This work examines the roles that American businesses and photojournalists played in the early overseas marketing of the Japanese - built Nikon camera and its Nikkor optics between 1946 and 1951. Particular attention is paid to the San Francisco - based Overseas Finance and Trading Company, which was the major U.S. importer of Nikon products between 1949 and 1953. The work also details the roles of Overseas Finance leaders Hans Liholm and Adolph Gasser in providing marketing and technical guidance to Nikon in the company's formative years.