Warren Buffett's Japan trade: The changing world of 'sogo shosha'

TOKYO -- At a FamilyMart convenience store in Tokyo, shoppers grab fresh bananas and pay using their smartphones. A familiar scene, but few would know that one company is orchestrating almost the entire transaction -- from growing the bananas to owning the store and even developing the smartphone payment system.

The company, Itochu, is one of Japan's venerable "sogo shosha," or trading houses -- a quintessential feature of the country's corporate landscape, sprawling across dozens of business sectors.