Origins Originally a
samurai family, Governor of
Echigo Province Mitsui Takayasu was exiled to
Matsusaka after being defeated by
Oda Nobunaga, and his son Takatoshi renounced his status as a samurai and established himself as a
sake and
miso merchant and a
pawnbroker. The business was named "Lord Echigo's Sake" (
Echigo-dono no sakaya) to commemorate Takayasu's office. Takatoshi's wife Shuhō was a skilled merchant and practically in charge of the business. She grew the business by introducing many business methods that were ground-breaking at the time, such as forfeited pawn and low-margin high-turnover. Her son Takatoshi (1622–1694), the founder of the Mitsui family, is said to have inherited his business skills mostly from his mother.
Edo period Takatoshi moved to
Edo at the age of 14, and became the manager of his elder brother Toshitsugu's
kimono store. which later became the head company of the
Mitsukoshi retail shopping chain. In contrast to most drapery merchants, who catered to feudal houses and wealthy merchants, trading on credit with no fixed prices, Takatoshi introduced an innovatory system of cash based purchase based on fixed prices for wares and targeted consumers in the emerging
middle class. He subsequently started a money exchange in 1683, with a new system for inter-city loans: he extended the family business by opening an outlet in
Osaka, and was appointed official purveyor of dry goods to the
Tokugawa shogunate in 1687. In 1686, he relocated the headquarters of the family business from Matsusaka to
Kyoto. In 1691 the Mitsuis were officially chartered as merchants of the
Tokugawa shogunate, which ruled during that time. Three years later the family members set up their first constitution, which included details about the amount of property due to each branch as well as the duties of the family council, a periodical assembly that controlled business and other personal matters.
Meiji era After the
Meiji Restoration, the family switched allegiance to the Meiji government. In 1909, a Mitsui controlled
holding company took over the business, with Mitsui thus becoming a
zaibatsu of more than 150 companies operating financial, industrial and commercial industries.
Modern times Today the Mitsui Group counts dozens of multinational companies in fields such as trade, banking, shipping, construction, mining, oil and gas, insurance, chemicals and real estate development. The main branches are: •
Mitsui & Company (a trading company) •
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (the first private bank in Japan) •
Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding •
Mitsui O.S.K. Lines ('MOL') • Mitsui Mining Company (formerly the largest coal producer in Japan) ==Controversy==