In 1958 Sumitomo inaugurated the Sumitomo Public Relations Research Group and began advertising activities to deepen understanding of, and foster public trust in, Sumitomo Group companies, the inheritors of Sumitomo’s history of more than 400 years. The organization name was subsequently changed to the Sumitomo Public Relations Committee in 1962, the Sumitomo Group Public Relations Committee in 1969, and the Sumitomo Group Public Affairs Committee in 1980.
During the Edo period, when Japan was closed to foreign influences, Nagasaki was the country’s gateway to the outside world. In the second half of the 17th century, Sumitomo opened in the Ura-Gotomachi district of Nagasaki a shop for storing and managing copper, the metal that was not only the basis of the family’s business but also Japan’s most important export at the time. The shape of this eave-end roof tile, imprinted with a well curb, Sumitomo’s trademark, suggests that it was made during the Kyoho era (1716–1736).
Sumitomo Group companies sharing Sumitomo’s unique business philosophy and corporate culture, having developed and refined their practices for more than 400 years, seek to enhance public trust in the Group and build an even better relationship with society by engaging in Group-wide public relations activities.
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