Showa

Company History: Showa Maritime Co., Ltd. was founded in 1959. The Company's line of business includes providing ferries for the transportation of passengers or vehicles

Successor/Parent History: Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (日本郵船株式会社 Nippon Yūsen Kabushiki Kaisha, Japan Mail Shipping Line or NYK Line) is one of the oldest and largest shipping companies in the world. It is a member of the Mitsubishi keiretsu. The company has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan and a fleet of about 800 ships, that includes container ships, tankers, bulk and woodchip carriers, Ro-Ro car carriers, reefer vessels, LNG carrier and cruise ships.

Brief History: Japan is an island nation in the Pacific Ocean with dense cities, imperial palaces, mountainous national parks and thousands of shrines and temples. Shinkansen bullet trains connect the main islands of Kyushu (with Okinawa's subtropical beaches), Honshu (home to Tokyo and Hiroshima’s atomic-bomb memorial) and Hokkaido (famous for skiing). Tokyo, the capital, is known for skyscrapers, shopping and pop culture.

Although legend has it that Japan was founded in 660BC, archaeologists agree that settlement in the Japanese archpelago dates back as far as 100,000 years. The Jomon Period (8000-c.300BC) is the earliest that has been studied. It is named after the 'jomon' or cord-marked pattern style of pottery of the period.