Marubeni Shoten LTD. Era
After World War I (1914 to 1918), the commodities market plummeted, bankrupting many companies and banks, and Itochu Shoten LTD. and C. Itoh & Co., LTD. also suffered large losses. For this reason, C. Itoh & Co., LTD. spun off its trading division, which was the Kobe branch, and its overseas branches to start Daido Boeki Kaisha LTD. in 1920. Daido Boeki opened new branches and offices in several countries, such as the Philippines, China, Indochina, and Indonesia, and grew steadily by handling textiles, sundries, linen, rubber, and other products.
Itochu Shoten merged with Ito-chobei Shoten, which had remained under sound management, to form Marubeni Shoten LTD. in March 1921. At that time the company had only one branch in Kyoto, and was at best a textiles wholesaler, handing silk and wool fabrics. In 1931, the Osaka branch was established, and this branch began to concentrate on trading and eventually opened branches and offices throughout China and in India and expanded the goods to handle to include construction materials, machinery, sundries, food products, etc., in addition to textiles. The Osaka branch's sales grow rapidly and in 1937 clearly exceeded those of the Main store, accounting for 62% of overall sales.
