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Paper short abstract

The paper explores the evolution of Japanese general trading companies over the past decades. Through constant business model innovation and adaptation to the market, the companies have turned their weaknesses into strength and emerged into important actors responding to green economy.

Paper long abstract

General trading companies have a wide reach across business sectors – they deal with everything from rockets to ramen, from mineral water to communications satellites. They operate globally and are engaged in “development and procurement of raw materials, to manufacturing and processing, logistics, sales and services”. In other words, sōgō shōsha cannot just be seen as an intermediary but rather as an orchestrator and are important actors contributing to the green economy. Sōgō shōsha provide services, networks, knowledge and intermediation for Japanese companies and create an important pillar for Japanese economy. The aim of this presentation is to examine the changing role of sōgō shōsha in the turbulent geopolitical environment and examine how they have adapted to market needs.

Despite the importance of general trading companies, their roles and shifts during the last decades have not been addressed much in academic research. A review of secondary literature and newspaper articles on general trading companies provides a state of the field on sōgō shōsha. Secondly, document analysis is used to understand individual company perspectives.

Even though the future of sōgō shōsha has not been clear at times in the past, the companies have undergone a continuous evolution and business model innovation to respond to the societal needs of today. Using their expertise and networks across fields and sectors, sōgō shōsha play an important role in shaping developments in the Indo-Pacific region, securing supply chains and contributing to digital and green transformation.