l The Mitsubishi Group consists of more than 160
corporations, employing over half a million people.
l In 1995 the Mitsubishi
Corporation, the group's general trading company or Sogo
Shosha, was ranked by Fortune Magazine as
the largest corporation on the planet, with revenues topping $175
billion.
l Mitsubishi is one of the main companies involved in the
current construction of , which are both reprocessing
plants. Thus, Mitsubishi is providing Japan with the reprocessing
technology to make missiles through the extraction plutonium. Japan,
however, does not possess nuclear weapons,
at the moment because Article 9 of their
constitution prevents them from doing so.
l Mitsubishi is Japan's number
one defence contractor – no small market, considering that Japan's
"non-offensive" military's budget is already the world's third
largest.
l The majority of business involving Mitsubishi is done
on behalf of the Japan Defence Agency, with
such projects as the F-2 close support fighter,
which is being developed in conjunction with Lockheed Martin Corp. as a successor
to the F-1 fighter.
l Mitsubishi has its head office in Tokyo
with 32 other locations in Japan.
It has offices in Mexico, China, Indonesia, Taiwan and India with representatives
in South America, Moscow, Istanbul, Pursan, Bangkok and Ho Chi Min City, with
dozens of overseas subsidiaries.
l Mitsubishi won the of the Month in 1995
as The Most Environmentally Destructive Corporate Force on Earth.
l
goes to the Mitsubishi Group of Companies
for its ceaseless efforts to portray its various businesses--some of the most
destructive on earth--as environmentally friendly.
‹ The Dirty
they Make
Mitsubishi has been
engaging in nuclear business for more than
three decades. Since commencing research into and devleopment of
nuclear power generation in the 1950s,
Mitsubishi has taken part in the design, manufacture and construction of a large
number of very successful power plants. An extensive
nuclear plants manufacturer within Japan, Mitsubishi is engaged in
the supply of fuel cycle-related equipment and the implementation of research
and development programs. These include ways of storing
spent nuclear fuel and the development of
new types of nuclear power plants like the fast breeder reactor,
the high temperature gas cooled reactor, and the nuclear fusion reactor. Thus,
Mitsubishi activities lie in close proximity to the manufacturing of nuclear
weapons. They have been directly involved with manufacturing missiles and
nuclear energy using plutonium.
Mitsubishi makes helicopters, rockets, missiles, torpedos, nuclear power plants,
aircraft and military space equipment.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is Japan's number one ship and
rocket builder, gas, oil, coal-fired and nuclear power plant maker,
and heavy machinery producer. Mitsubishi Heavy, which builds patriot
missiles, is also Japan's number one defense contractor--no
small market, considering that Japan's "non-offensive"
military's budget is already the third largest in the world. ()
In December 1998, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Japan and
Ratheon in the US were the defence contractors involved with the
Japan's and the US joint research plan for the Theatre Missile
Defence (TMD). A memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed
on August 16, 1999 outlining the direction the plan would
take. Japan plans to spend $280 million over the next six
years on the Theatre Missile Defence.
‹ Mitsubishi's
Subsidiaries and Industry
lMain Companies
The core Mitsubishi
companies are global leaders in most key economic sectors and are involved in
a vast array of activities ranging from making chopsticks to building sophisticated
defence weaponry and systems.
There are several
divisions within the Mitsubishi Corporation. Many of these Mitsubishi Companies
are leaders in their fields both nationally and internationally. Some of them
are: Mitsubishi Bank, Mitsubishi
Chemical, Mitsubishi Oil, Mitsubishi
Electric, Mitsubishi Motors Corporation,
Mitsubishi Corporation in
Europe and The Middle East, and Kirin
Brewery of America.
Mitsubishi Heavy
Industries,
Ltd (MHI) is one of the world leading manufacturers of heavy industry and is
working in several areas incuding, nuclear power, machinery, defense, civil
aircraft, and space related business. MHI is located in Tokyo, Japan. It is
active in efforts to export nuclear power materials to Asia. Mitsubishi has
exported a pressure vessel to China's Qinshan nuclear
plant and has supplied a turbine for Taiwan's
No.4 (Lungmen) Nuclear Plant.
MHI includes several
smaller subdivisions which are divided into more concentrated groups. For example,
Mitsubishi Nuclear Fuel Co. is concerned
with the manufacture of nuclear fuel. The Nuclear Development
Corporation does research and development on fuel and fuel cycle.
These two related companies and others from the Mitsubishi
Nuclear Organization, which is one of Japan's leading nuclear power
providers.
‹ Mitsubishi
Patnerships
For the purpose of expanding business and widening the product line-up, Mitsubishi
have "aggressively" made alliances with other companies. In
the aerospace department, they exchanged memorandums in May
2000 with the Boeing Company so that they can establish a relationship
in more areas, agreeing to strengthen the relationship concerning the operation
and utility of the International Space Station.
Mitsubishi
Heavy Industries is the key Japanese industry participant in developing
a sea-based theater missile defense system
that Washington and Tokyo agreed to research in mid-August
of 1999. This system's intended use will be to detect the launch
of enemy missiles. MHI is working with Raytheon,
the prime contractor for the Navy's Theater Wide system,
on this project. The five-year or six-year transpacific project will focus on
an improved version of the SM-3 missile
used in the U.S navy's Theatre Wide missile defense program. MHI has already
received an $8.3 million U.S. government
contract keyed to Japan's part of the program. Their main role is to develop
various high-tech equipment that will be of use in the missile defense system.
Japan plans to spend $280 million over the next six
years on the project.
‹ Mitsubishi
has founded:
lThe International Network for Safety Assurance
of Fuel Cycle Industries (INSAF)
l BNFL (including Westinghouse)
l COGEMA, Global Nuclear Fuel LLC.
l Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute
l Japan Nuclear Fuel Co., Ltd.
l Mitsubishi Materials Corporation
l Mitsubishi Nuclear Fuel Co., Ltd.
l Nuclear Fuel Industries, Ltd.
Nuclear connections: The Nuclear Energy Systems Headquarters
of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. acts as a focal point
for contact with customers and controls the various nuclear energy
departments of the Mitsubishi Group.
Related Companies are: Nuclear Development Corporation
research & development of fuel and fuel cycle, Mitsubishi
Nuclear Fuel Co., Ltd., Nuclear Power Training Center, Ltd,
Nuclear Plant Service Engineering Co., Ltd.
Mitsubishi is involved with the Japan Nuclear Cycle Development
Institute (JNC). There has been a high percentage of temporary
transfers of employees from Mitsubishi to JNC.
‹ Dirty Quote
by Mitsubishi
"Contributing to the community through philanthropic activities goes naturally
with contributing through business activities at the Mitsubishi companies"
()
‹ Key Sources
1. Mitsubishi web site:
2. CorpWatch and
3. Joshua Karliner, "The Corporate Planet: Ecology and Politics
in the Age of Globalization," (Sierra Club Books, 1997)
4. Mitsubishi Heavy
Industries:
5. Hoovers Online:
This fact sheet was prepared by Mikele Aboitiz,
Sheri Gibbings and Felicity Hill of the Women's International
League for Peace and Freedom, United Nations Office in New
York.
