The Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (Nippon Yusen Kaisha or NYK Line) shipping company was founded in 1885 after the merger of the shipping assets of the Mitsubishi Mail Steamship Company and Kyodo Unyu Kaisha. The company began with a fleet of 58 ships with transportation and passenger liner services between Nagasaki and Tianjin, China. The first liner service to the United States was established in 1896. The route was limited to the West Coast cities of Seattle and San Francisco until the completion of the Panama Canal in 1914, after which NYK expanded its liner service to New York in 1916. Pictured is a guidebook for Japanese clients traveling from Europe to Japan via North America entitled To the Orient via America. The guide contains information about ship tickets, US railroads, planes, hotels, and immigration procedures. On the cover is an illustration of the Brooklyn Bridge. Published in May 1935.