Episode 2 of 3

First Japanese Joint Venture with Foreign Capital

When: 17 July 1899
Where: Minato, Tokyo, Japan
Part of: NEC organized as first Japanese joint venture with foreign capital

Western Electric invested in a 54% share of Nippon Electric Company, Ltd. in 1899, becoming the first company to join a Japanese joint venture with foreign capital.

In 1899, Western Electric Co., Inc. invested in a 54% share of Nippon Electric Company, Ltd. This investment marked a significant milestone in Japanese economic development, as it was the first instance of a foreign company joining a Japanese joint venture. The partnership was established to leverage the growing telephone market in Japan, which saw a substantial increase in subscribers between 1899 and 1907.

Sources

Western Electric Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-16
NEC Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-15

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.