This paper discusses the North American Mercantile Corporation （NAMCO），which operated on the West Coast of the United States during the prewar period. The company was founded in 1907 by a Japanese immigrant, Takanoshin Domoto, and played a leading role in exporting canned crab to the United States. Domoto began importing foodstuffs and daily necessities from Japan, and at the same time he established NAMCO. Domoto expanded sales channels by developing marketing efforts to dispel the poor image of crabs in the United States. NAMCO played a role in the export of canned crab in the 1910s and 1920s, as a consequence of the aforementioned activities. However, from the late 1920s, the situation surrounding canned crab deteriorated due to the entry of strong competitors such as Mitsubishi Corporation, sluggish demand for canned crab due to the Great Depression, and competition with canned crab made in the Soviet Union. NAMCO was also affected, and the business situation deteriorated after the Great Depression. The San Francisco branch of Yokohama Specie Bank, which had been a client of the company, restricted credit transactions with the company and hoped for a business recovery. However, the company was unable to develop new business and closed its business at the outbreak of the Pacific War. The company and Takanoshin Domoto played a major role in the export of canned foods. Domoto discovered the demand opportunity for crab as a substitute for lobster and established canned crab as an export product to the United States. He directly created consumers through marketing. Therefore, the role of entrepreneurs such as Takanoshin Domoto in the U. S.-Japan trade was more important than previous studies have suggested.
