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Houseflags of Japanese shipping companies

Last modified: 2009-08-15 by phil nelson
Keywords: maritime shipping | hinomaru kisen | hiroumi kisen | hokusei kaiun | letter: h | star: encircled | iasaki kisen | compass |
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Hinomaru Kisen K.K.

[Hinomaru Kisen K.K.] image by Phil Nelson
Source: Flags, Funnels and Hull Colours, 1963 [ste63]

Hinomaru Kisen K.K. appears to cease to be an independent owner by 1970 being involved in a joint venture with Nippon Yusen Kaisha for a little while after.
Neale Rosanoski, 5 March 2003


Hiroumi Kisen K.K.

[Hiroumi Kisen K.K.] image by Phil Nelson
Source: Flags, Funnels and Hull Colours, 1963 [ste63]

Hiroumi Kisen K.K. operated pre WW2 until the late 1970s.
Neale Rosanoski, 5 March 2003


Hokusei Kaiun K.K.

[Hokusei Kaiun K.K.] image by Phil Nelson
Source: Flags, Funnels and Hull Colours, 1963 [ste63]

Hokusei Kaiun K.K. was formed 1951 and still operates.
Neale Rosanoski, 5 March 2003


Hyundai Merchant Marine

Hyundai Merchant Marine image contributed by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 19 May 2007

Hyundai uses the same flag worldwide. The flag and the logo have changed on 1 March 2006. (information by member of staff).

Description of flag: It's a blue over orange over red horizontal tricolour with white fimbriations between the stripes.

Source: www.hmm21.com (in Korean).

Description of logo: The logo shows two equilateral triangles, a yellow one partially superimposed by a green one.

The yellow area is wider in the redesigned version- the green area and the yellow of the triangle symbol is in a ratio of 8.5 to 1- a more stable form.

Source: Compass 2006 No.4, 30th Anniversary Special Edition (Companies magazine).

Description of funnel: The funnel is white with companies logo in ist centre.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 19 May 2007


Interasia Lines, Ltd

Interasia Lines
image contributed by Jan Merens, 29 May 2009
Source: Interasia Lines website

Interasia Lines, Ltd – also known as IAL - is a Tokyo based container shipping company.

Founded in 1967 as Nichinan Kaiun (the current name adopted two years later), the company wanted to establish a strong presence in South East Asia. Seeing the opportunities in containerization early, Interasia expanded systematically. A further move in this direction was cooperation with Wai Han Lines (now owning 50%) since 1990 and with Mitsui (now owning about 44%) since 2001.

Red field, white initial “I” in flowing script, attached as < jp~inta.gif> . The flag is drawn waving but we may suppose the initial is really non-italic – see on blogs.yahoo.co.jp.
Jan Mertens, 29 May 2009


Isewan Group

Isewan Group
image by Eugene Ipavec, 14 February 2009
Source: Isewan Terminal Services website

Presented on the website of Isewan Terminal Service Co. (Nagoya, Japan), the Isewan Group also includes Goyo Kaiun Co. Ltd and Kokusai Butsuryo Co. Ltd.

Isewan is a versatile maritime service concern, founded in 1949: the list of services provided is impressive. Among these are port and maritime transporation, warehousing, forwarding (including road and air), customs brokerage, crating, etc. The company’s growth is exemplified by the national and international network: click ‘Domestic Establishments’ and ‘International Establishments’ (menu top of page).

History highlights: Tokyo (1957) and Beijing (1986) branch offices; expansion to US, Taiwan, and Europe (Duisburg, Germany) during the 1980’s; domestic expansion and joint ventures e.g. with China during the 1990’s and after 2000; Antwerp (Belgium) office, 2008.

Modestly present on the site, the house flag is blue bearing large white serifed initials ‘IK’ (for Isewan Kaiun, I imagine). Several photos show this flag image: it appears prominently on buildings and cranes.
Jan Mertens, 13 February 2009


Ishizaki Kisen Co. Ltd

Ishizaki Kisen Co. Ltd
image contributed by Jan Mertens, 18 September 2008
from Ishizaki Kisen website

Ishizaki Kisen Co. Ltd is a Japanese shipping (ferry) company linking the towns of Hiroshima, Kure, and Matsuyama.

According to this Spanish! Wiki page, the firm is over 130 years old and part of the Kintetsu Group (not found among current group members, jm): adding that in 1995 two routes to and from Matsuyama (company seat on the island of Shikoku) were closed.

In an attempt to compensate for rising fuel costs, a further route was abolished this year.

Operated are Sea Max (hydrofoil) and a more traditional vessel, shown on the website.

Well, there is the flag (shown as a drawing): see attachment .

The flag uses the national colours, red and white: white field bearing a red circle enclosing what looks like a double arrow, placed horizontally.

External Link

Sources: Wikipedia: Ishizaki Kisen (in Spanish)
Jan Mertens, 18 September 2008


Iwasaki Kisen Co., Ltd

Iwasaki Kisen Co image by Eugene Ipavec, 30 November 2007

The company website is in Japanese only.

The company seat is Hinase (Okayama prefecture; west of Osaka).

The ships shown on this site are tankers – gas tankers, most of them.

The flag: on a white field a blue compass rose of sixteen points in the centre of which is a double ring enclosing a Japanese character (first character of the company name I gather).
Jan Mertens, 22 November 2007