At the beginning of the Meiji era, the Sumitomo enterprise was run by Kichizaemon Tomochika (the twelfth-generation Kichizaemon) and his son Kichizaemon Tomotada (the thirteenth-generation Kichizaemon). Misfortune struck the Sumitomo family, however, with the passing of their male heirs when Tomochika and then Tomotada died in 1890.
明治に入って、住友事業は12代目吉左衛門友親と、その子13代目吉左衛門友忠の下で営まれていたが、1890年に友親、友忠が相次いで亡くなり、男系相続者が途絶してしまう非運に見舞われる。