TOKYO -- Japan Inc. seems to have begun distancing itself a little from Japan as a nation, an impression left by two recent developments tied to the Mitsubishi group.
The first involves the rehabilitation of beleaguered Mitsubishi Motors following the company's fuel economy scandal. The Mitsubishi group initially was expected to bail out the automaker. But Nissan Motor volunteered for the job instead, taking the top shareholder spot. France's Renault is Nissan's largest shareholder, which leaves Mitsubishi Motors indirectly under the umbrella of a foreign business.
This reporter asked an old acquaintance and former top group official whether the Mitsubishi group could accept this foreign influence. The surprisingly calm response was that the group "let the chips fall where they may."
Mitsubishi Motors had recovered from a scandal in the prior decade involving cover-ups of vehicle defects, and the automaker was in the process of building a structure that could generate over 100 billion yen ($941 million) a year in operating profit. But the company's next growth strategy was unclear. As a midsize automaker with annual sales of around 1 million vehicles, options to recover from the fuel economy scandal were limited.
"It doesn't matter whether Nissan is foreign or not," my acquaintance said. "I'm actually glad [Mitsubishi Motors] could find a reliable partner after this recent issue."
Three major group companies including trading house Mitsubishi Corp. rescued Mitsubishi Motors during its 2004-05 crisis, providing capital through steps such as buying preferred shares. In hindsight, the drama seems to have just bought the automaker time until it could find a real partner in Nissan.
The other news is that Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ intends to quit as a primary dealer of Japanese government bonds. "With more government-bond yields turning negative, it will become difficult to fulfill all of our bidding duties as a primary dealer," President Takashi Oyamada said.
The rising risk of exchange rate fluctuations has made it tough to buy even government debt unconditionally. BTMU's move to give up primary-dealer status may express the idea that the nation and banks do not share a common destiny.
The group with the famous three-diamond emblem worked hand in hand with the government as far back as the Meiji era, when Mitsubishi Shokai was the sole transporter of government troops during the Satsuma Rebellion of 1877. Mitsubishi later bought a massive tract in Tokyo's Marunouchi district and a state-run Nagasaki shipyard from the government, forming the foundation of the group's present prosperity.
"Corporate responsibility to society" is one of the three principles set down by the group's fourth president, Koyata Iwasaki.