Mitsubishi established as a shipping firm in Nagasaki

Background. Iwasaki Yatarō, a Japanese industrialist, founded Mitsubishi in 1870. Following the Meiji Restoration, which abolished feudal systems, Iwasaki moved to Osaka and later established a shipping company. The firm's origins are tied to the Yamauchi clan, whose family crest influenced Mitsubishi's emblem. Nagasaki, a treaty port since 1859, saw modernization begin in earnest in 1868, providing a context for these commercial developments.

Thomas Blake Glover's Role. Thomas Blake Glover, an Anglo-Scottish merchant, was instrumental in Japan's industrialization. He supplied arms and warships to factions that later became leaders in the Meiji Restoration government. Glover helped found the shipbuilding company that became Mitsubishi. Although he went bankrupt in 1870, he remained in Japan to manage the Takashima coal mine for its Dutch owners until the Meiji government took it over.

Establishment of Tsukumo Shokai. In March 1870, Iwasaki became president of the Tsukumo Trading Company, a shipping firm founded for the Yamauchi clan. This entity, known as Tsukumo Shokai, was the precursor to Mitsubishi. The company's core business was shipping, established two years after the Meiji Restoration. The Mitsubishi Group traces its origins to this unified zaibatsu company.