SUMITOMO ELECTRIC

Origins of Sumitomo

The Sumitomo business was started in Kyoto, the historic capital city of Japan, nearly 400 years ago by Masatomo Sumitomo (1585-1652) and Riemon Soga (1572-1636). Masatomo is regarded as the spiritual founder of the Sumitomo Group. Following an early career in the Buddhist priesthood, he established a shop in Kyoto that sold medicines and books. In accordance with custom of the time, Masatomo produced written teachings for his household and disciples. One volume of these, which provided advice on conduct of commercial activity, has been come to be known as the Founder's Precepts and is the basis of the code of conduct for the Sumitomo Group of companies.

Riemon, who was a disciple and brother-in-law of Masatomo, was the technological pioneer who set the Sumitomo business on the path to commercial success. Having studied copper refining, Riemon established the Izumiya copper business in Kyoto in 1590. Until the late 16th century, Japanese copper merchants did not possess the technology to extract the silver contained in copper ore, which compelled them to export the ore with silver intact. By learning and perfecting western smelting methods, Riemon engineered a revolution in Japanese copper refining. The Sumitomo business was continued by Riemon's eldest son, Tomomochi (1607-1662), who entered the Sumitomo family through his marriage to Masatomo's daughter. Tomomochi moved the copper smelting business to Osaka, Japan's commercial capital at the time.

One of the epoch-making events in the early days of the Sumitomo family was the 1690 opening of the Besshi Copper Mine on the island of Shikoku, across the Seto Inland Sea from Osaka. The Besshi Copper Mine was extremely productive and profitable right up to the early 20th century. Consequently, it played a pivotal role in the birth of many core companies of the Sumitomo Group today.

In 1891, Sumitomo formulated its Business Principles, which are based upon the Founder's Precepts by Masatomo. Article 1 explains the necessity of acting in good faith in order to maintain the other party's trust. Article 2 urges that social trends should be studied in order to meet social changes with active responses. Article 3 advises against being attracted to easy profits or hastily drawing to the promise of profits before fully investigating the commercial viability of ventures.

Igeta
The emblem of Riemon Soga's original business, Izumiya (izumi spring and ya shop), and many Sumitomo companies today is an igeta, a frame placed around a well in premodern Japan. The igeta symbolizes sparkling water gushing constantly from a fountainhead, which forms a mighty river before flowing into a vast ocean.
Company Information
Sumitomo Electric U.S.A., Inc. (SEUSA) is the US headquarters and sales office of its parent company, Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. (SEI) of Japan. SEUSA is located in Torrance, CA, with branch offices in New York, North Carolina, Colorado and Silicon Valley. SEUSA was incorporated on October 27, 1971 and it is 100% owned by SEI. There are approximately 25 employees and the SEUSA's annual sales is roughly $50 million. The main customers are major power utilities, telecommunications and computer companies.

Mission Statement
Sumitomo Electric's corporate mission is to serve society by applying technological innovation to the development of tomorrow's products and services. This mission is represented graphically by the communication symbol, which features three diagonal lines extending from the tops of the Company's initials, SEI. These three lines denote the key words that sum up Sumitomo Electric's operations: Reliability, Vitality, and Creativity.