Fuji Kōgaku
Fuji Kōgaku is a Japanese camera maker that was active at least between 1936 and 1944, and maybe also for some time after the war. It is unrelated to the much better known company Fuji.
Contents
History
The company's full name was Fuji Kōgaku Kikai Seisakusho (富士光学器械製作所) between 1936 and 1938, then Fuji Kōgaku Kōgyō K.K. (富士光学工業株式会社, Fuji Optical Industries Co Ltd) between 1939 and 1944. The company sometimes used the short name Fujikō (富士光). The distributor of the Fujikō cameras was Fuji Kōgaku Shōji K.K. (富士光学商事株式会社), at least in 1941 and 1942.[1] The company made a range of cameras called "Lyra" (ライラ). This name was certainly meant to recall "Leica" (ライカ in Japanese).
The company logo is FUJI KŌGAKU written in a cemented doublet lens scheme (a type of logo used by many other optical companies). There was a protuberance on top of the logo, maybe an allusion to Mount Fuji.
The company probably survived the war: a version of the Lyra Six has been observed that is probably postwar, as indicated by the style of the top housing and the presence of a synchronized shutter with a PC connector. This camera has a logo similar in shape to the one described above, but written LYRA FUJIKŌ.
After the war, the three companies Fuji Kōgaku, Katsuma Kōgaku and Taisei Kōki were probably related. All three used the Terionar lens name, and all three have similar logos. Katsuma made cameras called Semi Lyra and Lyraflex in the 1950s.
Various Japanese websites[2] say that Fuji Kōgaku became Taisei Kōki, but this page at Japan Family Camera says more precisely that the company was split in two parts: Taisei Kōki and Katsuma Kōgaku, with the latter one keeping the Lyra brand name. However there are records of Katsuma Kōgaku dated as early as 1932 (it contributed to found the Tōkyō Kōgaku company, later Topcon), so this cannot be completely accurate.
120 film
4.5×6 rangefinder, collapsible
4.5×6 folding
- Semi Lyra (prewar models)
McKeown mentions a Bakyna strut-folding camera, with a bakelite body.
6×6 folding
6×6 TLR
- Lyra Flex (prewar camera)
127 film
3×4 folding
McKeown mentions a Baby Balnet 3×4 folder, copy of the Baby Ikonta.
4×6.5 folding
Notes
- ↑ Advertisements reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, pp. 100–1.
- ↑ This page of the Mediajoy Guide to Classic Cameras, this page at Minosan's blog and this page at Puppy's Island.
Printed 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.
- McKeown, James M. and Joan C. McKeown's Price Guide to Antique and Classic Cameras, 12th Edition, 2005-2006. USA, Centennial Photo Service, 2004. ISBN 0-931838-40-1 (hardcover). ISBN 0-931838-41-X (softcover). Pp. 328–9.
