Mitsubishis

Mitsubishis is a term most often used to refer to the Mitsubishi Group, a large Japanese conglomerate and keiretsu formed around a family-led business network. The name Mitsubishi comes from the Japanese 三菱, meaning “three diamonds,” which is also the emblem used by the group. The origins trace to Tsukumo Shokai, a shipping firm founded in 1870 by Yataro Iwasaki in Nagasaki. The company expanded into mining, shipbuilding, and other industries, eventually forming the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a powerful industrial and financial conglomerate.

Over the early 20th century, Mitsubishi diversified into sectors such as steel, chemicals, machinery, and aviation, often securing state contracts and large-scale projects. After World War II, Allied authorities dissolved zaibatsu structures, but Mitsubishi companies reconstituted into a network of semi-autonomous firms with cross-shareholdings and formal links, commonly described as a keiretsu. Today, the Mitsubishi name is used by a broad set of independent corporations and brands rather than a single holding company.

Key Mitsubishi entities include Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (engineering and manufacturing), Mitsubishi Electric (electronics and electrical equipment), Mitsubishi Motors (automobiles), and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (banking and financial services, formed from the merger of existing banks). The Mitsubishi emblem, a three-diamond mon, remains a recognizable symbol in Japan and internationally.

Mitsubishis, in a corporate sense, thus denotes a long-running industrial legacy that spans manufacturing, finance, and services, with operations and governance shaped by postwar corporate reform and global expansion.