In the early seventies, perhaps even late sixties, the Canadian government, feeling pressure from a major domestic bicycle manufacturer who happened to have a bit of a strangle hold on the Canadian bicycle market at the time, elected to impose an import tariff on bicycles coming into the country. In an effort to avoid this twenty-five percent tax, Sekine Cycles opened shop in Oo-za-we-Kwun Rivers, in the province of Manitoba. The year was 1973.

Full history can be read here:  Sekine Cycles History.