"住友"(Sumitomo) refers to the Sumitomo Group, a Japanese...

"住友"(Sumitomo) refers to the Sumitomo Group, a Japanese conglomerate that traces its roots back to the 17th century when Masatomo Sumitomo established a book and medicine shop in Kyoto.

"商事"(Shōji) means "business" or "trade" in Japanese.

"株式会社"(Kabushiki Gaisha) is a Japanese term for a joint-stock company.

すみとも– Sumitomo (Hiragana) – for Japanese language novices like me

Have been doing a bit of reading up on Sumitomo Group yesterday, today & think they most certainly warrant their own thread. Will follow with a bit of curated info on what looks to be most important.

Noting the organisation is to some degree, right there in plain sight - this particular sign is on the building opposite where I work in Melbourne - I would have walked past it at least twice a day for the past 9 months - it wasn't really until Friday Lunch that I paid any attention to it.