↑ Ryan, Patrick (16 October 2018). "Reflecting the nation's history, 'sōgō shōsha' are unique to Japan". The Japan Times Online (dalam bahasa Inggeris) (BUSINESS| INSIDER REPORT [2 of 12 on sōgō shōsha]). Chiyoda City, Tokyo, Japan: The Japan Times, Ltd. Dicapai pada 28 April 2019. The sōgō shōsha‘s organization and business model is unique to Japan. This is, for the most part, because they are a reflection of Japan’s own unique economic development, first during the Meiji Restoration’s period of rapid industrialization and commercialization aimed at building a strong military in the latter half of the 19th century and then in the intensive rebuilding of Japan’s infrastructure and industry in the aftermath of World War II eventually leading to Japan’s transformation as an economic superpower. Impossible to imitate The sōgō shōsha emerged in the post-WWII period as very large entities both in size and scope. They are extremely diversified, not only in terms of their range of products and services but industry-wise and geographically. Needless to say, they are very difficult to imitate. The first sōgō shōsha initially appeared more than 140 years ago and developed sophisticated multi-faceted functions and expertise over the ensuing years. These functions are rooted in Japan’s raw-material import — value-added export trading model as well as in the sōgō shōsha’s multi-industry upstream-downstream supply chains. In truth, it is virtually impossible to build these type of large-scale trading intermediary organizations from scratch. To this day, the closest thing the rest of the world has to the sōgō shōsha are the trading firms of such Korean chaebol, or conglomerates, as Samsung, Hyundai and others. However, they are much smaller and specialized in scope than the Japanese sōgō shōsha. Little known outside Japan In 1996, all nine sōgō shōsha could be found in the top 40 of the Global Fortune 500 with five of the first six spots on the list being held by sōgō shōsha.... — Patrick Ryan is asenior analyst engaged in global industry research in the Marubeni Research Institute, the research arm of Marubeni Corp. He has previously worked in InternationalHR [Human Resources] and International Corporate Strategies for Marubeni.
