Mitsubishi’s Secret Story

Mitsubishi is known primarily for three things: reliable cars, rocket launches and finance. Although this is not the largest Japanese company, it is at least in the top three. You see this name everywhere in Japan, but, despite its ubiquity, there are still many things in Mitsubishi that you may not know about.

Mitsubishi exists because a terrible assassin feels lazy

This story takes some context, but stick with it. worth.

Emperor supporters after Japan was forced to open its borders in the mid-19th century – At that time, there was no way to do anything about 500 years – Decided to use the shogunate unpopularity to overthrow the military government and restore the imperial rule.

Among many royalist groups that emerged in the late Edo period, there was a decision that made its political vision a reality, with fewer pamphlets and higher murder rates.

Leaded by Takechi Hanpeita, Tosa Kinno-to is almost like a cult. It is said to be a very charming man, Gouchi urges his followers to be the embodiment of the wrath of justice and the instrument of divine punishment in the battle with his opponents. One of Kinno-to’s members really kept this in mind.

Okada Izo was born in a low-level samurai family, but because of his sword, he became one of four hitokiri (Manslayers) during the Bakumatsu period, who would be regarded as a threat to the cause of the empire or a positioning of the tokugugawa shogunate person. He is also known as “Killer Izo” and “Divine Punishment Master”.

Izo was branded and fired from Kyoto and expelled, and had a sports tattoo (probably on his arm). But he obviously likes women and drinks, occasionally ignoring some of his tasks.

That’s why when he was ordered to kill Inoue Saichiro, a TOSA official who investigated Kinno-to, he failed to tie up and left Inoue’s travel companion alive. That man is Iwasaki Yataro, the future founder of Mitsubishi.

A6M Zero Fighter (c.1943) | Wikimedia

Production Zero: Mitsubishi’s amazing diversity

Iwasaki established a transportation company in 1870, which was renamed Mitsubishi Shokai in 1873. Relaxably translated as “three diamonds”, the company’s logo is based on the crest of the samurai family that ruled the province of Tosa (modern Kochi), born Iwasaki.

Taking advantage of Japan’s rapid modernization during the Meiji period, Ivasaki expanded the company’s scope to coal mining, steel, industrial machinery, real estate, etc. His smartest move was to establish close ties with the government, mainly to provide crafts to the moving soldiers, including the Samurai Rebellion, which was the last stance of the Samurai.

They may have been able to get there without the help of the company, but the “last sentence of Mitsubishi helping kill the samurai” is not technically wrong.

Unfortunately, this is not everyone they help kill. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries built warships, tanks and aircraft for the Japanese Empire during World War II, becoming the backbone of its industrial military complex.

The company’s invention was the A6M Zero Fighter, one of the most frightening aircrafts in the Pacific Theater because its operability and firepower (which made a lasting impression at Pearl Harbor) was the company’s invention. Its official name is “Mitsubishi A6M Zero”.

In “Lighter News”, Mitsubishi was also one of the major investors in Japanese breweries in the late 19th century. Today, it is known as Keeling, one of Japan’s largest beer and beverage producers. Mitsubishi is also a majority stakeholder in the Lawson convenience store chain.

In July this year, Mitsubishi announced that it was buying Norwegian Grieg seafood. Combined with its ownership of Cermaq Food Processing Company, Mitsubishi will soon become the world’s second largest salmon producer. It’s weird when you say it out loud, but it’s the truth.

Mitsubishi Workers owned the “Model-A” car (circa 1917), the first mass-produced car in Japanese history | © Mitsubishi Archives

There is no “Mitsubishi” company

Whenever we talk about Mitsubishi, it’s like a company, we’re all wrong. In fact, about 600 completely independent companies usually but not always include “Mitsubishi” in their name, such as Mitsubishi Corporation (a trading company), Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Mitsubishi Electric, Mitsubishi Motors and Mitsubishi Manor.

They could even use the familiar three diamond logos, but they were completely independent and shared only “a common legacy and…a common set of values.” There are no senior boards that have an agenda or business plan. They are just part of an antitrust “community” known as the Mitsubishi Group.

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