Mitsui Group (三井グループ, Mitsui Gurūpu) is one of the largest corporate conglomerates (Keiretsu) in Japan and one of the largest publicly traded companies in the world.
Founded by Mitsui Takatoshi (1622–1694), who was born a fourth son of a shopkeeper in Matsusaka, called Echigoya (越後屋) in today's Mie prefecture. His father originally sold miso, a fermented soybean paste, and ran a pawn shop. Later, the family would open a second shop in Edo (now ca...
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Mitsui Group (三井グループ, Mitsui Gurūpu) is one of the largest corporate conglomerates (Keiretsu) in Japan and one of the largest publicly traded companies in the world.
Founded by Mitsui Takatoshi (1622–1694), who was born a fourth son of a shopkeeper in Matsusaka, called Echigoya (越後屋) in today's Mie prefecture. His father originally sold miso, a fermented soybean paste, and ran a pawn shop. Later, the family would open a second shop in Edo (now called Tokyo).
Takatoshi moved to Edo when he was 14 years old, and later his older brother joined him. Ever since he was very young, he had shown outstanding business talent. But because of that, his jealous brother sent him back to Mie when he was 28 years old. He waited for 24 years until his older brother died before he could take over Echigoya. He opened a new branch in 1673; a large gofukuya (kimono shop) in Nihonbashi, a district in the heart of Edo. This genesis of Mitsui's business history began in the Enpō era, which was a nengō...
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