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The , Mitsubishi Group of Companies, or Mitsubishi Companies is a Japan
Japan

Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south....
ese conglomerate
Conglomerate (company)

A conglomerate is a company that consists of multiple distinct and often unrelated businesses. Conglomerates are often large and can be formed by merging more than three businesses together....
 consisting of a range of autonomous businesses which share the Mitsubishi brand
Brand

A brand is a collection of symbols, experiences and associations connected with a product, a service, a person or any other artifact or entity....
, trademark and legacy. The Mitsubishi group of companies form a loose entity, the Mitsubishi Keiretsu
Keiretsu

A is a set of company with interlocking business relationships and shareholder. It is a type of business group....
, which is often referenced in US and Japanese media and official reports; in general these companies all descend from the zaibatsu
Zaibatsu

is a Japanese language term referring to industrial and financial business conglomerate in the Empire of Japan, whose influence and size allowed for control over significant parts of the Japanese economy from the Meiji period until the end of the Pacific War....
 of the same name.






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The , Mitsubishi Group of Companies, or Mitsubishi Companies is a Japan
Japan

Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south....
ese conglomerate
Conglomerate (company)

A conglomerate is a company that consists of multiple distinct and often unrelated businesses. Conglomerates are often large and can be formed by merging more than three businesses together....
 consisting of a range of autonomous businesses which share the Mitsubishi brand
Brand

A brand is a collection of symbols, experiences and associations connected with a product, a service, a person or any other artifact or entity....
, trademark and legacy. The Mitsubishi group of companies form a loose entity, the Mitsubishi Keiretsu
Keiretsu

A is a set of company with interlocking business relationships and shareholder. It is a type of business group....
, which is often referenced in US and Japanese media and official reports; in general these companies all descend from the zaibatsu
Zaibatsu

is a Japanese language term referring to industrial and financial business conglomerate in the Empire of Japan, whose influence and size allowed for control over significant parts of the Japanese economy from the Meiji period until the end of the Pacific War....
 of the same name. A keiretsu
Keiretsu

A is a set of company with interlocking business relationships and shareholder. It is a type of business group....
 is a common feature of Japanese corporate governance and refers to a collaborative group of integrated companies with extensive share crossholdings, personnel swaps and strategic co-operation. The top 25 companies are also members of the Mitsubishi Kin'yokai, or "Friday Club", and meet monthly. The Mitsubishi.com Committee is meant to facilitate communication and access of the brand through a portal web site.

History

The first Mitsubishi company was a shipping
Shipping

Shipping is physical process of transporting product and cargo. Virtually every product ever made, bought, or sold has been affected by shipping....
 firm established by Yataro Iwasaki
Yataro Iwasaki

Yataro Iwasaki was a Japanese people financier and shipping industrialist, and the founder of Mitsubishi....
 (1834–1885) in 1870. In 1873, its name was changed to Mitsubishi Shokai. The name Mitsubishi has two parts: "mitsu" meaning "three" and "hishi" (which becomes "bishi" in the middle of a word) meaning "water caltrop
Water caltrop

The water caltrop or water chestnut is either of two species of the genus Trapa: Trapa natans and Trapa bicornis. Both species are floating annual plant aquatic plants, growing in slow-moving water up to 5 meters deep, native to warm temperate parts of Eurasia and Africa....
" (also called "water chestnut"), and hence "rhombus
Rhombus

In geometry, a rhombus , or rhomb is an equilateral polygon parallelogram. In other words, it is a four-sided polygon in which every side has the same length....
", which is reflected in the famous company's logo
Logo

A logo is a graphical element that, together with its logotype form a trademark or commercial brand. Typically, a logo's design is for immediate recognition....
. It is also translated as "three diamonds".

The company bought into coal mining
Coal mining

Coal mining is the extraction or removal of coal from the earth by mining. When coal is used for fuel in power generation it is referred to as steaming or thermal coal....
 in 1881 by acquiring the Takashima mine and Hashima Island
Hashima Island

Hashima Island , commonly called Gunkanjima is one among 505 uninhabited islands in the Nagasaki Prefecture about 15 kilometers from Nagasaki, Nagasaki itself....
 in 1890, using the produce to fuel their extensive steamship fleet. They also diversified into shipbuilding, bank
Bank

A bank is a financial institution whose primary activity is to act as a payment agent for customers and to borrow and lend money. It is an institution for receiving, keeping, and lending money....
ing, insurance
Insurance

Insurance, in law and economics, is a form of risk management primarily used to Hedge against the risk of a contingent loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for a premium, and can be thought of as a guaranteed small loss to prevent a large, possibly devastating los...
, warehousing, and trade. Later diversification carried the organization into such sectors as paper
Paper

Paper is thin material mainly used for writing upon, printing upon or packaging. It is produced by pressing together moist fibers, typically cellulose pulp derived from wood, rags or grasses, and drying them into flexible sheets....
, steel
Steel

Steel is an alloy consisting mostly of iron, with a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.14% by weight , depending on grade. Carbon is the most cost-effective alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten....
, glass
Glass

Glass generally refers to a Hardness, brittle, transparency amorphous solid, such as that used for windows, many Glass Bottles, or eyewear, including, but not limited to, soda-lime glass, borosilicate glass, acrylic glass, sugar glass, Muscovite , or aluminium oxynitride....
, electrical equipment, aircraft
Aircraft

An aircraft is a vehicle which is able to flight by being supported by the air, or in general, the atmosphere, of a planet. Examples include balloons, airplanes and helicopters....
, oil
Petroleum

Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid found in rock formations in the Earth consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights, plus other organic compounds....
, and real estate
Real estate

Real estate is a law term that encompasses land along with anything permanently affixed to the land, such as buildings, specifically property that is fixed in location.. As Mitsubishi built a broadly based conglomerate
Conglomerate (company)

A conglomerate is a company that consists of multiple distinct and often unrelated businesses. Conglomerates are often large and can be formed by merging more than three businesses together....
, it played a central role in the modernization of Japanese industry.

The merchant fleet entered into a period of diversification that would eventually result in the creation of three entities:

  • Mitsubishi Bank (now a part of the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group
    Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group

    , or MUFG, is a Japanese financial group headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.It holds an asset of around US$1.8 1000000000000 as of March 2008 and is one of the main companies of the Mitsubishi Group....
    ) was founded in 1919. After its mergers with the Bank of Tokyo in 1996, and UFJ Holdings in 2004, this became Japan's largest bank.
  • Mitsubishi Corporation
    Mitsubishi Corporation

    is Japan's largest trading company , a member of the Mitsubishi keiretsu. Mitsubishi Corporation employs over 50,000 people and has seven business segments including finance, banking, energy, machinery, chemicals, food and more....
    , founded in 1950, Japan's largest general trading company
  • Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
    Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

    , or MHI, is a Japanese company. It is one of the core companies of Mitsubishi Group....
    , which includes these industrial companies.
    • Mitsubishi Motors
      Mitsubishi Motors

      is the fifth largest automaker in Japan and the fifteenth largest in the world by global unit sales. It is part of the Mitsubishi keiretsu, formerly the biggest industrial group in Japan, and was formed in 1970 from the automotive division of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries....
      , the 6th largest Japanese auto
      Automobile

      An automobile or motor car is a wheeled motor vehicle for transportation passengers, which also carries its own car engine or motor. Most definitions of the term specify that automobiles are designed to run primarily on roads, to have seating for one to eight people, to typically have four wheels, and to be constructed principally f...
       manufacturer.
    • Mitsubishi Atomic Industry, a nuclear power
      Nuclear power

      Nuclear power is any nuclear technology designed to extract usable energy from atomic nucleus via controlled nuclear reactions. The only method in use today is through nuclear fission, though other methods might one day include nuclear fusion and radioactive decay ....
       company.
    • Mitsubishi Chemical, the largest Japanese chemicals company


World War II


Mitsubishi Zero Yasukuni
During the Second World War, Mitsubishi manufactured aircraft, under the direction of Jiro Horikoshi. The Mitsubishi Zero
A6M Zero

The Mitsubishi A6M Zero was a lightweight fighter aircraft operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service from 1940 to 1945. The origin of its official designation was that "A" signified a carrier-based fighter, "6" for the sixth such model built for the Imperial Navy, and "M" for the manufacturer, Mitsubishi....
 was a primary Japanese naval fighter in World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
. It was used by Imperial Japanese Navy
Imperial Japanese Navy

The origins of the Imperial Japanese Navy trace back to early interactions with nations on the Asia, beginning in the early history of Japan#Feudal Japan and reaching a peak of activity during the 16th and 17th centuries at a time of cultural diffusion with European power during the Age of Discovery....
 pilots in the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 and many other occasions, including in kamikaze
Kamikaze

The were suicide attacks by military aviation from the Empire of Japan against Allies Of World War II shipping, in the closing stages of the Pacific War of World War II, to destroy as many warships as possible....
 attacks in the later stages of the war. Allied
Allies of World War II

The Allies of World War II were the countries officially opposed to the Axis powers of World War II during the World War II. Within the ranks of the Allies powers, the British Empire, the Soviet Union, and the United States of America were known as "The Big Three"....
 pilots were astounded by its maneuverability, and it was very successful in combat until the Allies devised tactics to utilize their advantage in firepower and diving speed.

As well as building prominent fighters, Mitsubishi also built many of Japan's most famous bombers of the war, such as the G3M
Mitsubishi G3M

The Mitsubishi G3M was a Japanese bomber aircraft used during World War II, mostly against the Chinese....
, the G4M
Mitsubishi G4M

The Mitsubishi G4M or ???? Ichishiki rikujo kogeki ki, Isshikirikko was the main twin-engined, land-based bomber aircraft used by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service in World War II....
, the Ki-21
Mitsubishi Ki-21

The was a Japanese bomber during World War II. It began operations during the Second Sino-Japanese War participating in the Nomonhan Incident, and in the first stages of the Pacific War, including the Malayan Campaign, Burma Campaign, Dutch East Indies Campaign and New Guinea Campaigns....
, and the Ki-67
Mitsubishi Ki-67

The Mitsubishi Ki-67 Hiryu was a twin-engined medium bomber produced by Mitsubishi and used by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force in World War II....
. During the 1930s, Mitsubishi had also built the single-engined Ki-35.

Slave labor controversy

Like many other large Japanese corporations at that time, Mitsubishi made use of slave labor from Allied POWs and the Japanese captured territories, like Korea and China. With poor working conditions, many people died during this period.

In the post-war period, various lawsuits and demands for compensations were presented against the Mitsubishi Corporation, in particular by former Chinese slave laborers. The counter-arguments presented in statements by the conglomerate's spokesman and by lawyers representing it in the courts included that:

  • Mitsubishi regards forced labor as inconsistent with the company's values;
  • It was a general Japanese wartime national policy to employ Chinese laborers;
  • The Mitsubishi of World War II is not the same as the company bearing this name at present.


New era

Mitsubishi 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 the historic EXPO'70 in Osaka in 1970's to 1980's

As of 2007, Mitsubishi Corporation, a member of the Mitsubishi Group, is Japan's largest general trading company (sogo shosha
Sogo shosha

are general trading company dealing with a wide range of products and materials.The seven largest are Mitsubishi Corporation, Mitsui & Co., ITOCHU, Sumitomo Corporation, Marubeni, Toyota Tsusho and Sojitz....
) with over 200 bases of operations in approximately 80 countries worldwide. Together with its over 500 group companies, Mitsubishi employs a multinational workforce of approximately 54,000 people. Mitsubishi has long been engaged in business with customers around the world in many industries, including energy, metals, machinery, chemicals, food and general merchandise.

Mitsubishi Motors reached 1.3 million cars of total production in 2007.

Mitsubishi companies


Core members

  • 3 Diamonds Seafood Co.
  • Asahi Glass Co.
    Asahi Glass Co.

    is a Japanese manufacturing company. It is one of the core Mitsubishi companies.Founded in 1907 by Toshiya Iwasaki, the second son of the second president of the original Mitsubishi Zaibatsu, it was the first Japanese producer of sheet glass....
  • The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd.
  • Kirin Brewery Co., Ltd.
  • Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Company
  • Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
  • Mitsubishi Estate Co.
    Mitsubishi Estate Co.

    is a Japan corporation. It is one of the core Mitsubishi companies....
  • Mitsubishi Motors
    Mitsubishi Motors

    is the fifth largest automaker in Japan and the fifteenth largest in the world by global unit sales. It is part of the Mitsubishi keiretsu, formerly the biggest industrial group in Japan, and was formed in 1970 from the automotive division of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries....
     (Automobile manufacturing and sales)
  • Mitsubishi Paper Mills, Ltd.
  • Mitsubishi Plastics, Inc.
  • Mitsubishi Rayon Co., Ltd.
  • Mitsubishi Research Institute, Inc.
  • Mitsubishi Shindoh Co., Ltd.
  • Mitsubishi Steel Mfg. Co., Ltd.
  • Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation
    Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation

    is the trust banking arm of the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group , a Japanese financial services company which is the largest in the world measured by assets....
     (part of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group
    Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group

    , or MUFG, is a Japanese financial group headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.It holds an asset of around US$1.8 1000000000000 as of March 2008 and is one of the main companies of the Mitsubishi Group....
    )
  • Mitsubishi UFJ Securities
  • Nikon Corporation
    Nikon

    , also known as Nikon or Nikon Corp., is a multinational corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan specializing in optics and imaging....
  • Nippon Oil Corporation
  • NYK Line (Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha)
  • P.S. Mitsubishi Construction Co., Ltd.
  • Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co., Ltd.


These companies are members of the Mitsubishi Kinyokai
Mitsubishi Kinyokai

The Mitsubishi Kin'yokai is an informal association composed of the heads of the Mitsubishi group companies that meet for lunch once a month....
 (or Friday Club), and meet monthly.

Related organizations

  • Atami Yowado
    Atami Yowado

    Atami Yowado , Koyata Iwasaki Memorial Museum, was a second house of Koyata Iwasaki , the fourth and last president of Mitsubishi Group, located in Atami, Shizuoka, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan....
  • Chitose Kosan Co., Ltd.
  • Dai Nippon Toryo Co., Ltd.
  • The Dia Foundation for Research on Ageing Societies
  • Diamond Family Club
  • Kaitokaku
  • Koiwai Noboku Kaisha, Ltd.
  • LEOC JAPAN Co., Ltd.
  • Marunouchi Yorozu Corp.
  • Meiwa Corporation
  • Mitsubishi C&C Research Association
  • Mitsubishi Club
  • Mitsubishi Corporate Name and Trademark Committee
  • Mitsubishi Economic Research Institute
  • The Mitsubishi Foundation
  • Mitsubishi Kinyokai
    Mitsubishi Kinyokai

    The Mitsubishi Kin'yokai is an informal association composed of the heads of the Mitsubishi group companies that meet for lunch once a month....
  • Mitsubishi Marketing Association
  • Mitsubishi Motors North America
    Mitsubishi Motors North America

    Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc. is the North American operation of Mitsubishi Motors Corporation, overseeing sales, manufacturing, finance, and research and development functions....
  • Mitsubishi Public Affairs Committee
  • The Mitsubishi Yowakai Foundation
  • MT Insurance Service Co., Ltd.
  • Seikado Bunko Art Museum
  • Shonan Country Club
  • Sotsu Corporation
  • The Toyo Bunko
  • Seikei University
    Seikei University

    is private university in the Kichijoji neighborhood of the city of Musashino, Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan. Its name derives from a passage in the Records of the Grand Historian by Sima Qian....


External links