大和運輸(株)『大和運輸五十年史』(1971.03)

Ogura Yasuomi (1889-1979) was born in Sukiyabashi, Tokyo. Although horse and cattle carts were used to transport cargo, Ogura became captivated by the idea of commercial specialized truck transport and founded Yamato Transport Co., Ltd. in 1919. He signed delivery contracts with Mitsukoshi Gofukuten (the precursor to today’s Mitsukoshi department store) and others and, in 1929, began regular deliveries between Tokyo and Yokohama. In 1940, under the recommendation of the Ministry of Railways, Nippon Express Company, Ltd. took control of Yamato Transport’s capital, but in 1948 this control was withdrawn. Yamato Transport received consent from Allied Van Lines to use the cat trademark in 1957 and established the “mother cat and kitten” logo as their trademark. The handling of air cargo containers and maritime efforts were begun in an effort to improve service. The 50-year history contains a company history section, a section with the founder’s autobiography, and an appendix including photos of changes to trucks, uniforms, and other things. [In 1982 the company changed the way the company name was written (switching from Chinese characters to the katakana syllablry) and in 2005 it was moved to a pure holding company, Yamato Holdings Co., Ltd.]