Sumitomo Forestry Housing

Sumitomo Forestry Co., Ltd. is a Japanese company whose business spans wood and building materials, domestic and overseas housing, real estate, resource environment, and lifestyle services. Its origins trace to the Sumitomo family's 1691 management of 'copper mine reserve forests' for the Besshi Copper Mine, and the company was established in 1948. It entered the wooden custom-built housing business in 1975 and listed on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 1990. Its official website presents it as a comprehensive housing and living-related enterprise covering detached houses, custom-built homes, land utilization, and rental housing management.

The origin of the Sumitomo Forestry Group is the management of 'copper mine reserve forests' (銅山備林) that began in 1691, when the Sumitomo family opened the Besshi Copper Mine in Niihama, Ehime Prefecture, and procured timber for fuel and charcoal, mine supports, and the construction of homes for workers. In 1894, under the idea of 'repaying the nation' (国土報恩), then Besshi manager Teikō Iba established a 'Great Afforestation Plan' to restore lost forests, carrying out large-scale planting that at times exceeded 2.5 million trees per year and establishing sustained-yield forestry. In 1917, the purchase of national forest in Monbetsu started mountain forest management in Hokkaido; the following year, at the request of Miyazaki Prefecture, afforestation operations centered on Miyazaki in Kyushu were established; and in 1940, accepting a request to manage a rubber plantation in Indonesia advanced internationalization. In 1948, due to the dissolution of the zaibatsu, Sumitomo's forestry division was split into six companies; after two mergers they became Shikoku Forestry and Toho Forestry, and in 1955 these two merged to form Sumitomo Forestry. In 1956, the company began importing timber; starting with Philippine timber in 1955, it expanded to Malaysia and Indonesia, and in 1958 began handling American and New Zealand timber. In 1970, it established PT. Kutai Timber Indonesia (KTI) and began overseas manufacturing. In 1975, it entered the wooden custom-built housing business, establishing a system in Tokyo and Osaka that consistently handles everything from sales to design, construction, and after-sales service. In 1990, it listed on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. In 1991, it established the Tsukuba Research Institute in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, and began the 'Tropical Forest Regeneration Project' in Indonesia.

Comprehensive housing and living-related enterprise

• Custom-built detached houses

• Subdivision housing and land

• Rental housing and land utilization

• Renovation

• Exterior and landscaping

• Care services

1. 1住友林業 - 総合住生活関連企業 (戸建住宅・注文住宅・土地活用・賃貸経営)sfc.jp
2. 2歴史から見る、住友林業 - 会社情報｜住友林業sfc.jp
3. 3会社概要 | 住友林業sfc.jp
4. 4筑波研究所 概要 | 住友林業 筑波研究所sfc.jp