Five years after Nishizono Ironworks began its production of these friction reducing components, the company merged with Tomoe Trading to fabricate and market them under the name "NTN". In 1927, however, Nishizono and Tomoe split, with the former company setting up a new company called "NTN Manufacturing Company".
In 1977 however, NTN Toyo posted a loss of 1 billion JPY due to the increasing value of the Japanese Yen making exports more expensive. Because most of their bearings were still made inside the borders of Japan, the prices of the bearings were still subject to changes in international exchange rates. Additionally, many Japanese bearing manufacturers were penalized by the European Economic Community for predatory pricing. As a result, in 1978, for the first time in over a decade, NTN Toyo withheld dividend payments.
The value of the yen soon decreased however, and the company's exports returned to normal. Strong customer demand also resulting from the weakening yen resulted in increased sales. By 1979, all overseas NTN Toyo manufacturing facilities were once again operating at or above full production capacity.
