is a Japanese corporation based in Umeda, Kita-ku, Osaka and Aoyama, Minato, Tokyo.
It is one of the largest Japanese sogo shosha (general trading and investment companies) distinguished by the strength of its textile business and its successful business operations in China. Itochu was ranked 72nd on the 2020 list of Fortune Global 500 companies, with an annual trading revenue of US$100 billion.
Current business overview Itochu's business has eight major operational divisions, "Division Company". Textile Company: Itochu trades in raw materials and finished apparel, and also has a brand business. It owns a portfolio of investments and rights in well-known fashion brands including Converse, Hunting World, LeSportsac, Mila Schön and Paul Smith. In 2018, Itochu acquired the Japanese Master License and exclusive distribution rights for the Laura Ashley brand. Machinery Company: Includes plant projects, marine, aerospace, automotive, construction/industrial machinery and healthcare. In the automotive sector, Itochu is a shareholder of Yanase, Isuzu, and Mazda. In the infrastructure sector, Itochu partnered with Toshiba and Hitachi to supply infrastructure for the first expressway in Vietnam, the North–South Expressway between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Itochu is also a partner in supplying rolling stock for the MTR in Hong Kong and for New Generation Rollingstock passenger rail in Queensland, Australia. It is a minority investor in the Sarulla geothermal power project in Indonesia and has partnered with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Engie to develop the $15.8 billion Sinop Nuclear Power Plant in Sinop, Turkey. Metals & Minerals Company: Engages in mining and ore trading, steel and non-ferrous metal trading, coal and nuclear fuel trading and solar power. Furthermore, the “Carbon Neutral Management Section” was established in April, 2021, directly under the Metal & Mineral Resources Division in order to promote the developments in areas such as Hydrogen & Ammonia and CCUS (Carbon dioxide Capture, Utilization and Storage). In addition, the Steel Business Coordination Department, which is directly overseen by the Metals & Minerals Company, provides support for Marubeni-Itochu Steel Inc. in the field of steel products. Energy & Chemicals Company: consists of 3 divisions: the Energy Division, the Chemicals Division and the Power & Environmental Solution Division. The Energy Division handles trading of general energy-related products, including crude oil, petroleum products, LPG, LNG, natural gas and hydrogen, as well as developing related projects. This Division also undertakes projects in oil & gas exploration, development and production. Trades in oil and gas and a wide range of chemical products such as methanol, PTA and fertilizers. Food Company: Handles production, processing and distribution of various foodstuffs. Two major group businesses are FamilyMart, acquired from Seiyu in 1998, and Dole Asia Holdings Pte. Ltd, which was formed after Dole Food Company sold its worldwide packaged foods and Asia fresh produce businesses to Itochu for $1.7 billion in cash. Itochu is also a strategic partner of COFCO in China and owns an export grain terminal in Longview, Washington. As of 2020 Itochu was one of the three largest global tuna traders along with Tri Marine of Italy and FCF of Taiwan. General Products & Realty Company: consists with the Forest Products, General Merchandise & Logistics Division and the Construction & Real Estate Division. The Forest Products, General Merchandise & Logistics Division deals with North American building materials, pulp, natural rubber, tires, and the distribution business including third-party logistics (3PL) and international transportation. The Construction & Real Estate Division deals with the construction materials business that handles wood products and OEM materials, the real estate development business that develops mainly residential housing and logistics facilities, and the real estate investment and building operation and management business. A recent major acquisition in this division is WECARS, a major Japanese car retailer. Formerly known as Big Motor, the company was purchased by Itochu for ¥60 billion ($391 million) after scandal forced the company to rebrand. ICT & Financial Business Company: consists with the ICT Division and the Financial & Insurance Business Division. The 8th Company: collaborates with the other seven Business Companies.
Offices Itochu's Osaka headquarters is located at the North Gate Building, 1–3, Umeda 3-Chome, Kita-ku, Osaka, Japan. Its Tokyo headquarters is located at 5-1 Kita-Aoyama 2-Chome, Minato, Tokyo, Japan.
Itochu also has seven branch offices in Japan, sixteen offices and local subsidiaries in China, 24 in Asia, eight in the CIS, four in Australia, fifteen in the Middle East, eight in Africa, twelve in Europe, ten in North America and nine in Latin America.
History Foundation period (1858–1903)
Itochu started in 1858, shortly after the opening of Japan to foreign trade, when began door-to-door wholesaling of linen in the regions between Osaka and Kyushu. Itoh founded the "Benichu" drapery store in the Honmachi district of Osaka in 1872. This site was renamed "Itoh Honten" in 1884 and became the Itoh Thread and Yarn Store in 1893
In the following year, he traveled as far as Nagasaki via Okayama, Hiroshima, and Shimonoseki. At this time, Japan concluded the Treaty of Amity and Commerce with five countries, namely the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia, and the Netherlands, opening an era of free trade. The sight of foreigners, battleships, and foreign trading posts astonished Chubei and sparked his curiosity. He became convinced of the limitless potential of commerce.
Chubei opened Benchu, a drapery store at Honmachi 2-chome, Higashi-ku, Osaka, east of Nakahashisuji. Benchu mainly handled linen and fabrics from the Bino and Kanto regions. At that time, the Fushimi-machi area was the center of drapery wholesalers, while Honmachi was attracting many used clothing merchants. Despite this, in selecting the base of his business in Osaka, Chubei Itoh I chose Honmachi, anticipating the future development of the Honmachi area. He is said to have chosen Honmachi because it was accessible by road from Kawaguchi-cho, where boats could dock, and the cost of land was less than a half that in Fushimi-machi. Once Benchu was open, Chubei drew up a charter. In it, he set out his workers' rights and duties, unique for the time, to ensure that all workers, including junior staff, could work to their utmost capabilities.
Chubei opened Itoh Itomise, a cotton thread wholesale store, at Azuchi-cho 2-chome, Higashi-ku, Osaka. Under Chubei Itoh I, the general manager, the store started with ten workers, including an assistant general manager, manager, and assistant manager. Itoh Itomise adopted a series of management systems that were revolutionary for the times, including the codifying of the sharing of profits by three stakeholders, the introduction of Western-style bookkeeping, and the issuance of Jitsugyo, a monthly business magazine (which became a leading magazine for the fabric industry; with some copies sold to the public).
Interwar period (1903–1945) Chubei Itoh II took over the company following his father's death in 1903. The Russo-Japanese War, which began that year, ended with Japan's victory. When Chubei II was in charge of Itochu's management, the business of the Ito head office was booming due to the victorious boom brought about by the Russo-Japanese War.
When Chubei II took his first steps at the company in the Logistics Department, which was in charge of packing, shipping, and transporting products, he refined himself as a young manager and embarked on reforming the management of the Ito Head Office. In 1908, he integrated the scattered businesses of the Ito family, organized 'Ito Chubei Headquarters', and served as its representative. This was an epoch-making organizational reform since Chubei I founded Benichu in Osaka 36 years ago. The headquarters decided management policies for each of the four stores and one factory, and supervised personnel and fund management.
In July 1908, he opened the first Tokyo branch of a Kansai yarn dealer in Ningyocho, Nihonbashi.
The company opened an office in Shanghai in the 1890s and started business in Seoul in 1905, but had severe difficulties with these first overseas forays. He turned his attention to overseas markets from an early stage, making the export department of the Ito head office independent as the Ito export store, and opening branch offices one after another in Shanghai, South Korea, the Philippines, and Manila. Chubei II was infused with the business aspirations and enterprising spirit of Chubei I. He travelled to London in 1910 and began direct procurement and financing for the business in the London markets, which considerably improved its margins, as it had previously used more expensive intermediaries in Japan.
In 1913, he established a cotton yarn department, but in July 1914, World War I began, and he experienced a sharp drop in the market prices of raw silk and cotton yarn. Uncertainty about the course of the war caused the Japanese economy to temporarily fall into turmoil, with the stock market, raw silk and cotton yarn trading prices crashing, and bank runs on bank runs.
In 1918, "C. Itoh & Co." is transformed into a public stock company "C. Itoh & Co., Ltd." The New York branch office is opened.
Itoh's company grew considerably in the wake of World War I, with offices in the United States, India, the Philippines and China, and the firm began to handle machinery, automobiles and metals in addition to its core business of textiles. However, a recession in 1920 left the company deeply in debt, and unlike the major zaibatsu firms of the time, it had no captive bank to finance its business. In 1921, the company split in half, with one half forming what is now known as Marubeni. The company's performance improved in the 1930s, but as World War II began in the latter half of the 1930s, all trading companies' business became increasingly war-oriented.
In 1941, Sanko Kabushiki Kaisha, Ltd. is established by merging of C. Itoh & Co., Marubeni Shoten Ltd., and Kishimoto Shoten Ltd. In 1944, Sanko is merged with Daido Boeki Kaisha, Ltd. and Kureha Cotton Spinning Co., Ltd. to form Daiken Co., Ltd.
Post-war period (1945–1960) In August 1945, Japan accepted the Potsdam Declaration, and the World War II ended with Japan's unconditional surrender and defeat. In the chaos after the war, the company's employees working overseas and their families returned to their home country of Japan for about two years from September 1945 to September 1947, whose number reached 1077. The Allied Forces, which occupied Japan at the end of the war, followed the policy of destroying Japan's military power and establishing a democratic political and economic system.
In 1946, Daiken Co., Ltd. was designated as a restricted company along with 46 subsidiaries, and was placed under the strict supervision of the Holding Company Liquidation Committee. In 1947, in accordance with the Law for Elimination of Excessive Concentration of Economic Power, Daiken Co., Ltd. decided on a corporate restructuring plan centered on the separation of the manufacturing and trading divisions. It was decided to split into four new companies: ITOCHU Corporation, Marubeni Corporation, Kureha Cotton Spinning, and Amagasaki Nail Works, Ltd.