Camera Works

Names ending in Camera Works were used by various Japanese distributors from the 1910s to the 1950s. These names are written in Roman script or in katakana script only. They are found in advertisements and logos, ostensibly as the manufacturers of the distributed cameras. In many cases the name of the actual manufacturer is known from other sources and it is a different Japanese-sounding name. It seems that no actual Japanese company had such a name ending in "Camera Works".

1910s and 1920s

The first "Camera Works" probably corresponded to the manufacturing branch of major distributors but were probably not independent companies. (The same way, Rokuoh-sha was the manufacturing branch of the distributor Konishi, later Konishiroku, predecessor of Konica, but was not an independent company.) The earliest example is "Star Camera Works", whose initials "S.C.W." are notably found on the Star watch camera, and which was probably the manufacturing branch of Ueda Shashinki-ten in the 1910s and 1920s. The next is "Tokyo Camera Works", which used the initials "T.C.W." and was the manufacturing branch of Sone Shunsuidō.

1930s

It seems that the later "Camera Works" were mere dummy names used by the distributors, sometimes corresponding to an independent company which was not called that way. The reason for using these fake names is probably two-fold: on the one hand, a Western name was certainly thought to sound better in advertising than the true company name; on the other hand, this allowed the distributor to hide the true names of its various camera suppliers and to give the impression that all the cameras were made in its own factory.

The earliest example is "First Camera Works", a name used by Minagawa Shōten after the introduction of the First plate folders, and actually corresponding to Kuribayashi. Other distributors would use the same trick, and the use of "Camera Works" dummy names reached a peak in the mid to late 1930s. The distributor Fukada Shōkai made much use of the name "Prince Camera Works", together with a P.C.W. logo, for cameras made by Fujimoto and perhaps other manufacturers. The old name "Star Camera Works" was even resuscitated by Ueda Shashinki-ten on advertisements for the Vero Four made by the small Kinshō company.

After 1945

The use of "Camera Works" dummy names came to a halt with World War II, when the use of English words was discouraged by Japanese authorities. Some isolated cases are found after 1945, such as the Dan Camera Works marking on the Dan 35 III and Super Dan 35. It seems that the last example is the revival of the "Prince Camera Works" trademark and P.C.W. logo by the distributor Mima Shōkai for the Princeflex and Prince Junior 6×6 TLR in the 1950s.

After 1945, genuine company names appeared with the word "camera" (カメラ, kamera), for example ending in "Kamera Seisakusho" (カメラ製作所, meaning "Camera Works"). These are legitimate names, not to be confused with the dummy names described in this page.

List of "Camera Works"

This list is certainly incomplete. It only contains occurrences confirmed by original documents, and does not list the wrong attributions found in modern sources.

name	distributor	manufacturer	camera
Condor Camera Works	_	Motodori	Condor folders
Dan Camera Works	Dan Shashin-yōhin	either Hagimoto or Yamato Kōki	Dan 35 III and Super Dan 35
First Camera Works	Minagawa Shōten	Kuribayashi	many
Gelto Camera Werke	_	Tōa Kōki	Gelto
Mulber Camera Works	perhaps Kuwata Shōkai	unknown	Mulber (3×4)
National Camera Works	Eikōdō	Tōa Kōki	Semi National
Prince Camera Works	Fukada Shōkai (before 1945)	Fujimoto	Semi Prince and Prince Flex
		unknown	Prince plate folders and Prince Peerless
	Mima Shōkai (1950s)	Tōyō Seiki Kōgaku, later Cosmo Camera Seisakusho	Princeflex and Prince Junior
Star Camera Works	Ueda Shashinki-ten	own manufacturing branch (1910s and 1920s)	various
		Kinshō	Vero Four
Tokyo Camera Works	Sone Shunsuidō	own manufacturing branch (1910s and 1920s)	various
Victor Camera Works	_	Motodori	Victor folders and Auto Victor
Walz Camera Works	Nihon Shōkai	perhaps Okada Kōgaku	Walz (3×4)