Sumitomo Corporation is one of the largest worldwide trading company (Sogo shosha

Sogo shosha

' means general trading companies, a business entity unique to Japan trading a wide range of products and materials. In addition to trading, they have historically acted as investment banks and private equities. Sōgō shōsha may be better described as a business philosophy than with a visual model...

), and is a diversified corporation

Corporation

A corporation is created under the laws of a state as a separate legal entity that has privileges and liabilities that are distinct from those of its members. There are many different forms of corporations, most of which are used to conduct business. Early corporations were established by charter...

. Sumitomo is headquartered in the Harumi Island Triton Square Office Tower Y in Chūō

Chuo, Tokyo

is one of the 23 special wards that form the heart of Tokyo, Japan. The ward refers to itself as Chūō City in English.Its Japanese name literally means "Central Ward," and it is historically the main commercial center of Tokyo, although Shinjuku has risen to challenge it since the end of World War II...

, Tokyo

Tokyo

, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. Incorporated in 1919, it is a member company of the Sumitomo Group

Sumitomo Group

is one of the largest keiretsu, founded by Masatomo Sumitomo.-History:The Sumitomo group traces its roots to a bookshop in Kyoto founded circa 1615 by a former buddhist priest,...

.

In 1996, the company disclosed a loss of 2.6 billion dollars, blaming unauthorized trades by its chief copper trader, Yasuo Hamanaka

Yasuo Hamanaka

is a man who formerly was the chief copper trader at Sumitomo Corporation, one of the largest trading companies in Japan, and was also known as "Mr. Copper" because of his aggressive trading style and "Mr...

, over a period of more than ten years (see Sumitomo copper affair

Sumitomo copper affair

The Sumitomo copper affair refers to a metal trading scandal in 1995 involving Yasuo Hamanaka, the chief copper trader of the Japanese trading house Sumitomo Corporation...

).

Today, the company, Sumitomo Corporation, is one of the top three Sogo shosha

Sogo shosha

' means general trading companies, a business entity unique to Japan trading a wide range of products and materials. In addition to trading, they have historically acted as investment banks and private equities. Sōgō shōsha may be better described as a business philosophy than with a visual model...

 companies in the world.

Subsidiaries

• Bluewell Insurance
  Insurance
  In law and economics, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. An insurer is a company selling the...
  
  
• Cantex
• Clickstream Capital
  Financial capital
  Financial capital can refer to money used by entrepreneurs and businesses to buy what they need to make their products or provide their services or to that sector of the economy based on its operation, i.e. retail, corporate, investment banking, etc....
  
  
• Hartz Mountain Corporation
• JSAT Corporation
  JSAT Corporation
  JSAT Corporation is satellite operator with a fleet of 8 satellites in orbit. According to a 2004 report, JSAT was the fifth largest satellite operator in the world, ranked by 2003 fiscal year revenue...
  
  
• Pacific Summit Energy
• Presidio Venture Partners
  Venture capital
  Venture capital is financial capital provided to early-stage, high-potential, high risk, growth startup companies. The venture capital fund makes money by owning equity in the companies it invests in, which usually have a novel technology or business model in high technology industries, such as...
  
  
• The Seiyu, Ltd.
• SKY Perfect Communications Inc.
• Sumitomo Corporation Equity Asia
  Asia
  Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
  
   Limited
• SMBC Finance&Lease
• Sumitomo Wiring Systems Ltd.
• Summit Biotech
• United Cinemas
• Petro Summit Pte Ltd (Singapore)
• TBC Corporation
  TBC Corporation
  The TBC Corporation, headquartered in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida was a publicly-traded corporation from 1983 to its purchase by the Sumitomo Corporation in 2005...
  
   (Merchant Tire, NTB
  National Tire and Battery
  National Tire and Battery is an American brand of auto service centers. It was formerly owned by Sears until it was spun off in 2003.Sears created the brand in 1997 by consolidating the Tire America and National Tire Warehouse brands, adding the "B" to include its DieHard brand of batteries...
  
  , Big O Tires
  Big O Tires
  Big O Tires, LLC. is North America's largest franchiser of tire retailers. It is headquartered in Centennial, Colorado, and has more than 540 franchises in 21 U.S. states and Canada. It sells its own Big O private brand tires and other brands...
  
  )

Shareholders

• Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.
• Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation
  Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation
  is a Japanese bank based in Yurakucho, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It is a member of the Sumitomo Group and Mitsui Group. As of the year 2009, SMBC was the second largest bank in Japan in terms of assets.-History:...
  
  
• The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Ltd.
• The Sumitomo Trust and Banking Co., Ltd.
  Sumitomo Trust and Banking
  is a trust bank in Osaka, Japan. It is one of the Sumitomo Group core companies, and is closely tied to Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group.- External links :*...
  
  
• Japan Trustee Services Bank, Ltd.
• Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co., Ltd.
• NEC Corporation
• The Mitsubishi Trust and Banking Corporation
• The Dai-ichi Mutual Life Insurance Company
  The Dai-ichi Mutual Life Insurance Company
  , or Dai-ichi Life for short, is the third largest life insurer in Japan measured by revenue, only behind Japan Post Insurance and Nippon Life Insurance....
  
  
• UFJ Trust Bank Limited

External links

• Sumitomo Corporation HQ
• Sumitomo Corporation USA HQ
• Sumitomo Corporation EU HQ
• Sumitomo Group Companies Lists
• Sumitomo Group Public Affairs

Trading

• CFTC - Sumitomo's Copper Trader's Arrangements