Who were the influential Japanese families that shaped modern corporations?

[mech-eng]

Hi. A decade years ago, I read that today's Japanese firms such as mitsubishi comes from Japanese families coming from the Middle Age. Can you give some information about these famous, ancient, strong and rich Japanese families and their innovative and strong firms.

 

[SteamKing]

Well, start off with the history of Japan, primarily from the 16th - 19th centuries AD:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Japan

In the Meiji period (1868-1912), four zaibatsu emerged which controlled a large portion of Japan's newly-founded industrial concerns:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaibatsu

Only the Mitsui and Sumitomo families predate the Meiji period; Mitsubishi is relatively recent in origin:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi