The maxims and precepts bequeathed to us constitute an invaluable legacy created during Sumitomo’s history of more than 400 years. Far from being limited to any particular time and place, our predecessors’ words embody wisdom that retains all its freshness to this day. They inform the principles underpinning Sumitomo’s business. For each successive generation of leaders, these words are a source of enlightenment and inspiration, illuminating Sumitomo’s path to the future.
“Parents want their children to serve us because of the Sumitomo family’s excellent customs. They trust us to train our retainers to become good people.”
- Kichijiro Tomohiro, ninth head of the Sumitomo family
“If you can’t skillfully make good use of those who don’t follow your instructions, you are unworthy to be their superior.”
- Irie Tomotoshi
“Tie a string to the leg of a grilled fowl.”
- Kichizaemon Tomonobu, third head of the Sumitomo family
“Always be trustworthy and never tarnish the good name of the family.”
- Tomofusa, founder of the Sumitomo Risuke family
“I want you to form a spiritual alliance so that, come what may, you never lose your sense of brotherhood.”
- Shunnosuke Furuta
Time-honored Way of the Sumitomo Family
Emphasis on forthright expression of views between master and retainer
- Izumiya Shichibei
“Don’t view business as a battlefield where conflicting interests fight for profit. Devote yourself to the achievement of ethical economic development. Contribute to the sound development of the nation and to the betterment of society through Sumitomo’s business.”
- Kinkichi Nakada
“The House of Sumitomo’s policy emphasizes the need for the most careful consideration when contemplating embarking on a new business. Nevertheless, I urge you to be energetic in proposing improvements to existing businesses and in identifying sound and beneficial new businesses.”
- Kankichi Yukawa
“Though accustomed to toiling deep underground, all pray to the god Oyamazumi as they enter the tunnel.”
- Jun Kawada
“A mighty reddish outcrop breaks the surface, breaching the snowfield”
- Seishi Yamaguchi
“As the Besshi Copper Mines approach the end of their working life, I want to promote industrial development as a new source of prosperity.”
- Kageji Washio
“What joy! Gold has acquired added luster. Reflected in spring waters, this will be the source of delight for millennia.”
- Kichizaemon Tomoito, 15th head of the Sumitomo family
“Looking back at the receding traces of five years: snow-covered mountains”
- Teigo Iba
“Revering these mountains as gods—awed and humbled to have mined here for generations”
- Kichizaemon Tomonari, the 16th Family Head
“The planted larch trees are burnished gold. What a wondrous forest they have become.”
- Kichizaemon Tomonari, the 16th Family Head
“An enterprise like no other. Desiring to extract inexhaustible red copper for the nation’s economy. A railway, cleaving the heavens in twain, is the essential link.”
“A man of noble character esteems wealth and is scrupulous in seeking the ethical way to acquire it.”
- Teigo Iba
“A forestation plan in the spirit of repaying for what had been reaped from the land.”
“Benefit self and benefit others, private and public interests are one and the same.”
“Put your heart into everything you do.”
(“Banji Nissei”)
- Masatomo Sumitomo
“Disobey your master’s order and benefit him. That is loyalty.”
(“Gyakumei rikun, kore wo chu to iu”)
- Saihei Hirose
“I will follow the path of justice and equity, undertaking projects beneficial to the nation from a long-term perspective.”
- Masaya Suzuki
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