History

1868: Meiji Restoration in Japan. After over 250 years of isolation during the Edo period, Japan opened its borders and industrialized during the Meiji era. In the rapid change taking place at the end of the 1800s, Naokichi Kaneko (below, left) and Katsujiro Iwai (below, right), were instrumental in growing the companies that would eventually become Sojitz.

The history section of the Sojitz Corporation website includes a video summary of the last 150 years and a link to the extensive online archives of The Sojitz History Museum.

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