Sojitz

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Sojitz Corporation (双日株式会社, Sōjitsu Kabushiki-gaisha^?) (TYO: 2768 ) is a trading corporation based in Tokyo, Japan. It operates in many industries, including construction, forestry, plastics, chemicals, mining, petroleum, textiles, and international trade. Sojitz also participates in joint ventures with foreign companies in Japan.

[edit] Etymology

The kanji 双日 can be explained as "two of (the kanji) 日," and by such the name encompasses the names of its constituent companies, Nissho Iwai Corporation (日商岩井株式会社, Nisshō Iwai Kabushiki-gaisha^?) and Nichimen Corporation (ニチメン株式会社, Nichimen Kabushiki-gaisha^?), who original name was Japan Cotton Corporation (日本綿花株式会社, Nihon Menka Kabushiki-gaisha^?). "Nichimen" is the contraction of "Nihon Menka," "nichi" being one of the pronunciations of the character 日 (which is the first character in the Japanese word for "Japan," "Nihon." It means "day" or "sun."). "Ni" and "jitsu" are alternate pronunciations of this character, hence the name "Sojitz" (Sōjitsu).

[edit] History

Sojitz was formed in 2004 by the merger of Nissho Iwai Corporation (日商岩井株式会社, Nisshō Iwai Kabushiki-gaisha^?) and Nichimen Corporation (ニチメン株式会社, Nichimen Kabushiki-gaisha^?).