Japan Industries, also known as Nihon Sangyou, merged with what was known as Nissan Motor Company in 1931. The CEO of Nihon Sangyou, Yoshisuke Aikawa was excited about the auto company. When other shareholders were less enthusiastic Aikawa bought them out and began focusing on building the Nissan Motor Company. Nissan continued to make the Datsun car they were working on for the previous years. The company had also been producing trucks and planes for the Japanese army.
At the beginning of Nissan, you could find some paved roads in the Japanse cities, but those were the exceptions and most roads and streets were just pebbles and sand. Railroads were becoming the favorite means of long-distance transportation. In 1930 Nissan Motor Company developed it's first small car, which was named Datson. Meaning, "son of DAT."
DAT came from Kwaishinsha Jidosha Kojo and was founded in 1911 by M. Hashimoto. Hashimoto's dream was to make cars that were more suited to Japan.
Below is pictured the first Datsun car ever made!
