Dissolution of the Zaibatsu

財閥解体 ／ zaibatsu-dissolution　—　Institutions

The dissolution of Zaibatsu headquarters and shareholdings, carried out under the occupation from 1945.

On November 6, 1945, the occupation forces announced that the headquarters of the four major Zaibatsu—Mitsui, Mitsubishi, Sumitomo, and Yasuda—would be "voluntarily" dissolved. In August of the following year, the Holding Company Liquidation Commission was established. Designated companies and Zaibatsu families transferred their shares to the commission and were compensated with government bonds. Eighty-three companies were designated; forty-two were dissolved, and forty-one remained (according to the Mitsui Bunko archives).