Founded as a key part of the Mitsui Zaibatsu (family owned conglomerate) during the early industrialization of Japan, the company is now independent of the Zaibatsu connotation, but is part of the Mitsui Keiretsu (group of alligned companies).
Many heads of this company have wielded considerable power in Japan and abroad. One of the latest in this vein is Masaharu Ikuta, who has been apointed to head the newly privatized Japan Post.