by 1970, nichimen was trading in steel, electronics, motor vehicles and fibers in addition to textiles. nichimen served as the joint venture partner for nabisco when it began operations in japan in the 1970s. nichimen co., ltd. changed its name to nichimen corporation in 1982. nichimen, like other "sogo shosha", was hit hard by the collapse of the japanese asset price bubble in the early 1990s, and subsequently made a strategic shift from the "soft" businesses of lumber, food, and chemicals trading to the "hard" businesses of machinery, steel, and construction.