Ichizaemon Morimura established the trading firm Morimura-gumi in Tokyo in 1876. The same year, he sent his younger brother Toyo Morimura to New York to establish Morimura Bros. & Co. there. On January 1, 1904 Ichizaemon Morimura and his colleagues established the forerunner to Noritake Co., Ltd., Nippon Toki Gomei Kaisha. With headquarters located in Noritake village (near Nagoya, Aichi prefecture), it took 10 more years for the factory to produce the first fine porcelain suitable for export.