Chubei Itoh is the founder of Itoh, now known as Itochu Corporation. Itoh started as a door-to-door linens sales business in 1858 and eventually established a drapery shop in 1872. Itoh’s son, Chubei Itoh II, inherited his father’s company and expanded operations into machinery and automobile production in addition to textiles. The company also opened several overseas offices, including its first New York City office on Broadway in 1918. Despite economic instability and shortfalls following the early 1920s recession and WWII, Itoh was able to grow in postwar Japan and become a dominant trading company. In 1992, the company changed its name to Itochu Corporation. 1. Itochu Corporation’s first New York Office located in the Woolworth Building on Broadway, Manhattan, ca. 1918. 2. Members of the Itochu Corporation New York Office in 1919. Mr. Takenosuke Ito, Senior Member of the Board of Itochu Corporation, the fifth from left in the front row and Mr. Toraji Kunugi, the first head of the New York office, the fourth from left in the last row.
