Mitsubishi Electric
An ambitious young man named Iwasaki Yataro founded the first Mitsubishi company - a shipping company - in 1870. Japan had just emerged from centuries of feudal isolation and was racing to catch up with the West. Yataros business grew rapidly and diversified into a wide range of manufacturing and commercial fields. World War II ended Mitsubishi as a conglomerate organization. However, independent companies tracing back to the old Mitsubishi are active today in nearly every field of industry. Iwasaki Yataro came from Kochi on the island of Shikoku, home of the powerful Tosa clan. He worked for the clan and excelled in managing the Osaka trading business. In 1870, he founded his own shipping company, Tsukumo Shokai, renting three ships from the clan. That was the beginning of Mitsubishi. The new companys name was changed to Mikawa Shokai in 1872 and to Mitsubishi Shokai in 1874. Yataro chose a corporate logo that combined the three oak leaves of the Tosa crest with the three stacked diamonds of the family crest. This logo is the origin of the name Mitsubishi, which means "three diamonds." In 1874, Yataro made a public display of patriotism by offering ships to transport Japanese troops to Taiwan. This earned the gratitude of the government, which rewarded him with 30 ships. In 1875, Yataro renamed the company Mitsubishi Yusen when it inherited the staff and facilities of the mail service that had been disbanded by the government.