ITOCHU Corporation

What does ITOCHU own?
ITOCHU owns a diverse portfolio of businesses across eight divisions. Its most notable consumer-facing holdings include FamilyMart (approximately 95% ownership), Dole packaged foods and Asia fresh produce, Edwin denim, and Yanase automobile distribution. The company also holds stakes in Isuzu, Mazda, Itochu Techno-Solutions, and over 400 other group companies across textiles, machinery, metals, energy, food, and real estate.

Is ITOCHU publicly traded?
Yes, ITOCHU Corporation trades on the Tokyo Stock Exchange under ticker 8001. It is a component of the TOPIX Large 70 index. The company's largest known shareholder is Berkshire Hathaway, which held approximately 10.1% of shares as of late 2025. American Depositary Receipts trade over the counter under the symbol ITOCY.

Who founded ITOCHU?
ITOCHU was founded in 1858 by Chubei Itoh, who began as a traveling linen merchant in the regions between Osaka and Kyushu. He established the Benichu drapery store in Osaka in 1872, which evolved into the Itoh Thread and Yarn Store and eventually became C. Itoh and Co., Ltd. in 1918. The company changed its English name to ITOCHU Corporation in 1992.

What is a sogo shosha?
A sogo shosha is a Japanese general trading company that handles a wide range of products and services across multiple industries and geographies. There are five major sogo shosha: ITOCHU, Mitsubishi Corporation, Mitsui and Co., Sumitomo Corporation, and Marubeni Corporation. These companies serve as intermediaries in trade, invest in businesses, and manage portfolios of subsidiaries and affiliates.

What is ITOCHU's relationship with Berkshire Hathaway?
Berkshire Hathaway began acquiring shares in ITOCHU and four other Japanese trading houses in July 2019. By late 2025, Berkshire held approximately 10.1% of ITOCHU's shares. Warren Buffett has described these as long-term investments and committed to supporting the companies' boards of directors. Berkshire borrowed in yen to fund the positions at an average cost of 1.2%.

What are ITOCHU's main business segments?
ITOCHU operates through eight divisions: Textile, Machinery, Metals and Minerals, Energy and Chemicals, Food, General Products and Realty, ICT and Financial Business, and The 8th Company. Each division functions semi-autonomously under the "Division Company" system adopted in 1997. The Food and Textile divisions are among the company's strongest performers.

What was ITOCHU's FY2025 financial performance?
ITOCHU reported FY2025 (fiscal year ended March 2026) revenue of approximately 15.6 trillion yen and consolidated net profit of 900.3 billion yen. The company set a dividend of 200 yen per share for FY2025. For the first half of fiscal 2025, net profit increased to 500.3 billion yen from 438.4 billion yen in the prior year, despite a slight revenue decrease.

ITOCHU traces its origins to 1858, when Chubei Itoh began door-to-door wholesaling of linen in the regions between Osaka and Kyushu. This was shortly after Japan opened to foreign trade. In 1872, Itoh founded the "Benichu" drapery store in the Honmachi district of Osaka. The store was renamed "Itoh Honten" in 1884 and became the Itoh Thread and Yarn Store in 1893.

Chubei Itoh built his business on the philosophy of Sampo-yoshi, a merchant principle from the Ohmi region meaning "good for the seller, good for the buyer, and good for society." He introduced progressive management practices for the era, including a meeting system for employee communication and a profit-sharing arrangement among three parties.

After Chubei Itoh's death in 1903, his son Chubei Itoh II took over the company. The younger Itoh expanded operations into machinery, automobiles, and metals beyond the core textile business. He traveled to London in 1910 to establish direct procurement and financing, eliminating costly intermediaries. In 1918, the business was incorporated as "C. Itoh and Co., Ltd." and opened its first New York office.

The company faced severe difficulties during the 1920s recession and split in half in 1921. One half eventually became Marubeni Corporation. During World War II, the company was merged with other trading firms into Daiken Co., Ltd. as part of wartime consolidation.

In December 1949, under Allied occupation policies to dissolve the zaibatsu structure, Daiken was split into four companies: C. Itoh and Co., Marubeni, Kureha Cotton Spinning, and Amagasaki Nail Works. C. Itoh relisted on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 1950.

The Korean War boosted ITOCHU's performance through import and export transactions. The company expanded rapidly in the 1950s and 1960s, diversifying from textiles into petroleum, aircraft, and automobiles. In 1972, ITOCHU became the first Japanese trading company authorized to do business in Communist China. The company absorbed Ataka and Co., Japan's ninth-largest trading company, in 1977 after Ataka suffered major losses from a US oil project.

Ryuzo Sejima, a former Imperial Japanese Army staff officer who joined Itoh in 1958 after spending 11 years in a Siberian prison, rose to become president and chairman. He implemented a military-style internal reporting system and arranged the joint venture between General Motors and Isuzu in 1970, one of the first tie-ups between US and Japanese automakers.

On October 1, 1992, C. Itoh and Co. changed its English name to ITOCHU Corporation. By the early 1990s, ITOCHU had become Japan's largest trading company, but losses from the Japanese asset price bubble, particularly in real estate, brought it down to third place by mid-decade. In 1997, the company introduced its "Division Company" system to improve agility and accountability.

Masahiro Okafuji became president in 2010 and led ITOCHU to become the most profitable sogo shosha by 2016. Under his leadership, the company focused on non-resource businesses, particularly food and machinery. Okafuji was appointed Chairman and CEO in 2018, with Keita Ishii becoming president and COO.

In 2014, ITOCHU formed a cross-shareholding partnership with Thailand's Charoen Pokphand Group. Together they invested over $8 billion in China's CITIC Limited in 2015, the largest investment by a Japanese trading company and the largest foreign investment in a Chinese state-owned enterprise at the time.

In 2020, Berkshire Hathaway announced it had acquired over 5% of ITOCHU's stock along with four other Japanese trading houses. By late 2025, Berkshire had increased its stake to approximately 10.1%. In February 2024, ITOCHU ended its partnership with Israeli military technology company Elbit following an International Court of Justice ruling.

ITOCHU's business philosophy is rooted in Sampo-yoshi, the Ohmi merchant principle meaning "good for the seller, good for the buyer, and good for society." The company traces this philosophy directly to founder Chubei Itoh's personal motto: "Trade is a compassionate business. It is noble when it accords with the spirit of Buddha by profiting those who sell and those who buy and supplying the needs of society."

ITOCHU was the first sogo shosha to receive the ISO 14001 environmental certificate. The company publishes annual sustainability reports and has established environmental targets for its operations. In 2013, ITOCHU implemented a "lights out" policy at 10 PM with a general ban on work after 8 PM, an unusual initiative in Japanese corporate culture aimed at reducing overtime and improving work-life balance.

In February 2024, ITOCHU ended its partnership with Israeli military technology company Elbit after the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to prevent alleged acts of genocide against Palestinians. The company's CFO at the time, Tsuyoshi Hachimura, announced the decision publicly. This move drew both praise and criticism but demonstrated ITOCHU's willingness to respond to international human rights concerns.

The company was criticized in 2011 for holding a champagne event at a LeSportsac store during the March 11 earthquake and tsunami disaster. ITOCHU has also faced scrutiny from short seller Glaucus Research Group, which published a critical report on the company's accounting practices in 2016, causing a stock price decline of approximately 10%.

ITOCHU has faced several controversies typical of large diversified trading companies operating globally. The company's investments span politically sensitive regions and industries, exposing it to regulatory and public scrutiny.

In 2016, American short seller Glaucus Research Group published a report critical of ITOCHU's accounting practices, causing a stock price decline of approximately 10%. The company defended its financial reporting and continued operations without major restatements.

The 2011 champagne event held during the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami drew public criticism in Japan, where the disaster caused tens of thousands of deaths and approximately $235 billion in damage according to the World Bank.

ITOCHU's decision to end its partnership with Elbit in February 2024 represented a notable case of a major Japanese corporation responding to international human rights concerns. The International Court of Justice had ordered Israel to prevent alleged acts of genocide the prior month, and ITOCHU's CFO publicly announced the termination of the partnership.

The company's acquisition of Big Motor (renamed WECARS) for approximately 60 billion yen followed a series of scandals at the auto retailer. ITOCHU positioned the acquisition as a turnaround opportunity, but it drew questions about the company's due diligence process.