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Sojitz Meets Nike, Eases U.S. - Japan Trade Tensions, and Conquers the Land, Sea, and Sky

Nissho had established a large presence on the West Coast with its aircraft business in Seattle and its grain and wood product business in Portland. One day, a young businessman named Phil Knight stepped into a bank in Portland. Knight’s request for a loan was denied but the bank recommended that he speak with another companyin the same building. This company was Nissho Iwai (today’s Sojitz) famous for its aircraft carriers. This is how the future founder of Nike came to knock on Nissho Iwai’s doors, beginning an enduring partnership between Nike and Sojitz that would help to expand the brand across the world.

In the 1980s, as U.S. - Japan trade disputes were becoming more serious, Nissho Iwai (today’s Sojitz) had begun to receive attention within the U.S. financial industry for its handling of exorbitantly expensive U.S. products including aircraft carriers, coal, oil, grains, beef, and forest products. Leveraging its presence in the U.S., Sojitz was able to bring Japanese automotive companies to the U.S. and ease some of the trade-related tensions.

Seiichi Takahata focused on mass transit and improving the speed of land transport through Japan’s railroad technology. In 1956, the company also sent Japan’s first export of rail cars to Argentina’s Ministry of Transport.. Nissho began to export to multiple countries around the world, and eventually up to 50% of Japan’s rail exports were handled by Nissho. Takahata’s efforts to expand the ship, plane, and rail businesses resulted in the application of new technologies in each industry and thus fueled the overall development of machinery industries in Japan

In this fashion, Seiichi Takahata came to dominate the land, sea, and skies.

Fin

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