SoftBank Corp.

  • Japanese
  • Chinese
  • Korean
  • Contact Us
  • Site Map
Site Search
Japanese Page

Origin of Company Name and Logo

SoftBank is a ship of comrades. Flaunting at its mast is the banner of KAIENTAI of the 21st Century.

This symbol represents our ardent passion for the kind of enterprise that makes people happy through the Information Revolution and will be admired by people around the world 30 or 300 years from now.

Company name: a key source of infrastructure for the information society

SoftBank started out in 1981 as a distributor of computer software. As software is called “soft” in Japanese, the name “SoftBank” literally means “a bank of software.” We chose the word “bank” based on our grand aspiration to be a key source of infrastructure for the information society.

Logo: banner of a 21st-centruty Kaientai

Brand logo

Brand logo of SoftBank is designed based on the banner of Kaientai, a company led by Ryoma Sakamoto.

When he founded the Company, Masayoshi Son had a vision.
Now, people who share that vision voyage together through turbulent waters to ensure that it comes to pass.

The SoftBank logo evokes the Kaientai, a modernizing and enterprising naval trading company that operated during the last days of the Tokugawa Shogunate in Japan. They had an advanced information and knowledge and served as a catalyst for Japan's transformation into a modern, free-thinking, boldly decisive state, untrammeled by tribal rivalries or the conventional limits of the time.

They had a vision for a future Japan 50 or 100 years from then and sailed boldly forward through turbulent seas, giving everything to achieve their goal. As a mark of respect for their passion and empathy with their vision, our brand symbol is designed based on the banner of the Kaientai.

SoftBank is a ship of comrades with the banner of a 21st-century Kaientai flying on its mast.
This symbol represents our ardent passion for the kind of enterprise that makes people happy through the Information Revolution and will be admired by people around the world 30 or 300 years from now.

Two lines represent “= (equal)” or “answer.”

Two lines represent “= (equal).” This also symbolizes our wish to provide “answer” for the information network in Japan so that everyone can fairly enjoy it.
Equal sign explains that the answer equals to SoftBank, and at the same time, this symbolizes interactive communication and unlimited possibilities of the Internet.

Font type

We use Mincho font for the font of “SoftBank” representing our wish to be creative and build new era while respecting a history.