Kawajiri-gumi was a Japanese silk company of Akita Prefecture that in the late 1870s decided to sell own silkworm eggs directly to Italian sericulturists, opening own sale point in Italy. In 1878 Kawajiri-gumi's director Kawamura Einosuke (1841-1909) sent two of his employees to Turin to learn Italian and to examine the possibilities of trade in the region. In 1880 Kawamura himself went to Turin and opened own company's emporium. This shop remained open until 1886 and allowed Kawajiri-gumi to guarantee for six years a significative part of the Japanese silkworm eggs exports to Italy and France.

Since the Kawajiri-gumi’s business in Turin has been considered only superficially by both Italian and Japanese historiographies, in my paper I'll try to examine it in detail. In particular, analyzing mainly unpublished documents kept at the Diplomatic Record Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (Gaimushō gaikō shiryō-kan) and at the Akita Prefectural Archives (Akita ken kōbunsho-kan), I’ll try to bring to light the following unclarified issues:

1. Why and how did Kawamura open his emporium in Turin?
2. What was Kawamura's policy to protect and continue as long as possible his trade with Italy?
3. Why was the Kawajiri-gumi’s emporium in Turin finally closed in 1886?

Answering to the questions mentioned above, my paper aims to explore, in new and innovative ways, economic interactions between Italy and Japan involving non-state actors, in order to reevaluate the importance that the economic relations with Italy had for Japan in early Meiji period.