NISHIKI
The Nishiki brand name originates from the Kawamura factory in Kobé, Japan. The upper line bicycles exported by this company to Europe, USA och Canada were called Nishiki while simpler bicycles for the home market were sold as Kawamura. What happened in the US by the end of the 70s was that the Nishiki importers, West Coast Cycles, registered the brand name Nishiki in the USA before Kawamura had a sense to do so. This didn't lead to any legal actions as the japanese were afraid to anger an important customer. So for the rest of the 80s the americans continued to sell Nishikis produced by Kawamura. Only by 1989-90 the then owner of the brand in US, Derby Cycles, started to produce their own models outside Japan without any cooperation with Kawamura. Derby even used the same model names as on the Kawamura built bicycles.
In order to sell "american" Nishikis outside USA Derby Cylcles were forced to use the brand name Cyclepro formerly used for mail order and department store bicycles in the home market. Sometimes Cyclepro bicycles had "Nishiki" engraved in the frame which caused some confusion. After a period as a department store brand Derby ceased selling Nishiki i the USA in 2001.
Nishiki Europe is a group of distributors/agents in Europe formed to develop Nisiki models in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Luxemburg and Estonia. Nishiki Europe models are produced in Taiwan or Holland, Finland and Sweden for local markets.
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