K. Shimokado company was founded by Shimokado Kasaku (下角嘉作) in 1890. The company's shop was located at 9, Shimoyamate-dori 2-chome, Kobe.
Shimokado manufactured and sold Satsuma wares, porcelain tea and dinner sets,
damascene works, all kinds of pearls, crystal necklaces, silk goods (including kimonos), suit cases and hand bags.
A crystal necklace with matching earrings by K. Shimokado & Co.
In early 1930s the company was inherited by Shimokado Kashichi (下角嘉七). Kashichi was a very polite and friendly person, taking care
of his customers. Jack Y. Quayle Junior, an American journalist who wrote for many newspapers (The Washington Post,
Champion Sports Magazine, Chester Times, and others) at the time, visited Japan in middle 1930s. An
excerpt from his article from the December 4, 1937,
issue of The Washington Post describes his first acquaintance with K. Shimokado:
Courtesy seemed ingrained in the Japanese. I remember the affable K. Shimokado, proprietor of a store in Kobe. Of course, it was good business for him to be
polite, but he didn't have to escort us from the ship to his shop in a limousine, and then give us the run of his home behind the store once we got there.
Above all, he didn't have to cash a check for me drawn on a small bank in an obscure United States town when he had known me only half an hour.
I've spent two days trying to get a similar check cashed in cities in this country, and finally been forced to abandon the struggle.
