Japanese companies change names to increase overseas recognition
Japanese companies adopted names containing only English letters or an increased proportion of English letters.
Japanese corporations are altering their names to enhance global visibility and brand recognition. Approximately one-quarter of companies that modified their names in 2025 opted for English letters or a higher proportion of English characters in their new names. Masafumi Senzaki, president of Hitachi Construction Machinery, expressed the company's intention to bolster its brand image in foreign markets by renaming itself Landcros in April 2027.
The new moniker, composed of the English word "land" and the acronym "CROS," symbolizes aspects vital to the corporation, such as customer satisfaction and dependability. Hitachi Construction Machinery has been expanding its international footprint, particularly in North, Central, and South America, where over 80 percent of its revenue originates from.
To bolster its overseas presence, the company enlisted the assistance of baseball icon Shohei Ohtani, who will serve as the "face" of the renamed entity. The name switch follows Hitachi's decision to disaffiliate Hitachi Construction Machinery in 2022 as part of a broader corporate overhaul. In a survey conducted by Teikoku Databank, 5,781 (27 percent) of the 21,547 businesses that changed their names in 2025 selected English-letter-based or predominantly English-names.
For listed enterprises, names containing English characters are more likely to capture the attention of overseas investors, but these names can complicate the comprehension of the company's activities within Japan. Some organizations have first altered the names of their overseas operations to mitigate this issue. In 2023, NGK Spark Plug, a prominent auto parts producer with the Japanese name Nippon Tokushu Togyo, rebranded its international division to Niterra, inspired by a Latin term signifying the illumination of Earth.
The firm is also contemplating adjusting its domestic moniker to correspond with the new name. Daisuke Iijima of Teikoku Databank emphasized the significance of fostering a connection with the name among employees to amplify the impact of the rebranding.
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- Japanese Companies Change Names to Increase Overseas Recognition japannews.yomiuri.co.jp
