Mitsui Group
| Mitsui Group ( Japanese 三井 グ ル ー プ )
|
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|---|---|
 |
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| legal form | economic group of independent companies ( Keiretsu ) |
| founding | 1876 |
| Seat |
 Japan
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| management | Tatsuo Yasunaga (President & CEO ) |
| Number of employees | 47,118 (as of March 31, 2015) |
| Branch | Conglomerate : steel production, telecommunications, chemical industry, logistics, etc. |
| Website | www.mitsui.com (English) |
The Mitsui Group ( Japanese 三井 グ ル ー プ Mitsui Gurūpu ) is a Japanese Keiretsu founded in 1947 , which is active in the fields of steel production , telecommunications , chemical industry and logistics . The Mitsui Group companies are only partially connected to one another through (cross) shareholdings and formally independent of one another.
With a turnover of more than 100 billion US dollars in 2001, the Mitsui Group is one of the top 20 corporate groups in the world.
history
Beginnings in the Edo period
Takatoshi Mitsui (1622–1694), the fourth son of a merchant from Matsusaka , founded the Echigoya business (Japanese 越 後 屋 ) in 1637 . His father sold miso there and was also a pawnbroker . The Mitsui family later opened a bazaar in Edo (now Tokyo ).
At the age of 14, Takatoshi moved to Edo and his older brother later followed him. Takatoshi was sent back to Matsusaka, waited 24 years for his brother's death, and eventually took over Echigoya. In 1673 Takatoshi opened a new branch in Nihombashi , a district in the heart of Edo, which sold kimonos . This happened during the Enpō period , a Nengō , which means prolonged wealth . The kimono business split off from Mitsui after a period and is now called Mitsukoshi .
Foundation of the Zaibatsu
After the Meiji Restoration , Mitsui was one of the companies that had a hard time forming a zaibatsu because they were big and rich right at the beginning of modern industrial development. Firms like Mitsui or Sumitomo were run by non-family managers like Minomura Rizaemon, who ran the company through accurate predictions of the coming economic situation in collaboration with senior officials and politicians.
Mitsui's main businesses at the time were drapery, finance and commerce, the first two being carried over from the Tokugawa era . Mitsui also got into mining.
On July 1, 1876, Mitsui Bank was founded with Masuda Takashi (1848–1938) as president. It still exists today as Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation . Mitsui was one of the greatest zaibatsu in the early 20th century and was active in numerous fields.
Second World War
As part of Japan's plans to exploit China , a subsidiary manufactured the so-called "Golden Bat" cigarettes in the 1930s and 1940s. Since these were banned in Japan, they were exported. The Japanese secret service, led by the controversial General Doihara Kenji , was in control of the spread of cigarettes in China and Manchukuo . The mouthpieces of the "Golden Bat" cigarettes contained a dose of opium or heroin , millions of unsuspecting users became addicted to them, and the company made huge profits. General Doihara, who was behind this scheme, was later charged with war crimes and sentenced to death, but the company that profited from the cigarettes has never been tried.
During the Second World War, Mitsui also hired American prisoners of war as slave labor.
Post-war development as Keiretsu
General Douglas MacArthur urged the Japanese government in 1947 and 1948 to disband the ten largest zaibatsu, including Mitsui. After the occupation in Japan ended, the Mitsui Group, which was divided into many individual companies, grew back together in the 1950s and formed a keiretsu . The most important companies were now Mitsui Bank and Mitsui Bussan .
Mitsui lagged somewhat behind rivals Mitsubishi and Sumitomo in its reorganization . Mitsui Bank was supposed to be the mainstay and main financier, but it has shrunk due to the collapse of the Bank of Japan . Many companies that had previously belonged to the Mitsui Group left it. Above all, Toshiba , Toyota and Suntory split off from Mitsui and became independent; Toyota Motor Corporation became its own conglomerate. Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries is now considered part of the Mizuho Financial Group and many Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group companies are closer to the Sumitomo Group than to the Mitsui Group. There are also signs that Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and Mitsubishi may acquire parts of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group. In 2008 Mitsukoshi merged with Isetan , a Depāto that is closely associated with Mitsubishi Tōkyō UFJ Ginkō , to form Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings .
In the Nikkei 225 listed companies of the Mitsui
- Mitsui Bussan (English Mitsui & Co. )
- Mitsui Chemicals (Japanese 三井 化学 株式会社 , Mitsui Kagaku Kabushiki kaisha )
- Mitsui Zōsen (Japanese 三井 造船 株式会社 , Mitsui Zōsen Kabushiki kaisha , Eng. Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding )
- Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings (Japanese 株式会社 三越 伊勢丹 ホ ー ル デ ィ ン グ ス , Kabushiki kaisha Mitsukoshi Isetan Hōrudingusu ), mother of Mitsukoshi
- Mitsui OSK Lines (Japanese 株式会社 商船 三井 Kabushiki kaisha Shōsen Mitsui )
- Mitsui Fudōsan (Japanese 三井 不動産 株式会社 Mitsui Fudōsan kabushiki kaisha )
- Mitsui Kinzoku (Japanese 三井 金属 鉱 業 株式会社 Mitsui Kinzokukōgyō kabushiki kaisha , Eng. Mitsui Mining & Smelting )
- Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (Japanese 株式会社 三井 住友 フ ィ ナ ン シ ャ ル グ ル ー プ , Kabushiki kaisha Mitsui Sumitomo Finansharu Gurūpu )
- Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings (Japanese 三井 住友 ト ラ ス ト ・ ホ ー ル デ ィ ン グ ス 株式会社 , Mitsui Sumitomo Torasuto Hōrudingusu Kabushiki kaisha )
- Nippon Seifun (Japanese 日本 製粉 株式会社 Nippon Seifun Kabushiki Kaisha , English Nippon Flour Mills )
- Mitsui Rail Capital , in Europe Mitsui Rail Capital Europe
Remarks
- ↑ The logo is made up of the name characters 三 and a rotated 井.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Corporate Profile (English), accessed on February 18, 2016