Official company name
Matsushita Electric Industrial Corporation

Common company name
National or Panasonic

Company logo


Name when written in Japanese (normal)


Name when written in Japanese (traditional)


Name breakdown
 - "Matsu" - Means "pine tree."
 - "Shita" - Means "under." Panasonic = under a pine tree? See below for "Actual name origins."

Actual name origins
Mr. Matsushita! Seriously. It is the name of the founder. Incidentally, Matsushita typically isn't referred to as "Matsushita," even within Japan. Chances are, unless you say "Panasonic," people probably won't know what you're talking about.

Corporate History
http://panasonic.co.jp/company/person/en/index.html

Perhaps the oldest company of those we're covering, our next is known for all sorts of things: funding Japan's imperialistic pre-WW2 days, the Japanese Zero, heavy machinery, annoying car commercials, and most recently, LCD R&D. Yep, you guessed it: Mitsubishi.