Mitsubishi, along with other manufacturers, was affected by the Kobe Steel scandal in 2017, which involved falsified data for products supplied to the aerospace, car and electric power industries. On November 28, 2018, the

South Korea Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Korea () is the highest ordinary court in the judicial branch of South Korea, seated in Seocho, Seoul. Established under Chapter 5 of the Constitution of South Korea, the Court has ultimate and comprehensive jurisdiction ...

ordered Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which serves as one of Mitsubishi's core companies, to pay 10 Koreans 150m won ($133,000; £104,000) in compensation for forced labor which it oversaw during the Japanese occupation of Korea. 18 family members of other victims of the forced labour which Mitsubishi Heavy Industries oversaw and who sued sometime before 2008 will also be awarded compensation as well. All 28 plaintiffs had previously filed a lawsuit in Japan, but had their lawsuit dismissed by the

Supreme Court of Japan The , located in Hayabusachō, Chiyoda, Tokyo, is the highest court in Japan. It has ultimate judicial authority to interpret the Japanese constitution and decide questions of national law. It has the power of judicial review, which allows it t ...

in 2008. The Japanese Government has responded to the court's decision that it is a breach of the international law, citing the Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea.

Mitsubishi companies

Business form

The Mitsubishi Group is made up of about 40 individual companies without a controlling parent company. Each of the Mitsubishi companies owns substantial (but usually not controlling) portions of the shares of the others. Twenty-nine of the group companies participate in the , a luncheon meeting of their most senior executives held on the second Friday of each month. The group began its tradition of monthly executive meetings in 1952, and over time the meetings became a venue for coordinating policy between the group companies. However, by the 1990s, this practice was criticized (particularly by non-Japanese investors) as a possible violation of

antitrust law Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust ...

. Since 1993, the Friday Conference has officially been held as a social function, and not for the purpose of discussing or coordinating business strategy. Despite this, the Friday Conference has been a venue for informal cooperation and coordination between the group companies, most notably in bailing out

Mitsubishi Motors is a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. In addition to the Friday Conference, the group companies' heads of general affairs hold a meeting on the third Monday of each month, and the group companies' legal and IP departments hold a trademark policy coordination meeting on the first Friday of each month. The company briefly dabbled in the early 1990s, when it inked a deal with

Westinghouse Broadcasting International The Westinghouse Broadcasting Company, also known as Group W, was the broadcasting division of Westinghouse Electric Corporation. It owned several radio and television stations across the United States and distributed television shows for syndicat ...

to become the Japanese sales representative.

Core members

Three of the group companies are informally known as the and hold a separate coordinating meeting prior to each Friday Conference: *

Ten other "major" group companies participate in the coordinating meeting on a rotating basis (with six of the ten companies participating in any given month): * AGC Inc. *

Kirin Company is a Japanese integrated beverages company. It is a subsidiary of Kirin Holdings Company, Limited. Its major operating units include Kirin Brewery Company, Limited, Mercian Corporation and Kirin Beverages Company, Limited. Kirin is a member o ...

Meiji Yasuda Life is a Japanese life insurance company, headquartered in Tokyo and created in 2004 from the merger of Meiji Life and Yasuda Life. The company is one of the oldest and largest insurers in Japan. The Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Company is a membe ...

Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings is a Japanese company formed in October 2005 from the merger of Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation and Mitsubishi Pharma Corporation. The company is based in Tokyo and is one of the core Mitsubishi companies. History On December 4, 2021, the compa ...

* Mitsubishi Electric *

Mitsubishi Materials , or MMC, is a Japanese company. It is a manufacturer of cement products, copper and aluminum products, cemented carbide tools, and electronic materials. It is one of the core companies of Mitsubishi Group. The company is listed on the Tokyo St ...

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation is the trust banking arm of the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, a Japanese financial services group which is the largest in the world measured by assets. The bank is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. The merger of Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Gro ...

NYK Line Nippon Yūsen Kabushiki Kaisha (Japan Mail Shipping Line), also known as NYK Line, is a Japanese shipping company and is a member of the Mitsubishi ''keiretsu''. The company headquarters are located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It operates a flee ...

(Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha) *

Tokio Marine Nichido , commonly called Tokio Marine Nichido, is a property/casualty insurance subsidiary of Tokio Marine Holdings, the largest non-mutual private insurance group in Japan. Tokio Marine Holdings was formerly known as Millea Group, which underwent a ...

Other members

Eneos 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 ...

Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation The is a manufacturer of trucks and buses. It is headquartered in Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan. Currently, it is 89.29% owned by Germany-based Daimler Truck.

Mitsubishi Logistics Mitsubishi Logistics, Inc. is a logistics company with its headquarters in Shinkawa, Chuo-ku, Tokyo. It is a member of the Mitsubishi group and a participant of Mitsubishi Kinyokai and Mitsubishi Public Affairs Committee. History Since its pr ...

Mitsubishi Motors is a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.Mitsubishi Paper Mills () is a Japanese company based in Sumida, Tokyo. It is part of the Mitsubishi and Oji Paper Company, Oji Paper group and is listed on the Nikkei 225. References External links

* Companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Companie ...

* Mitsubishi Plastics *

Mitsubishi Rayon (est. August 31, 1933) is a Japanese textile company that manufactures chemicals, plastics, and fibers. It is Japan's biggest acrylic fiber maker. In 2010, it became a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings.Mitsubishi Research Institute * Mitsubishi Shindoh * Mitsubishi Steel Manufacturing :*MSSC *

Mitsubishi UFJ Securities is the investment banking arm of the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), a financial services company which is the largest in Japan measured by assets. The company is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. The company was established on October 1, ...

Nikon (, ; ), also known just as Nikon, is a Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, specializing in optics and imaging products. The companies held by Nikon form the Nikon Group. Nikon's products include cameras, camera ...

* P.S. Mitsubishi Construction

Related organizations

* Atami Yowado * Chitose Kosan * Dai Nippon Toryo * The Dia Foundation for Research on Ageing Societies * Diamond Family Club * Kaitokaku * Koiwai Noboku Kaisha * LEOC Japan * Marunouchi Yorozu * Meiwa Corp. * Mitsubishi Agricultural Machinery * Mitsubishi C&C Research Association * Mitsubishi Club * Mitsubishi Corporate Name and Trademark Committee * Mitsubishi Economic Research Institute * Mitsubishi Electric Automation * Mitsubishi Foundation * Mitsubishi Kinyokai * Mitsubishi Marketing Association *

Mitsubishi Motors North America Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc. is the U.S. operation of Mitsubishi Motors Corporation, overseeing sales and research and development functions. The company manufactures and sells Mitsubishi brand cars and sport utility vehicles through a ne ...

* Mitsubishi Public Affairs Committee * The Mitsubishi Yowakai Foundation * MT Insurance Service * Nippon TCS Solution Center *

Seikadō Bunko Art Museum is a museum of East Asian art in Setagaya, Tokyo. History The core collection of the museum was created by Yanosuke Iwasaki (1851–1908), the second president of Mitsubishi in its earliest form. "''Seikado''" was the studio-name of this corpora ...

* Shonan Country Club * Sotsu Corporation *

Tōyō Bunko The , or "Oriental Library", is Japan's largest Asian studies library and one of the world's five largest, located in Tokyo. It also functions as a research institute dedicated to the study of Asian history and culture. It has greatly contributed ...

* Seikei University * All Mitsubishi Lions

Former members

Nippon Crown is a Japanese record label established as Crown Records on 6 September 1963. It is a spin-off of Nippon Columbia and is owned by karaoke maker Daiichikosho. The record label singles which topped the Oricon Singles Chart are Kaze's "22-Sai no ...

(sold to

Daiichi Kosho Company is a Japanese electronics and aircraft manufacturer that was founded in 1973 and is headquartered in Tokyo. As an electronics manufacturer the company specializes in karaoke equipment. History Between about 1992 and 2003 the company branched i ...

in 2001)

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Aircraft manufacturers of Japan Anti-Japanese sentiment in Korea Companies based in Osaka Prefecture Conglomerate companies based in Tokyo Conglomerate companies established in 1870 Display technology companies Japanese companies established in 1870 Keiretsu Manufacturing companies based in Tokyo Multinational companies headquartered in Japan Pulp and paper companies of Japan Rolling stock manufacturers of Japan Zaibatsu