OSK was founded in 1884 when 55 shipowners, each with a small number of vessels, combined their operations.

In its early years, its routes were limited to coastal services in western Japan. In 1890, OSK inaugurated the Osaka-Pusan ​​route.

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In 1898, Tokugoro Nakahashi became the company's third president. He made a major effort to streamline OSK's internal organization, penetrate the Chinese market, and inaugurate OSK's first ocean route, a service from Hong Kong to Tacoma, Washington, in 1908. In 1911, OSK began a service from Kobe to Bombay. The route was under the monopoly of the Far East Freight Conference.

In 1918, the company opened a route from Bombay to Marseille and was admitted as a full member of the FEFC. Meanwhile, it opened routes to San Francisco, Australia, and South America, offering regular service worldwide. It inaugurated a service to New York in 1920.

In 1930, OSK made a major investment in five new high-speed motor ships to launch an express service to New York. This service completely transformed the transportation of raw silk from Asia to the Americas.