Mitsui Culture and History

When your family has its very own museum, you might as well use it to put on an exhibit extolling your own greatness. That seems to be exactly what the all-powerful Mitsui conglomerate is doing with this two-part display, which celebrates both the 50th anniversary of the Mitsui Bunko (archives) institute and the tenth birthday of the Mitsui Memorial Museum. The first half is an exhibition of tea-related tableware and tools, some of which date back to the era of Takatoshi Mitsui, the enterprise's 17th-century founder. From May 14 onward, the museum displays documents, paintings and other materials recounting the illustrious business history of the Mitsuis, which began with the establishment of the Echigoya department store in 1673.