During the Meiji era the Sumitomo family was engaged in cultural enterprises, and the fifteenth-generation kichizaemon Tomoito SUMITOMO donated the building that would become the Osaka Prefectural Nakanoshima Library.
明治時代に入ってからは文化事業にも関わり、十五代目吉左衛門住友友純（ともいと）は大阪府立中之島図書館の建物を寄贈。