Mitsui & Co. history

After the Korean War (1950--53) the laws were further relaxed and many of the zaibatsu, including Mitsui, began to reform under the direction of their former subsidiary banks.

1959 Daiichi Bussan Kaisha, Ltd. integrated with other trading companies (Mitsui & Co.'s great amalgamation) and changed its name to Mitsui & Co., Ltd.

Mitsui completed its reassembly and transition into a sogo shosha by 1960.

In order to expand its heavy industry sector Mitsui purchased the Kinoshita Sansho steel company in 1965.

Taiyo Kobe was formed by merger in 1973.

1976 Ohtemachi Head Office building completed.

By the time of the 1979 Iranian Revolution, the complex was 85 percent complete, but construction cost overruns of US$1 billion and the revolution brought construction to a halt.

In 1984 the company entered the personal computer field for the first time, through a joint venture with Solana Beach, California-based Kaypro Corporation.

As a byproduct of the stagnation of their core trading activities, nearly all of the sogo shosha had diversified aggressively into financial investments during the speculative bubble, which reached its peak in 1988--89.

Some analysts had thought BP would realize a larger settlement from MOEX but there was also relief to have a first step toward resolving the multiple claims. Its subsidiary Mitsui Oil Exploration's MOEX Offshore had a 10% stake in the Deepwater Horizon well in the Gulf of Mexico through a subsidiary, and in May, 2011, MOEX agreed to pay US$1.07 billion to settle British Petroleum claims against it over the explosion and oil spill at the well.

Berkshire Hathaway acquired over 5% of the stock in the company, along with four other Japanese trading houses, over the 12-month period ending in August 2020.