'From noodles to satellites': the changing geography of the Japanese sogo shosha

The need for a less occidental approach to understanding organizational-geographical change is increasingly accepted. However, there is a danger of replacing one stereotype with others drawn simplistically from alternative capitalisms. In this paper we use the Japanese general trading company - the shosha - as an example. We show how their city-based, international networks evolved over a long period of time and, through a detailed case study of the sogo shosha in Europe, how their organization and behaviour need carefully to be interpreted.