K156 follows US Navy 1961.
A different funnel on Bansei Maru in the late 1960s was identified as an unknown charterer’s and moved by Rosanoski to the As Worn record B340.
The earlier company appears in the 1953–54 to 1966–67 registers. Rosanoski suggests links with K. Kusakabe at Amagasaki in 1917, whose ships bore Bansei Maru names, and with the 1937–38 company. A translated website dates a Kobe foundation by Kiyuutarou Kusakabe to 1917.
Japan, Kobe.
Keep the explicit scope label independent; no alias or company identity is inferred.