is one of the largest worldwide ''

sogo shosha are Japanese companies that trade in a wide range of products and materials. In addition to acting as intermediaries, ''sōgō shōsha'' also engage in logistics, plant development and other services, as well as international resource explorat ...

'' general trading companies, and is a diversified

corporation A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and ...

. The company was incorporated in 1919 and is a member company of the

Sumitomo Group The is one of the largest Japanese ''keiretsu'', or business groups, founded by Masatomo Sumitomo (1585-1652) around 1615 during the early Edo period. History The Sumitomo Group traces its roots to a bookshop in Kyoto founded circa 1615 by Ma ...

. It is listed on three Japanese stock exchanges (Tokyo, Nagoya and Fukuoka) and is a constituent of the

TOPIX , commonly known as TOPIX, along with the Nikkei 225, is an important stock market index for the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) in Japan, tracking all domestic companies of the exchange's Prime market division. It is calculated and published by the ...

and

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 has been calculated daily by the '' Nihon Keizai Shimbun'' (''The Nikkei'') newspaper since 1950 ...

stock indices. Today, the company is one of the top three ''

sōgō shōsha are Japanese companies that trade in a wide range of products and materials. In addition to acting as intermediaries, ''sōgō shōsha'' also engage in logistics, plant development and other services, as well as international resource explorat ...

'' companies in the world.

History

The

, of which Sumitomo Corporation is a key member, dates to the 17th century establishment of a book and medicine shop in Kyoto by

Masatomo Sumitomo was a Japanese Buddhist monk and businessman credited with founding the eponymous Sumitomo Group. He was an 8th generation descendant of Sumitomo Tadashige. Sumitomo Tadashige said to be 22nd generation descendant of Taira no Takamochi from K ...

. Sumitomo's brother-in-law Riemon Soga developed a technology to extract silver from copper, and Soga's son (who married Sumitomo's daughter) Tomomochi Sumitomo expanded this smelting business to Osaka. From this start, the Sumitomo family expanded its business into copper mining (the Besshi copper mine), followed by textiles, sugar and medicine trading. The Sumitomo family was close to the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

throughout the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characte ...

. During the 1860s, this relationship became a liability for the firm as the

Tokugawa clan The is a Japanese dynasty that was formerly a powerful ''daimyō'' family. They nominally descended from Emperor Seiwa (850–880) and were a branch of the Minamoto clan (Seiwa Genji) through the Matsudaira clan. The early history of this clan r ...

warred with rivals in western Japan. Following the Tokugawas' defeat, Sumitomo was almost ruined and under pressure to sell the Besshi mine, which by that point was nearly unworkable. However, Sumitomo kept the mine and improved its output through adoption of new Western techniques. During the rapid westernization of Japan in ensuing decades, Sumitomo started various new trading, manufacturing and financing businesses, becoming one of the major ''

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 ...

'' of early 20th century Japan. Sumitomo Corporation was incorporated in December 1919 as The Osaka North Harbour Co., Ltd. to engage in real estate management, land reclamation, land grading, harbor repair construction and related work in the Osaka northern harbor region. In 1944, the company merged with Sumitomo Building Co., Ltd. (established August 1923; capital stock 6.5 million yen) to form Sumitomo Building and Real Estate Co., Ltd.

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 ...

destroyed most of Sumitomo's industrial infrastructure within Japan, and the ensuing Allied occupation led to the forced breakup of the largest Japanese companies, including Sumitomo. Sumitomo Building transitioned to general trading, looking to handle products from Japan's major manufacturing firms in various industries, and changed its name to Nippon Engineering Co., Ltd. (''Nihon Kensetsu Sangyo Kaisha''), starting a new existence as a general trading firm with a sales staff of just 32 people. The firm listed its shares on the Osaka, Tokyo and Nagoya Stock Exchanges in 1949. As regulations on large companies were relaxed in the 1950s, Nippon Engineering resumed closer relations with other Sumitomo Group companies through the "White Water Club" (''Hakusui-kai''), a coordinating meeting of company presidents. The company began to grow overseas in the 1950s, starting business in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

in 1950 and in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

in 1952. It changed its name to Sumitomo Shoji Kaisha, Ltd. in 1952. By the 1960s Sumitomo officially aimed to be one of the "Big Three" general trading companies, alongside Mitsubishi and

Mitsui is one of the largest ''keiretsu'' in Japan and one of the largest corporate groups in the world. The major companies of the group include Mitsui & Co. ( general trading company), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Nippon Paper Industries ...

. In 1970, Sumitomo established a second head office in Tokyo and merged with Sogo Boeki Co., Ltd. Sumitomo adopted its current English name, Sumitomo Corporation, in 1978. The company's transactional volume increased by a factor of ten from 1955 to 1965, and again by a factor of ten from 1965 to 1975. Like its ''

'' cohorts Mitsubishi and Mitsui, Sumitomo established a '' keiretsu'' business group centered on itself and

Sumitomo Bank was a major Japanese bank based in Osaka and a central component of the Sumitomo Group. It merged with Sakura Bank on April 1, 2001 to form Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation. History Sumitomo Bank was established as a private enterprise ...

. Sumitomo's strategy focused on natural resources through 2014, when the company booked hundreds of billions of yen in losses on

tight oil Tight oil (also known as shale oil, shale-hosted oil or light tight oil, abbreviated LTO) is light crude oil contained in unconventional petroleum-bearing formations of low permeability, often shale or tight sandstone. Economic production from ...

(shale oil) and other energy-related investments. The company's president, Kuniharu Nakamura, attributed these losses to both adverse market factors and Sumitomo's relative inexperience in the field. As a result of these setbacks, Sumitomo was overtaken by

Itochu is a Japanese corporation based in Umeda, Kita-ku, Osaka and Aoyama, Minato, Tokyo. It is one of the largest Japanese ''sogo shosha'' (general trading companies). Among Japanese trading companies, it is distinguished by not being descend ...

as Japan's third-largest general trading company. Sumitomo announced in 2015 that it would refocus its business on the automotive and infrastructure industries and other non-resource businesses.

Berkshire Hathaway Berkshire Hathaway Inc. () is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Its main business and source of capital is insurance, from which it invests the float (the retained premiu ...

acquired over 5% of the stock in the company, along with four other Japanese trading houses, over the 12-month period ending in August 2020.

Projects and investments

One of Sumitomo's largest investments is in the Ambatovy nickel mining project in

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

, where it had invested approximately $2.4 billion as of 2015 in a joint venture with Korea Resources and others. Sumitomo is a 50% investor in

SES Water SES Water is the UK water supply company to its designated area of east Surrey, West Sussex, west Kent and south London serving in excess of 282,000 homes and businesses and a population of approximately 675,000 people. An area of , extending ...

, a UK water supply company, together with Osaka Gas. Sumitomo is a major investor in the Turo car-rental service, and plans to facilitate the service's debut in Japan around 2020. Sumitomo, along with

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 ...

, is working with the Philippine Department of Transportation for the rehabilitation of the MRT Line 3 in

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

since 2019. Sumitomo previously maintained the line from 2000 to 2012, until the line was seen to be deteriorated in the following years due to poor maintenance. Sumitomo is in a joint venture with the

Japan Transport Engineering Company is a manufacturer of heavy rail cars in Japan, formerly known as . The company is based in Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama, and a member of East Japan Railway Company (JR East) group. J-TREC manufactures rail vehicles not only for JR East and Tokyu Corp ...

(J-TREC) for the production of a total of 51 commuter train sets (408 cars) in two separate contracts for the Philippine National Railways

North-South Commuter Railway ''North-South'' ( hy, Հյուսիս-Հարավ) or ''Four Buddies and the Bride'' is an Armenian comedy directed by Davit Babakhanyan and Vazgen Muradyan, starring Diana Malenko, Sona Shahgeldyan and David Tovmasyan. The film was produced by ...

and the production of 30 8-car train sets (240 train cars) for the

Metro Manila Subway The Metro Manila Subway, formerly known as the Mega Manila Subway (MMS), is an under-construction underground rapid transit line in Metro Manila, Philippines. The line, which will run north–south between Quezon City, Pasig, Makati, Taguig, ...

. Sumitomo is an investor in the

Light Rail Manila Corporation Light Rail Manila Corporation (LRMC) is a rail service company based in Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines. It is a consortium of three major infrastructure companies engaged in the operation and maintenance of the Manila Light Rail Transit Syste ...

, a railway consortium composed of

Metro Pacific Investments Corporation Metro Pacific Investments Corporation (MPIC) is a Philippine-based unit investment holding company of First Pacific Company Limited through Metro Pacific Holdings, Inc. MPIC through its subsidiaries, provides water, sanitation, and sewerage se ...

Ayala Corporation Ayala Corporation (Spanish: ''Corporación Ayala'', formerly ''Ayala y Compañía'' (Ayala & Company)) is the publicly listed holding company for the diversified interests of the Ayala Group. Founded in the Philippines by Domingo Róxas and A ...

, and Macquarie Infrastructure Holdings (

) PTE Ltd. since May 2020. LRMC is currently operating the LRT Line 1 in Manila, Philippines. It is the first investment of Sumitomo in a railway business in

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainlan ...

Subsidiaries

* Aimo Park * Aimo Solution * Bluewell Insurance * Cantex * Clickstream Capital * Global Partnership for Ethiopia (27.20% share) * Pacific Summit Energy * Petro Summit Pte Ltd (Singapore) * Presidio Ventures * SCSK *SMBC Finance & Lease * Sumitomo Corporation Equity Asia Limited * Sumitomo Wiring Systems Ltd. * Sumitomo Corporation Global Commodities (London & Singapore) * Sumitec International (Moscow) * Summit Biotech *

TBC Corporation TBC Corporation (TBC) is an American corporation and marketer of automotive replacement tires. History In 1956, a purchasing group of tire retailers formed Cordovan Associates. The Company changed its name to Tire & Battery Corporation in 1972. ...

(50% share) (Tire Kingdom, NTB, Big O Tires, Midas International, LLC.) *Pet product maker Hartz Mountain Corporation was acquired from J.W. Childs in 2004, but 51% was sold to

Unicharm is a Japanese company that manufactures disposable hygiene products, household cleaning products, specializing in the manufacture of diapers for both babies and adult incontinence, feminine hygiene products and pet care products. The company ...

in December 2011., C * Crunchyroll SC Anime Fund (anime production joint venture with Crunchyroll) *Sumitomo Chemical Company Limited *Sumitomo Forestry NZ Limited *Summit Fresh Foods New Zealand Limited *Summit Forests New Zealand Limited *New Zealand Aluminium Smelters Limited (20.64% share) *Kiriu Corporation

Shareholders

* Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. * Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation * The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd. * The Sumitomo Trust and Banking Co., Ltd. * Japan Trustee Services Bank, Ltd. * Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group Holdings, Inc. * NEC Corporation *

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 ...

The Dai-ichi Mutual Life Insurance Company , or Dai-ichi Life for short, is the third-largest life insurer in Japan by revenue, behind Japan Post Insurance and Nippon Life. Founded on September 15, 1902, Dai-Ichi was one of the oldest mutual insurance companies in Japan until a motion to ...

* SKY Perfect JSAT Group

References

External links

Sumitomo Corporation HQ

Sumitomo Corporation USA HQSumitomo Corporation EU HQSumitomo Group Public Affairs

Trading

{{Authority control Trading companies based in Tokyo Chemical companies based in Tokyo Construction and civil engineering companies based in Tokyo Manufacturing companies based in Tokyo Mitsui Companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Companies listed on the Osaka Exchange Companies listed on the Nagoya Stock Exchange Companies listed on the Fukuoka Stock Exchange Conglomerate companies established in 1919 Japanese companies established in 1919 Sumitomo Group Construction and civil engineering companies established in 1919