Misuzu Shōkai
Misuzu Shōkai and MSZ logo (1932). (Image rights) |
Misuzu Shōkai (i.e. Misuzu Trading Company) was a Japanese distributor. It was founded on June 1st, 1922 as simply Misuzu Shōkai (美篶商会) and became K.K. Misuzu Shōkai (㈱美篶商会) on May 16th, 1936.[1] It was based in Tokyo, Ginza.[2] and distributed cameras from 1936 to 1944. In 1944, it had shops in Tōkyō, Nagoya, Sapporo, Ōsaka, Kyūshū and Seoul.[3] After the war, Misuzu advertised cameras again from about 1947 to the early 1950s. It sold a number of cameras under its own brands, and it perhaps made some cameras as well: it is said that the Midget subminiature was manufactured by the company.[4]
On June 24th, 1965, it changed its name again to Misuzu Shōkai K.K. (美スズ商会㈱, abandoning the kanji character, whose reading is hard to guess).[5] The company was still in existence in 2004.
Contents
Cameras sold by Misuzu Shōkai under its own name
- Vest Alex (4×6.5, 1936–8), later sold by Riken as the Vest Olympic
- Midget (1937)
- Romax plate folder (6.5×9, 1938)
- New Midget (1939, again in 1947)
- New Midget II f/4.5 (1940)
- Andes Four (4×4, 1941)
- Semi Lead (4.5×6 folder, 1941–4)
The website of the company said that the Midget was made by Misuzu itself.
Other cameras sold by Misuzu Shōkai
As a distributor
- Well Standard and Well Super by Nihon Kōki
- Semi Leotax by Shōwa Kōgaku (prewar and wartime period)
- Baby Leotax by Shōwa Kōgaku
- Alpenflex by Hachiyō Kōgaku Kōgyō
As an authorized dealer
- Vester Klapp by Ginrei (as an authorized dealer)
- Speed Pocket by Kuribayashi (as an authorized dealer)
- Olympus Standard and Semi Olympus II by Takachiho (as an authorized dealer)
- Tsubasa Chrome, Tsubasa Spring and Tsubasa Super Semi by Kigawa (as an authorized dealer)
- Romax (6×6) (as an authorized dealer)
- Baron Six by Chūō Seiki (as an authorized dealer)
- Shinkoh Rabbit by Tougodo (Yamanashi) (as an authorized dealer)
Field and studio cameras
Advertisements by Misuzu Shōkai in Ars Camera November 1924, December 1926, February and November 1927, and in Asahi Camera March 1928. (Image rights) |
Misuzu Shōkai advertised field and studio cameras in the 1920s. The advertisement in the November 1924 issue of Ars Camera lists two different studio cameras in yotsugiri format (25.4×30.5cm). The less expensive one, at ¥250, has four standing legs and is pictured in the advertisement. The more expensive one, at ¥450, has two standing legs. The latter probably corresponds to the Misuzu studio camera model A (ミスズ写場用暗函A號) pictured in the December 1926 advertisement in Ars Camera. The February and November 1927 advertisements in the same magazine show the four-legged model again, called Misuzu model D (ミスズD號) and the Jupiter (ジュピター號) field camera. The March 1928 advertisement in Asahi Camera shows the Jupiter and the Misuzu model A.
Other advertisements
Advertisements by Misuzu Shōkai in Asahi Camera February 1930. (Image rights) |
Advertisements by Misuzu Shōkai in Asahi Camera June 1932. (Image rights) |
Notes
- ↑ Chronology of the Misuzu official website (web archive version Sep 24, 2004).
- ↑ Its address from 1939 to 1944 was Tōkyō-shi Kyōbashi-ku Ginza 8-chōme (東京市京橋区銀座八丁目). Source: advertisements reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, pp.96 and 102.
- ↑ Advertisement on the back cover of Nihon Shashin Kōgyō Tsūshin, February 15, 1944, reproduced on p.78 of Hyaku-gō goto jūkai no kiroku.
- ↑ Midget page of the Misuzu official website (web archive version Sep 24, 2004).
- ↑ Chronology of the Misuzu official website (web archive version Sep 24, 2004).
Bibliography
- Ars Camera. Advertisements by Misuzu Shōkai in November 1924, December 1926, February and November 1927. No page numbers
- Asahi Camera. Advertisements by Misuzu Shōkai in March 1928 (p.A39), February 1930 (pp.A2 and A41) and June 1932 (pp.A2 and A45).
- Asahi Camera (アサヒカメラ) editorial staff. Shōwa 10–40nen kōkoku ni miru kokusan kamera no rekishi (昭和10–40年広告にみる国産カメラの歴史, Japanese camera history as seen in advertisements, 1935–1965). Tokyo: Asahi Shinbunsha, 1994. ISBN 4-02-330312-7.
- Nihon Shashin Kōgyō Tsūshin (日本写真興業通信). Hyaku-gō goto jūkai no kiroku (百号ごと十回の記録, Ten records, every hundred issues). Tokyo: Nihon Shashin Kōgyō Tsūshin Sha (日本写真興業通信社), 1967. No ISBN number. Advertisement on p.78, corresponding to the back cover of the February 15, 1944 issue.
Links
In Japanese:
- A web archive version (Sep 24, 2004) of the Misuzu Shōkai corporate site, which is now dead. There is a company presentation, with a chronology and the history of Misuzu's name, and a page presenting a Midget camera. (If the text is garbled rather than Japanese, switch the encoding to Shift-JIS.)