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Ask TechJapan: Japanese Corporation Names
Posted on Jan 30, 2005 - 11:05 PM by zmcnulty
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Posted on Jan 30, 2005 - 11:05 PM by zmcnulty
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Ever wondered what "Mitsubishi" means when written out in Japanese? Or maybe you've pondered over exactly how "Sanyo" came to be known as Sanyo*. What does the "shiba" in "Toshiba" mean? In this article, we dive deep into the corporate names of seven of the world's most well-known electronics companies:
- FujiFilm
- Fujitsu
- Hitachi
- Panasonic
- Mitsubishi
- Sanyo
- Toshiba
Hint: The founder's name isn't "Mr. Sanyo." In fact, only one company out of the seven listed above still uses their founder's name as their official corporation name.
Toshiba. Sanyo. Panasonic. Hitachi. Perhaps these names ring a bell? They should. Japan is well known throughout the world for their economic power. A nation 1/8th the size of the United States in land area has the world's second largest GDP. They also have the world's second largest military budget, but we won't go into that.
When you take a step back for a moment and look at the distribution of resources throughout the world, you'll find Japan is far from well-equipped. So how does a nation with almost no natural resources become the world's second largest economic power? What allowed the country to come from almost total isolation in the 19th century to its current position in the 21st century? These concepts are hard to grasp for Americans in particular; our country's economy has been established based on the abundance of natural resources such as coal, steel, and fantastic soil.
In a word, Japan was built by management. No group of people can manage as well as the Japanese. The Japanese corporation is a prime example of this -- just look at what happened in Detroit after the Japanese car was introduced to the American public. But we'll stay away from cars, as this site is "Tech"Japan and not "Car"Japan. Here we cover the other consumer good most often thought of as Japanese: electronics.
Japan is inarguably the capital of consumer electronics. Build quality, innovation, design, standardization, and "compactness" are all terms that come to mind for me. Behind Japan's electronics are only a handful of companies; I'm sure anyone reading this article can rattle off at least ten of them without even having to think twice. It is these companies that have helped drive Japan to where it is today and helped establish the country as the world's powerhouse for innovation in the consumer electronics industry. Indeed, I doubt any single country is more responsible for the small conveniences that many of us are brought on a daily basis by the use of personal electronic devices.
An aspect I've never really heard covered regarding these corporations is how they got their names. Does anyone care? Maybe not, but I'm writing this article anyway. Obviously this isn't earth-shattering information -- think of it as material for your next water-cooler conversation or a pick-up line at a bar: "Hey, is that a Panasonic in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me? Oh, it IS a Panasonic. Well Panasonic means ____ in Japanese." Note that all "Name Breakdowns" are to be taken lightly -- just like the name "Smith" doesn't necessarily mean someone is a blacksmith, Japanese names aren't meant to be taken literally.
Here's a breakdown of this article.
We begin our investigation with one of the companies that dethroned film giant Kodak: FujiFilm. Please use the page navigation buttons below to find your way through this article.
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