We were founded in 1912 as the Nishimoto General Store in Kobe.
From that time, we started out in the Japan-China trade, and later became firmly established as a pioneer in the Japan-America foodstuff trade, a trailblazing line of business at the time, and in 1920 we expeditiously set up a branch office in Seattle, USA. At that time, the international situation was tense, the Sino-Japanese War was raging and the Nazis were rising to power in Europe. In spite of international tensions, however, we were able to make bold inroads into the U.S. market to become a true pioneer in Japan-U.S. trade. Our success during that era continues to be a source of pride within The Nishimoto Wismettac Group today.
Later, when war broke out between Japan and the U.S., we had no choice but to suspend U.S. trade operations of the Company, and bide our time in anticipation of a new day to come.
