The Noritake of today grew out of a trading company that was originally established by the Morimura Brothers in New York in 1876. This trading company imported chinaware, curios, paper lanterns, and other gift items. In 1904, the forerunner of the Noritake Company was established in the village of Noritake, a small suburb near Nagoya, Japan. The goal of this factory was to create western style dinnerware for export. It took until 1914, however, to create the first porcelain dinnerware plate that was suitable for export. The earliest dinnerware plates were mostly hand-painted, often with liberal applications of gold. By the early 1920s, Noritake introduced assembly line techniques that allowed for mass production of high quality, yet affordable dinnerware. In the ensuing decades, Noritake continued to perfect its production capabilities and expand to markets worldwide.