[2] With no local prospects found to repay the loss, Morinaga, at age 23, moved to the United States where he opened a hardware store in San Francisco.

[1] During his time in the United States, an American gave him a piece of candy which was a new appetizing treat for Morinaga.

[3] Morinaga studied candymaking in the United States for eleven years before returning to Japan.

Inspirited by this knowledge, his first product was marshmallows, which he called "angel food" because of their color and the association with Christianity.

[1][5] Morinaga hired Hanzaburo Matsuzaki, a friend and Christian,[1] to market his candies in 1905, and the company started mass production of sweets with a factory steam engine in 1909.

[4]: 30  They were less buttery and more resistant to melting in hot Japanese weather than the caramel formulations that he had seen in the United States.

In addition to caramels and chocolate, Morinaga Mill also produced biscuits, drops, and milk-related products.

Morinaga opened its own western-style retail stores, complete with a display window and soda fountain.

These practices showed Hanzaburo's marketing philosophy of "selling deeply" to return customers and retailers.