Sumitomo Masatomo

Sumitomo Masatomo (Japanese: 住友 政友, Hepburn: Sumitomo Masatomo, 31 December 1585 (O.S. 21 December 1585) – 17 September 1652) was a Japanese copper mining businessman credited with founding the eponymous Sumitomo Group. He was a 8th generation descendant of Sumitomo Tadashige. Sumitomo Tadashige said to be 22nd generation descendant of Taira no Takamochi from Kanmu Heishi clan who was a grandson of 50th Emperor of Japan, Emperor Kanmu. Originally he was a Buddhist monk. During his lifetime, there were mainly two sects of Buddhist monks in Japan. Masatomo belonged to one of the two which later ceased to exist. Reluctant to join the other group of Buddhist monks, he turned to business to make a living. He started his business by selling books and medicines at first in a bookshop in Kyoto circa 1615.[1]