HOME > Corporate Information > Milestones
| Kokubu's history | General historical events | |
|---|---|---|
| 1702 | Lord Kira assassinated by a band of 47 ronin (Chushingura incident) | |
| 1712 | Kanbei Kokubu IV establishes the foundation of KOKUBU & CO., LTD. by opening a soy sauce brewing plant in Tsuchiura and starts marketing soy sauce products under the name of "Daikoku-Ya." At the same time, Kanbei opens a retail store in Edo Nihombashi Honcho, a central location in downtown Tokyo. | |
| 1717 | The wise Ooka Tadasuke appointed as town magistrate of Edo | |
| 1756 | Kanbei Kokubu V moves the Nihombashi Honcho store to Nihombashi Nishigashi. Soy sauce products brewed at the Tsuchiura plant were labeled with the logo "Kikkodai" consisting of a hexagon with a Chinese character meaning "big" at its center. |
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| 1774 | The Dutch book "Anatomical Tables" translated by Sugita Genpaku, Maeno Ryotaku, et al. | |
| 1853 | A squadron of four ships arrives at Uraga Bay under the command of Commodore Perry | |
| 1859 | Kanbei Kokubo VIII starts tea trading | |
| 1868 | Meiji Restoration | |
| 1872 | Railway service starts between Shinbashi and Yokohama | |
| 1880 | Soy sauce brewery closed; wholesaling business starts in a wide variety of foodstuffs | |
| 1885 | The cabinet system established (Hirobumi Ito becomes the first prime minister) | |
| 1887 | Sales of foodstuffs and canned products start | Electric lights installed in Tokyo |
| 1888 | Sales of beer start | |
| 1894 | The paulownia mark registered as a trademark | Outbreak of Sino-Japanese War |
| Kokubu's history | General historical events | |
|---|---|---|
| 1904 | Outbreak of Russo-Japanese War | |
| 1905 | "I am a Cat" by Natsume Soseki published | |
| 1908 | K&K registered as the company trademark | |
| 1909 | Sales of AJI-NO-MOTO start. Sales of CALPIS and synthetic sake also start in 1919 and 1926, respectively. | |
| 1910 | Publication of industry newsletter, Kokubu Market Report, starts |
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| 1923 | Store destroyed in the earthquake; reconstruction work starts immediately; efforts made to supply soy sauce as a daily necessity | Great Kanto Earthquake |
| 1925 | Sales of soy sauce in liter bottles start | |
| 1928 | Yokohama Branch Office opened (currently Kanagawa KOKUBU CO.,LTD.) | |
| 1931 | Construction of Daiichi Building completed (former Nihonbashi headquarters building) |
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| 1938 | Osaka Branch Office opened (currently Kinki Region Branch) | |
| 1945 | Sapporo Branch Office opened (currently Hokkaido Region Branch) | End of World War II |
| 1947 | KOKUBU TSUKEMONO CO., LTD., the forerunner of current KOKUBU & CO., LTD., established | The Constitution of Japan comes into force |
| Kokubu's history | General historical events | |
|---|---|---|
| 1950 | KOKUBU & Co. and KOKUBU TSUKEMONO CO., LTD. merged to form KOKUBU SHOTEN CO., LTD. | |
| 1953 | Start of TV broadcasting by NHK and private broadcasting companies | |
| 1957 | Fukuoka Liaison Office opened (currently Kyushu Region Branch) | |
| 1961 | Nagoya Branch Office opened (currently Chubu Region Branch) | |
| 1962 | Sendai Branch Office opened (currently Tohoku Region Branch) | |
| 1964 | Tokyo Olympic Games held Tokaido Shinkansen launched |
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| 1965 | Computer system introduced (IBM1440) | |
| 1967 | Hiroshima Branch Office opened (currently Chugoku Region Branch) | |
| 1970 | Osaka World Exposition held | |
| 1971 | Company name changed from KOKUBU SHOTEN CO., LTD. to the current name KOKUBU & CO., LTD. Implementation of the first long-term business plan starts  |
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| 1973 | Switch to a floating exchange rate for the yen The first oil crisis |
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| 1975 | Construction of the headquarters building completed (current Nihombashi headquarters building) | |
| 1978 | KOKUBU GROCERS CHAIN (KGC), a convenience store chain, launched |
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| 1981 | Own physical distribution of chilled food products starts | |
| 1982 | The First Food Distribution Study Group Meeting held | |
| 1989 | A national consumption tax imposed Fall of the Berlin Wall |
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| 1991 | Collapse of the "bubble economy" and steep increase in the number of bankruptcies | |
| 1994 | The 3OD (One Order, One Delivery) System constructed as a logistics system for consolidated ordering/delivery operations | |
| 1995 | Email introduced across the company | Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake |
| 1999 | Information system KOMPASS launched across the Kokubu Group |
| Kokubu's history | General historical events | |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Annual sales figure for KOKUBU & CO., LTD. (excluding group companies) surpasses one trillion yen (about $13 billion *) | Long-term Care Insurance System introduced |
| 2001 | Confection wholesale business starts toward the goal of constructing a full-line setup | 9/11 terrorist attacks |
| 2002 | To celebrate its 290th anniversary, Kokubu introduces "Heisei no Chomoku," the new KOKUBO Credo (serving as both an action charter and a behavioral code) New Kokubo Group communication mark adopted  |
The 17th FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan 2002 held The Euro, adopted as single EU currency, goes into circulation |
| 2004 | Niigata Chuetsu Earthquake Sumatra Earthquake & Indian Ocean Tsunami |
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| 2005 | Capital increased to 3.5 billion yen The Yashio Distribution Center, the biggest mothership-type general-purpose center in the greater Tokyo metropolitan area, starts operation in the city of Yashio, Saitama Prefecture |
The Kyoto Protocol for the prevention of global warming enters into force |
| 2006 | KMS, a business and accounting system, installed for business process standardization throughout the Kokubu Group | |
| 2007 | Kokubu enters into business tie-ups with pharmaceutical wholesalers, OHKI Co., Ltd. and Toho Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., to bolster the foundation for intermediate distribution in the fields of food products, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and general merchandise | |
| 2008 | 100th anniversary of the "K&K" trademark Kokubu enters into a business tie-up with a seafood wholesaler Daito Gyorui Co., Ltd. to bolster business in the field of processed seafood |
The collapse of Lehman Brothers causes a world-wide financial and economic crisis |
| 2009 | Kokubu enters into a business tie-up with Naturalart Inc., which produces, processes, and sells agricultural and livestock products, to bolster business in the field of agricultural products | The Democratic Party of Japan takes over the reins of government Eco-point system and eco-car tax breaks launched |
| 2010 | Kokubu establishes joint venture San tong Kokubu Trading(Qingdao) Co., Ltd. to undertake distribution and wholesaling business in China; enters into a business tie-up with Sojitz Corporation in the field of food distribution in Vietnam; and opens a curry restaurant TOKYO CURRY Nihombashi in Seoul, South Korea | China's GDP ranks second in the world, surpassing Japan |
| 2011 | The 9th long-term business plan QUALITY 300 launched 「  」Kokubu enters into a business tie-up with TOKYO SEIKA Co., LTD., the largest fruit and vegetable wholesaler in Japan, to bolster business in the field of agricultural products |
Great East Japan Earthquake |
| 2012 | Kokubu marks its 300th anniversary |
* Exchange rate as of November
