Editing K Line (section)

===1919-1944===
"K" Line traces its origin to [[Kawasaki Heavy Industries]], which itself was born in 1878, when founder and entrepreneur [[Kawasaki Shōzō]] established Kawasaki Tsukiji Shipyard in Tokyo, Japan, which, eighteen years later, in 1896, was incorporated as Kawasaki Dockyard Co., Ltd.

The shipping activities were developed when Kawasaki Dockyard Co., Ltd. (predecessor of [[Kawasaki Heavy Industries]])'s President [[Matsukata Kojiro|Kojiro Matsukata]], decided to develop shipping services so as to provide business to Kawasaki Dockyard and to serve Japan's national industrial and trade interests.<ref>{{cite web|title=History|url=https://www.kline.co.jp/en/corporate/profile/history/main/00/link/en%20enkaku.pdf|website=Kline.co.jp}}</ref>

To do so, he placed Kawasaki Kisen, [[Kawasaki Shipbuilding Corporation|Kawasaki Zosen]] and Kokusai Kisen under joint management to build a stronger fleet of 40 to 50 ships serving the Atlantic, North and South America, Africa and the Mediterranean and Baltic Seas.

The three firms' initials were combined to form the moniker "K Line" in 1921.

K Line founder, [[Matsukata Kojiro|Kojiro Matsukata]], was also known as an art collector. The [[National Museum of Western Art]] in Tokyo's [[Ueno Park]] was established around the core of Matsukata's private collection. In addition, the Tokyo National Museum houses his extensive collection of [[Ukiyo-e]]prints.<ref>{{cite web|title=History|website=Global.kawasaki.com|url=https://global.kawasaki.com/en/corp/history/index.html}}</ref>

In 1926, according to Lloyds, the newly established "K" Line reached the rank of 13th in the world, behind compatriots [[Nippon Yusen|NYK]] (9th) but ahead of [[Mitsui O.S.K. Lines|O.S.K.]] (14th).

By the end of World War II, Kawasaki Kisen had lost 56 vessels; 12 survived.

Prior to World War II, the holding company [[Kawasaki Heavy Industries]] was part of the Kobe Kawasaki zaibatsu, which included Kawasaki Steel and Kawasaki Kisen. After the war, KHI became part of the DKB Group (keiretsu).