During his absence, in the head office of Sumitomo, some executives began to insist that Sumitomo should start a trading business to keep up with the times, partly because they felt overwhelmed by the prosperities of the other conglomerates including the Mitsui-zaibatsu and the Mitsubishi-zaibatsu.
その不在中に住友総本店幹部の間に、三井財閥、三菱財閥の隆盛に圧倒されていた状況もあって、住友も時流に乗って商事貿易に進出すべきであるとの意見が強まった。