Enriching+ Celebrates One Year! Introducing Five Articles in Three Categories

Any Wear, Anywhere, a clothing rental service for international travelers, was launched as an in-house startup by Sumitomo Corporation employees who love to travel. Since the pilot launched, the service has been well received in Japan and overseas, leading to the extension of the pilot until March 2025 and updates to the service.

We asked the creators about their experience developing a service that changes the way people travel.

A mid-career hire who came from a major automaker to Sumitomo Corporation launched a new company called Hakobune within a year of joining the company. Now, it's gaining momentum and expanding with startup-like speed, launching an initiative in July 2024 to help regulate the electric power grid by leveraging electric vehicles (EVs).

President Takahashi explains the company's founding, including the philosophy behind the unique company name and what inspired him to take on this challenge from square one.

This video introduces Sumitomo Corporation President and CEO, Shingo Ueno, who assumed the position in April 2024, to learn about the five rules he lives by. His friendly personality is on full display as he frankly addresses – in colorful Kansai dialect – his experiences and the philosophy behind his five rules, along with scenes of him interacting with employees.

Many people think of Sumitomo Corporation as an integrated trading company or a "global" company. But what is it really like working at Sumitomo Corporation? What does a career at the company actually entail? To shed some light on the topic, new graduate recruiters with one to three years' experience – recruiters who remember how it feels to be job hunters themselves – answer some frequently asked questions from students. The conversations were highly illuminating, and the content is presented in two parts.

Sumitomo Corporation does not hire new graduates all at once. Rather, the company is strengthening its career hire system (mid-career recruitment). Mr. Takahashi, the president of Hakobune featured in one of the recommended articles above, came to the company as a career hire and has been remarkably successful in his first year. We asked a recruiter from the HR Department why the company is strengthening its career hire system and how career-oriented employees embrace their work after joining the company.