Mitsubishi founder
& first president,
Yataro Iwasaki
(1834-1885)
Mitsubishi founder Yataro Iwasaki was born in 1834 in the village
of Inokuchi on the island of Shikoku. That village, in what
is now Kochi Prefecture, was part of a region that belonged
to the powerful Tosa clan.
Yataro started a shipping company in October 1870 under the
name Tsukumo Shokai, and that was the beginning of Mitsubishi.
The company grew rapidly while undergoing a number of name changes:
to Mitsukawa, Mitsubishi, Mitsubishi Steamship, Yubin Kisen
(Postal Ship) Mitsubishi.
The Mitsubishi three-diamond mark originated with the emblem
that Yataro Iwasaki chose for the shipping company he started
in 1870. That emblem was a combination of the Iwasaki family
crest and the oak-leaf crest of the Yamanouchi family, leaders
of the Tosa clan, which controlled the part of Shikoku where
Yataro was born.
In 1885, Yataro lost control of his shipping company in the
wake of a political struggle that had buffeted Japan’s
marine transport industry. The company merged with a rival and
became Nippon Yusen (NYK Line), which would return to the ranks
of the Mitsubishi companies in later years.
Though Yataro lost his shipping company, he had established
other businesses that formed the foundation for the Mitsubishi
organization. One, Mitsubishi Kawase-ten, was a financial exchange
house that also engaged in warehousing business. It was the
forerunner of today’s Mitsubishi Bank and Mitsubishi Warehouse
& Transportation. Yataro also had purchased a coal mine
and a copper mine and had leased a Nagasaki shipyard from the
government. He had participated in establishing the insurance
company that now is Tokio Marine and Fire. He even headed up
the school that became the Tokyo University of Mercantile Marine.
Yataro, however, was not destined to lead the Mitsubishi organization
in its new phase of growth. He died at the age of 50 in February
1885.
Mitsubishi's
second president,
Yanosuke Iwasaki
(1851-1908)
Yanosuke Iwasaki succeeded his older brother, Yataro,
as the head of the Mitsubishi organization in 1885. The
following year, he incorporated the Mitsubishi operations
as a modern corporation. Yanosuke set about rebuilding
the organization around its mining and shipbuilding businesses.
He also expanded the organization's positions in
banking, insurance, and warehousing and thus laid the
foundation for future growth and development.
In
1890, Yanosuke agreed to buy about 30 hectares (80 acres)
of Tokyo swampland that the government was trying to
sell near the Imperial Palace. He planned the commercial
development on that real estate that became Tokyo's
central business district, Marunouchi.
Mitsubishi Heavy
Industries' Nagasaki Shipyard and Machinery Works (around 1885 - then
known as the Akunoura Machine Shop)
Yanosuke ceded the Mitsubishi presidency to Yataro's son,
Hisaya, on the occasion of a reorganization of the company in
1893. He remained active, however, and became the president
of the Bank of Japan in 1896.
Mitsubishi's
third president, Hisaya Iwasaki
(1865-1955)
Hisaya
Iwasaki was a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania,
in the United States. He possessed a modern, international
perspective on business management.
On
becoming president in 1893, Hisaya divided the Mitsubishi
organization into semiautonomous divisions. Those divisions
were banking, marketing, coal mining, metals mining,
real estate, shipbuilding, and administration. Among
the Mitsubishi companies established while Hisaya was
president were businesses that now are Mitsubishi Paper
Mills, Asahi Glass, and Mitsubishi Cable Industries.
The Mitsubishi No.2 Building – Head office for Meji Mutual Life Insurance and Tokio Marine and Fire Insurance
Glass manufacturing
at Asahi Glass's Amagaski Factory around 1909
The Mitsubishi
No. 1 Building (1894) –
Headquarters of the old Mitsubishi organization
Hisaya insisted
on the observance of firm ethical principles in business dealings.
When the outbreak of World War I jolted the old international
order in 1914, he called on all Mitsubishi employees to redouble
their commitment to integrity and fairness.
Philanthropy was a lasting emphasis for Hisaya. He donated to
the city of Tokyo two expansive Japanese gardens — Rikugien,
in Komagome, and Kiyosumi, in Fukagawa — that are among
the finest in the city. And he established Toyo Bunko, a library
for housing oriental works. Hisaya loved the simpler things
in life. He personally managed two big farms owned by the Mitsubishi
organization
.
Mitsubishi's
fourth & last president,
Koyata Iwaski
(1879-1945)
Koyata Iwasaki, the son of Yanosuke, took over the presidency
from Hisaya in 1916 at the age of 38. Like Hasaya, he
had studied abroad and was a graduate of Cambridge University,
in the United Kingdom. Koyata led the Mitsubishi organization
for nearly three decades and played a pivotal role in
shaping the development of Japanese industry.
Under
Koyata's stewardship, important Mitsubishi divisions
became separately incorporated companies: Mitsubishi
Shipbuilding (now part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries),
Mitsubishi Corporation (trading), Mitsubishi Bank, Mitsubishi
Mining (now part of Mitsubishi Materials), Mitsubishi
Electric, and Mitsubishi Estate. Koyata also oversaw
the creation of the companies that now are Nikon, Mitsubishi
Trust and Banking, Mitsubishi Oil, Mitsubishi Steel,
Mitsubishi Kakoki, Mitsubishi Rayon, and Mitsubishi
Chemical.
Mitsubishi is not
a single, integrated company so no single Mitsubishi management philosophy
exists. But all the Mitsubishi companies are true in their own
ways to the principles enunciated in 1920 by Koyata Iwasaki.
Those principles are:
• Corporate responsibility to society
• Integrity and fairness
• International understanding through business
Japan's first
series - production passenger car, the Mitsubishi Model A (1917)
The
administrative division of the original organization became
a holding company for the diverse Mitsubishi operations.
It became a joint-stock corporation in 1937 and shares
of the company — formerly owned completely by the
Iwasaki family — later became available to the public.
After World War II, the Allied occupation forces were
in favor of voluntary dissolution by Japan's zaibatsu
industrial groups, including Mitsubishi. That sentiment
became formal in October 1945. Koyata himself succumbed
to illness in December 1945.
The
first television set marketed by Mitsubishi Electric (1953)
The dissolution of the Mitsubishi holding company took place
formally in October 1946, and the Mitsubishi companies fragmented
into hundreds of independent enterprises. Those enterprises
would have to find their own ways to survive and grow amid postwar
turmoil and privation.
Prewar presidents and other top executives of the Mitsubishi
companies lost their jobs under the Allied occupation. Most
Mitsubishi companies abandoned the Mitsubishi name and emblem.
In the early 1950s, the occupation policy changed profoundly
in response to evolving geopolitics. In the interests of promoting
industrial development, the occupation forces allowed renewed
cooperation among the members of the prewar industrial groups.
Reconciliation was in the air after the San Francisco Peace
Conference as Japan regained a welcome place in the international
community. Mitsubishi companies that had abandoned that name
after the war began using it and the three-diamond mark again.
Mitsubishi
Cement (now part of Mitsubishi Materials) plant in Kyushu (1956)
In
1954, several enterprises that had been part of the trading
house, Mitsubishi Corporation, merged to reestablish that
company. Similarly, the principal components of Mitsubishi
Heavy Industries reunited in 1964. Mergers like those
resulted in independent companies that were large enough
to survive and grow in Japan's fast-growing economy.
Japan was the scene of unprecedented economic growth in
the 1950s and 1960s. Mitsubishi companies were very much
a part of that growth — in their established industries
and in new ones.
A
revolution was under way, for example, in Japan's
energy
and materials industries. The Mitsubishi companies
participated actively in that revolution, setting up Mitsubishi
Petrochemical (now part of Mitsubishi Chemical), Mitsubishi
Atomic Power Industries, Mitsubishi Liquefied Petroleum
Gas, and Mitsubishi Petroleum Development, among other
new enterprises.
Mitsubishi
Chemical petrochemical complex in Ibaraki Prefecture
Stylish
sweater of Mitsubishi Rayon's Vonnel acrylic
The traditional Mitsubishi emphasis on technological development
was evident 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.
On the road, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries incorporated
its automotive division in 1970 as Mitsubishi Motors.
Also in that year, several Mitsubishi companies funded
the creation of Mitsubishi Research Institute.
World-leading
recreational vehicle for four-wheeled fun-Mitsubishi Motors'
Pajero
Mitsubishi Impression Gallery: Festival
of Asian Children's Art—sponsored by the Mitsubishi
Public Affairs Committee
Mitsubishi
companies set up the Mitsubishi Public Affairs Committee in
1964 to promote understanding
of their activities and to sponsor
coordinate cultural and public-interest endeavors. International
exchange is a chief emphasis in those endeavors, as in the Mitsubishi
Impression Gallery — Festival of Asian Children’s
Art. That is an annual exhibition of illustrated diaries by
children in Asian nations.
In 1970, Mitsubishi companies established the Mitsubishi Foundation
to commemorate the centennial anniversary of the founding of
the first Mitsubishi company. That foundation donates large
sums of
money annually to support scientific research and public-interest
activities. The Mitsubishi companies
also are active individually
in supporting worthy causes through their own charitable foundations
and in other ways.
Ski camps for
children — one of numerous public-interest activities sponsored
by Mitsubishi Bank
Friendship camp
sponsored by Mitsubishi Corporation for single-parent families
Mitsubishi
pavilions have been highlights of expositions in Japan
since the historic EXPO’70 in Osaka in 1970. In every
way, the companies take part actively in the life of the
community they serve.
The overriding priority for the Mitsubishi companies is
to enhance the quality of life for people everywhere by
generating diverse kinds of value. Each of the companies
is committed to serving society through quality products
and conscientious service. They are equally committed
to using their different strengths and capabilities to
preserve the earth for future generations.
On behalf
of the community…On behalf of the earth…The Mitsubishi
companies are committed to ensuring a bright and fulfilling
future.
Future underwater
marine resource farm, using sun light collection and transmission
system made by Asahi Glass
System engineering
and technologies by Mitsubishi Electric at work in space development
Yokohama Landmark
Tower – Japan's tallest building; built and operated by Mitsubishi
Estate
NYK Line's Crystal
Harmony – one of the world's
most luxurious cruise ships
