A59 Yes. In October 2005, Nichimen Corp. and Nissho Iwai Corp. merged and took the name Sojitz Corporation. This was the first integration of two trading companies since the ltochu takeover of Ataka Sangyo in 1977.

Nichimen and Nissho Iwai were hit by the poor performance of major investments they had made during the economic bubble, and recovery in their earn-ings was slow. Therefore, in April 2003, a jointly owned stock company called Nissho lwai-Nichimen Holdings Corp. was set up and, in April 2004, the two subsidiary companies under the
holding company were merged to form Sojirz Corporation. Then, in July that year, the name of the holding company was changed to Sojitz Holdings Corp. and, finally, in October 2005 the holding company and the operating company merged to create a new company, Sojitz Corporation.

A subsidiary company of Tomen Corp. that was involved in real estate was hit by huge losses from the fall in land prices, making it impossible for Tomen to reconstruct itself. Its major financial backers, including Tokai Bank (now the Bank ofTokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ) discharged it of its debts. It received support from the Toyota Motor Corp. Group company Toyota Tsusho Corp. and reconstructed itself, eventually merging with Toyota Tsusho Corp. in April 2006. 92