WILLIAM MERRELL VORIES
Born in Leavenworth, Kansas. W. M. Vories came to Japan in 1905 and founded Vories Architects in 1908. Later, with two partners, he also founded a pharmaceutical product manufacturing company. This company eventually became Omi Brotherhood, Ltd.
Within this company, he developed a wide range of businesses, including activities related to education, medical care, and publishing. The company is particularly well known for widely popularizing mentholatum in Japan (the present-day Omi Brotherhood Company’s trade-named “Mentum”) .
In addition, as a devout Christian, through YMCA activities he established the Omi Mission and enthusiastically engaged in Protestant evangelism. He had a deep knowledge of music, expressed by such activities as writing lyrics for hymns and Doshisha College songs, and he introduced the Hammond organ to Japan. Around 1916, he met Shotaro Shimomura, the first president of Daimaru Department Store, and designed the Daimaru Shinsaibashi Store for him.
