Our founder Chubei Itoh established a “store law” in 1872, and adopted a meeting system. The store law was a set of house rules covering what in modern parlance called management philosophy, code of ethical conduct, a human resources system and employment regulations, which subsequently became the foundation of ITOCHU Corporation’s management philosophy. Emphasizing communication with employees, Chubei Itoh chaired meetings himself. Moreover, he incorporated a series of what were at the time groundbreaking management systems, including the codification of “sharing of profit by three parties”^* and western bookkeeping methods. Those initiatives built the foundations of mutual trust between the store owner and the employees. Since that era, we have based our corporate management on sustainability.

• Sharing of profit by three parties: In a predominately feudal era, this was an extremely progressive philosophy of sharing profits with employees. The store's net profit was divided among three parties: the store owner, the store's reserve fund, and store employees.

Why were we able to keep developing for such a long period of time? We believe that it is because we have put into practice the spirit of “Sampo-yoshi” for over 160 years, which is the root of sustainability. At the same time, as the business environment has changed with the times, we have established a corporate culture that anticipates changes and turns it into opportunities.
Since the foundation, ITOCHU Corporation has consistently thrived despite the turmoil it has faced in different eras, including two world wars and economic volatility. Starting as a trading company mainly handling textiles, we have fulfilled the role of a trading company that has responsively changed according to the demands of each generation. Furthermore, while significantly changing its products and business portfolios, we have expanded our sphere of influence from upstream raw materials to downstream consumer sales. ITOCHU Corporation has evolved into a general trading company, and from there into a globally integrated corporation.
We are convinced that our history has continued for more than 160 years because we have surely upheld and passed on the spirit of “Sampo-yoshi” while remaining an essential component of society by responding to changes, in its expectations in different eras.