Japan

The Mitsui Group keiretsu of course had its origins in the Mitsui zaibatsu, but this archetypical political-financial firm did not pass through the transition of Japanese defeat in World War II with its power and prestige intact. There was considerable loss of power and influence. In particular the Mitsui Bank which had in effect been the bank of the Imperial government emerged from the transition period as only the eighth largest city bank. In 1990 the Mitsui Bank merged with Taiyo Kobe Bank to raise its stature but the combined banks still did not give Mitsui number one rank. In 1992, perhaps to avoid having the Mitsui name attached to a second place bank, Mitsui changed its bank's name to Sakura.

Sakura Bank is one of the core enterprises of the Mitsui Group but the leadership of the group has been concentrated more in the group's shosha, Mitsui Bussan. The other core enterprise is Mitsui Fudosan, the real estate operation. The chairmanship of the management council for the Mitsui Group is held sequentially by the three core enterprises.

The Mitsui Group is noted for social prestige of its top leadership and the web of social contacts throughout government and business that they maintain, what in China is known as guanxi. Nevertheless, as a keiretsu Mitsui has no wheres near the prestige, power and influence that was held by the Mitsui zaibatsu. The legacy of the old Mitsui that the Mitsui Group does carry is a concentration on the heavy industries which were the mainstay of industrialization in the Meiji period but are now dinosaurs in the 21st century.

The companies of the Mitsubishi zaibatsu that formed the Mitsubishi keiretsu were predominantly heavy industrial companies. This gave the Mitsubishi keiretsu a product base that was weighted toward the slow-growing or declining industries. These were also the industries which were energy-intensive. This was a liability when the price of energy increased substantially in the 1970s.

The Mitsubishi group is close-knit. Of the 29 firms belonging to Mitsubishi's presidents' council, 23 are named Mitsubishi. The Mitsubishi group firms are managed relatively conservatively. The main bank for the group, Mitsubishi Bank, merged with the Bank of Tokyo, a quasi-governmental bank that was set up in the Meiji Period to handle foreign exchange transactions. The general trading company for the group is Mitsubishi Shoji, which is important enough to be part of the core of the group. The other member of the core of Mitsubishi is Mitsubishi Motors.

In 1999 the 13 core businesses of the Mitsubishi Group (keiretsu) had debts totally $132 billion. We do not know the level of the assets of these businesses but it is apparently greater than the debts because they collectively have stockholder equity equal to $58 billion. This is not entirely certain because one could envision an internet company with negative net worth but a positive stock price.

Although the Mitsubishi Group companies may not be bankrupt they are individually in financial difficulties.

The Sumitomo Group is the preeminent Kansai keiretsu. The original zaibatsu got its start in copper mining and metal mining is still crucial field for it. The core of the Sumitomo Group includes Sumitomo Metal Mining as well as the Sumitomo Bank. Sumitomo Chemical is also part of the core. The number of companies in the group is small, twenty, compared with the forty plus in some other members of the Big Six. Most of the twenty have "Sumitomo" in their name.

The Sumitomo Group is noted