NIPPON YUSEN KAISHA (Japan Mail Steamship Com pany Ltd.). The N.Y.K. was founded in 1885, having as its nucleus the Mitsubishi Company, established by the late Mr. Yataro Iwasaki in 1871. When complaints were uttered against the Mitsubishi Company, the Kyodo Unyu Kaisha (Union Trans port Company) began, in 1882, a competition with it. This strug gle became so acute that in 1885 the two were united in the Nip pon Yusen Kaisha.
The new Company, maintaining the old services, opened new lines to Korea and north China as well as one between Shanghai and Vladivostok. In 1891 the Company inaugurated a service between Kobe and Manila and began sending steamers to Aus tralia; in the following year the Japan to Bombay Service was opened, this constituting the first regular Japanese Steamship service with a distant oversea country. In 1896 three main serv ices were inaugurated (I) the Yokohama-London-Antwerp line; (2) the Hong Kong-Japan-Seattle line and (3) the Yokohama Manila-Australia line; the first two were fortnightly and the last mentioned four-weekly. The company's capital was increased to double the previous amount, viz., 22,000,000 yen. In 1905 the Company owned 73 steamers, gross tonnage 250,100. In 1915 the number had risen to 93 steamers with a gross tonnage of over 428,000 tons gross, and the capital of the Company was increased to Y44,000,000.
In the period 1914-1918 further regular lines (e.g., Japan Liverpool Line, Japan-Java-Calcutta Line, Calcutta-New York Line, Japan-Calcutta-Seattle Line, South Sea Islands Line, etc.). In 1917, the Company's reserves grew to Y77,000,000, its fleet was 99 vessels (453,000 tons gross), and the share capital was increased to Y1 oo,000,000. A noteworthy addition to the Com pany's fleet was the s.s. "Nagasaki Maru" followed by the sister ship the s.s. "Shanghai Maru" (1922).
In March 1923 the Company separated the near sea services by the formation of the Kinkai Yusen Kaisha (Near Seas Mail S.S. Company) and in May 1926, the N.Y.K. absorbed the two serv ices of the Toyo Kisen Kaisha (Pacific S.S. Company) running between Japan and San Francisco, China and Valparaiso; and the N.Y.K. increased its capital to Y106,250,000 (paid up Y64, 250,000). With the completion of the new motor vessels under construction in 1928 the company's fleet will consist of 152 ves sels with a gross tonnage of 886,000. (J. BLA.)