Trading and finance
Mitsui 三井
From a kimono shop to a business empire
In 1673 Mitsui Takatoshi opened a kimono shop called Echigoya in Edo. It became famous for selling for cash at fixed prices, which was new at the time. The shop grew into the Mitsukoshi department store, and the family business into one of Japan's great business groups.
- Founded
- 1673
- Founder
- Mitsui Takatoshi
- Started in
- Tokyo
- Status
- Still trading
- Age 353 years
Timeline
-
1673
Echigoya opens in Edo, selling cloth for cash at marked prices instead of on credit.
-
1876 (Meiji 9)
Mitsui Bank and the trading company Mitsui & Co. are founded.
-
1904 (Meiji 37)
The shop becomes Mitsukoshi, Japan's first department store.
-
1946 (Shōwa 21)
The Mitsui zaibatsu is broken up after the Second World War. Its companies later regroup loosely.
-
2008 (Heisei 20)
Mitsukoshi merges with Isetan.
Years in brackets are the Japanese era year. Japanese era converter →
Did you know?
Echigoya also cut cloth to any length a customer wanted, rather than only selling whole rolls.
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Dates follow the companies' own published histories where available. Trademarks belong to their owners; this page is not affiliated with any company listed.