Chiyoda Kōgaku Kōgyō
Chiyoda Kōgaku Kōgyō (千代田光学工業) was a Japanese company, primarily a microscope maker, which briefly made a camera lens during the 1950s. It is not to be confused with Chiyoda Kōgaku Seikō, predecessor of Minolta.
Contents
History
The first Japanese microscope was developed from 1910 by Katō Kakitsu (加藤嘉吉), Shintō Shinkichi (神藤新吉) and Terada Shintarō (寺田新太郎), and financed from 1914 by Matsumoto Fukumatsu (松本福松), from the company Gōshi-gaisha Iwashiya Matsumoto Kikaiten (㈾いわしや松本器械店).[1] The company M & Katera Kōgaku Kikai Seisakusho (エム・カテラ光学器械製作所) was founded in 1915 to produce the microscopes; in the name, "M" is for Matsumoto and "Katera" is for Katō and Terada.[2] Terada Shintarō joined the company Takachiho Seisakusho (later Olympus) at its foundation in 1919 by Yamashita Takeshi.[3] The company became M & Katera Kōgaku Kenkyūjo (エム・カテラ光学研究所) in 1931, then Gōshi-gaisha Chiyoda Seisakusho (㈾千代田製作所) in 1934, and it was incorporated as Chiyoda Kōgaku Kōgyō K.K. (千代田光学工業㈱) in 1942.[4]
The company survived the war and its activity was only briefly interrupted in 1945.[4] Its main activity remained the production of microscopes. It also made the Chiyoda 80mm f/3.5 lens mounted on the Kyowa Six RIII in 1954–5.[5] The company was still intimately linked to the Matsumoto family: Matsumoto Zenjirō (松本善治郎) was chief executive officer from 1957 to 1973 and Matsumoto Kenichi (松本謙一) from 1973 to 1975. The mother company Iwashiya Matsumoto Kikaiten became Sakura Seiki K.K. (サクラ精機㈱) in 1962 and still exists (2007) under that name.[6] Chiyoda Kōgaku Kōgyō itself closed its doors in 1976.
Notes
- ↑ Dates and full names: History of Sakura Seiki website. Financed by Matsumoto: this page of the Olympus official website (archived). Iwashiya Matsumoto Kikaiten: Official chronology of Sakura Seiki.
- ↑ Company name, date: History of Sakura Seiki website. Meaning of the name: this page of the Olympus official website (archived).
- ↑ See this page of the Olympus official website (archived).
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Chronology of the Chiyoda microscope website (archived).
- ↑ Advertisement reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.134.
- ↑ Official chronology of Sakura Seiki.
Bibliography
- 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.
Links
In English:
- Founding of Olympus, with information on M & Katera, in the milestone pages of the Olympus corporate site
- Tiyoda Optical Co. Ltd microscope website, including a Chiyoda chronology
In Japanese:
