In 1885, NSG Group’s founder, Yosaburo Sugita, was born in a wood and coal dealer family in Osaka. The Sugita family had close ties with the Sumitomo family, receiving deliveries of charcoal from Sumitomo’s Besshi mining plant. Sugita graduated from the University of Chicago in 1909 and afterwards, joined Shima Shoten (currently Shima Trading) in 1912. In 1914, Sugita went to the United States to visit Toledo, Ohio for negotiations to purchase equipment to produce glass bottles for beer. Sugita happened to tour the facilities of Toledo Glass Company, a subsidiary of the company he was negotiating with, and saw they were conducting experiments to commercialize the production of sheet glass using the Colburn process. Upon seeing this, Sugita returned to Japan with a keen interest in the sheet glass business.