Asahi Bussan
Asahi Bussan G.K. (旭物産㈾, Asahi Bussan Gōshi-gaisha)[1] was a Japanese distributor based in Tokyo's Ginza commercial district.[2]
The company distributed the Olympic cameras from 1934, and introduced the Super Olympic in 1935 or 1936, Japan's first 35mm camera with a leaf shutter. These might have been produced in the company's own manufacturing branch, as indicated by the AB logo, certainly for Asahi Bussan, appearing on the shutter plate. The name "The Olympic Camera Works" found on the body of Olympic C from 1936 and on the later Olympic Four and Semi Olympic is certainly a misleading dummy name used for advertising purpose only, as other names ending in Camera Works. (The same can be said of the "O.C. Works" cited as the maker of the Olympic enlarger in a 1937 advertisement.)[3] Some recent sources mention a separate manufacturing company called "Olympic Camera" or "Olympic Camera Seisakusho" (a literal translation of "Olympic Camera Works"), sometimes specifying it as a kabushiki-gaisha (joint-stock company).[4] It is highly probable that these sources misinterpreted the above-mentioned markings and advertisement extracts, but nothing is known for sure.
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| Advertisement for the Olympic cameras in The British Journal of Photography Almanac 1938, certainly dated late 1937. (Image rights) |
In the mid-1930s the company was marketing the Asahi Field Camera [5] and Olympic cameras as well as enlargers and tripods of the Olympic brand. This was one of the first attempts at camera export by a Japanese company.[6]
In 1937 new cameras seem to have been added to the company's portfolio, the Semi Olympic as a new product of the Olympic's original manufacturer, the Vest Alex which was probably just badged as a new original Olympic with the name Regal Olympic, and the Semi-Adler cameras. Maybe further products of especially the related makers were sold.
In 1937, the company was bought by Riken Kankōshi (predecessor of Ricoh), together with the manufacturing facilities. These were reorganized as Asahi Kōgaku Kōgyō in 1938. The same year, Riken Kankōshi got the new name Riken Kōgaku Kōgyō, which appeared as distributor name instead of Asahi Bussan.
Cameras distributed by Asahi Bussan
- Olympic
- The Asahi Field camera
- Super Olympic
- Semi Olympic
- Vest Olympic and Regal Olympic
- Adler
Notes
- ↑ The Japanese word gōshi-gaisha (合資会社) means "limited partnership company", and is normally abbreviated "G.K." In at least one older advertisement placed by the company, the same word was spelt "Goshi Kaisha", using a slightly different romanization which is considered non standard today.
- ↑ The address of Asahi Bussan in late 1936 was Kyōbashi-ku Nishi Ginza 8–1 (京橋区西銀座8–1). (The items in the bibliography below dated 1936 and 1937 give this address, though reordered for Western consumption.)
- ↑ Advertisement in The British Journal Photographic Almanac 1938, pp.694–5.
- ↑ The name "K.K. Olympic Camera" (㈱オリンピックカメラ) is given in Arimura, p.6 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.14. The name "Olympic Camera Seisakusho" (オリンピックカメラ製作所) is given in this article of the Riken News bulletin and this article of IR Magazine (the latter adds ㈱ for "K.K.").
- ↑ common wooden field camera, maybe a rebadged quality product ("incomparable with any other make in quality and price") of a small camera maker's workshop. Source: 1936 item in the bibliography below.
- ↑ Advertisement by Asahi Bussan published at the end of 1937 in The British Journal Photographic Almanac 1938, pp.694–5.
Bibliography
- 1936: Advertisement by Asahi Bussan G.K. in The British Journal Photographic Almanac 1937, London. p.668. (By its very nature, the 1937 Almanac was published at the end of 1936, the ad probably prepared in mid 1936, see [1].)
- 1937: Advertisement by Asahi Bussan Goshi Kaisha in The British Journal Photographic Almanac 1938, edited by Arthur J. Dalladay, published by Henri Greenwood, London. Pp.694–5. (By its very nature, the 1938 Almanac was published at the end of 1937, the ad probably prepared in mid 1937.)
- Arimura Katsumi (有村克巳). "Rikō Ryakushi" (リコー略史, Ricoh short history). Kamera Rebyū: Kurashikku Kamera Senka (カメラレビュー クラシックカメラ専科) / Camera Review: All about Historical Cameras no.14, October 1989. No ISBN number. Rikō kamera no subete (リコーカメラのすべて, special issue on Ricoh). Pp.6–7.
Links
In Japanese:
- History of Ricoh in the September and October 2002 issue (Vol.57) of IR Magazine
- History of Riken Kankōshi and its links with the Riken institute, in the June 2000 issue (N°228) of the Riken News bulletin published by the Riken Institute
