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Origins of Sumitomo |
Masatomo Sumitomo |
The Sumitomo business was started in Kyoto, the historic capital city of Japan, nearly 400 years ago by Masatomo Sumitomo
(1585-1652) and Riemon Soga (1572-1636). Masatomo is regarded as the spiritual founder of the Sumitomo Group. Following an
early career in the Buddhist priesthood, he established a shop in Kyoto that sold medicines and books. In accordance with custom
of the time, Masatomo produced written teachings for his household and disciples. One volume of these, which provided advice on
conduct of commercial activity, has been come to be known as the "Founder's Precepts" and is the basis of the code of conduct
for the Sumitomo Group of companies.
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Riemon, who was a disciple and brother-in-law of Masatomo, was the technological pioneer who set the Sumitomo business on the
path to commercial success. Having studied copper refining, Riemon established the Izumiya copper business in Kyoto in 1590.
Until the late 16th century, Japanese copper merchants did not possess the technology to extract the silver contained in copper ore,
which compelled them to export the ore with silver intact. By learning and perfecting western smelting methods, Riemon
engineered a revolution in Japanese copper refining. The Sumitomo business was continued by Riemon's eldest son, Tomomochi
(1607-1662), who entered the Sumitomo family through his marriage to Masatomo's daughter. Tomomochi moved the copper
smelting business to Osaka, Japan's commercial capital at the time.
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Sumitomo's Copper Refinining Process |
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One of the epoch-making events in the early days of the Sumitomo family was the 1690 opening of the Besshi Copper Mine on the
island of Shikoku, across the Seto Inland Sea from Osaka. The Besshi Copper Mine was extremely productive and profitable right
up to the early 20th century. Consequently, it played a pivotal role in the birth of many core companies of the Sumitomo Group
today.
In 1891, Sumitomo formulated its Business Principles, which are based upon the "Founder's Precepts" by Masatomo. Article 1
explains the necessity of acting in good faith in order to maintain the other party's trust. Article 2 urges that social trends should be
studied in order to meet social changes with active responses. Article 3 advises against being attracted to easy profits or hastily
drawing to the promise of profits before fully investigating the commercial viability of ventures.
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Igeta |
The emblem of Riemon Soga's original business, Izumiya (izumi "spring" and ya "shop"), and many Sumitomo companies today is
an igeta, a frame placed around a well in premodern Japan. The igeta symbolizes sparkling water gushing constantly from a
fountainhead, which forms a mighty river before flowing into a vast ocean.
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Company Information
Sumitomo Electric U.S.A., Inc. (SEUSA) is the US headquarters and sales office of its parent company, Sumitomo Electric
Industries, Ltd. (SEI) of Japan. SEUSA is located in Torrance, CA, with branch offices in New York, North Carolina, Colorado and Silicon Valley. SEUSA was incorporated on October 27, 1971 and it is 100% owned by SEI. There are
approximately 25 employees and the SEUSA's annual sales is roughly $50 million. The main customers are major power utilities,
telecommunications and computer companies.
Mission Statement
Sumitomo Electric's corporate mission is to serve society by applying technological innovation to the development of tomorrow's
products and services. This mission is represented graphically by the communication symbol, which features three diagonal lines
extending from the tops of the Company's initials, SEI. These three lines denote the key words that sum up Sumitomo Electric's
operations: Reliability, Vitality, and Creativity.
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