Difference between revisions of "Fujimoto"
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* Kawamata Masataku (川又正卓). ''Semi Prince — Luck.'' In [[Sources: Japanese language#Supuringu kamera de ikou|''Supuringu kamera de ikou: Zen 69 kishu no shōkai to tsukaikata'']] (スプリングカメラでいこう: 全69機種の紹介と使い方, Let's try spring cameras: The use of and actual examples from 69 machines). Tokyo: Shashinkogyo Syuppan-sha, 2004. ISBN 4-87956-072-3. Pp. 78–80. | * Kawamata Masataku (川又正卓). ''Semi Prince — Luck.'' In [[Sources: Japanese language#Supuringu kamera de ikou|''Supuringu kamera de ikou: Zen 69 kishu no shōkai to tsukaikata'']] (スプリングカメラでいこう: 全69機種の紹介と使い方, Let's try spring cameras: The use of and actual examples from 69 machines). Tokyo: Shashinkogyo Syuppan-sha, 2004. ISBN 4-87956-072-3. Pp. 78–80. | ||
* {{McKeown12}} Pp. 331–2, 572. | * {{McKeown12}} Pp. 331–2, 572. | ||
| − | * Tanimura Yoshihiko (谷村吉彦). "Semi Purinsu kara Rakku made — Takahashi Kenzō shi ni kiku." (セミプリンスからラックまで・高橋健三氏にきく, "From the Semi Prince to the Luck — Asking Takahashi Kenzō") {{KKS011}} Pp. 50–1. Based on an interview of Takahashi Kenzō, senior advisor of [[Fujimoto]]. | + | * Tanimura Yoshihiko (谷村吉彦). "Semi Purinsu kara Rakku made — Takahashi Kenzō shi ni kiku." (セミプリンスからラックまで・高橋健三氏にきく, "From the Semi Prince to the Luck — Asking Takahashi Kenzō") {{KKS011}} Pp. 50–1. Based on an interview of Takahashi Kenzō, senior advisor of [[Fujimoto]], who entered the company in 1934. |
== Links == | == Links == | ||
Revision as of 21:18, 8 July 2007
Fujimoto is a Japanese company that made cameras at some time and currently (2007) makes enlargers and other equipment.
History
Fujimoto was founded in Osaka in 1913 by Fujimoto Tōjirō (藤本藤次郎) to make photogravure equipment.[1] In 1933, it established as Gōshi-gaisha Fujimoto Seisakusho (㈾藤本製作所, meaning Fujimoto Mfg. Co.) and opened a plant in Osaka, Nakahoribashi.[2] It certainly began to manufacture cameras at about that time. It released the Semi Prince (distributed by Fukada Shōkai) in late 1934.[3]
It is possible but not certain that all the cameras called Prince and advertised as "made by Prince Camera Works" were actually made by Fujimoto. It is most likely that Prince Camera Works was just a dummy name used by the distributor Fukada Shōkai for advertising purpose, and that it became associated with Fujimoto because the two companies had commercial agreements.
In 1935, the production of enlargers began under the brand Lucky and it still continues today (2007).[4] In 1937, Fujimoto bought a plant in Mukogawa to Neumann & Heilemann.[5] The Prince Flex TLR, certainly developed by Neumann & Heilemann at the first place, was perhaps taken over by Fujimoto at the same time (see Prince Flex). The Semi Lucky, produced in the Mukogawa plant,[6] was the first camera sold by the company under its own brand. Fujimoto began to make its own Rapidex leaf shutter in 1940, mounted on the Semi Sport.[7]
In 1943, Fujimoto established a new plant together with Kashimura Yōkō and Tomioka Kōgaku in the Manchurian city of Dalian, under the name Kantō Kōgaku Kōgyō K.K. (関東光学工業㈱).[8] Plans were drawn to move the production of enlargers and cameras there, with almost no result.[9] All activity stopped in 1945.
In 1949 the Semi Sport and Lucky enlargers were advertised by a company called Nihon Kōki Kōgyō K.K. (日本光機工業㈱), whose relationship with Fujimoto is unknown.[10]
In 1950 the company was revived by Takahashi Kenzō (高橋健三) as Fujimoto Shashinki Seisakusho (藤本写真機製作所, meaning Fujimoto Camera Mfg. Co.).[11] It made a camera called Luck during a short time and also used the name Fujimoto Camera Works (藤本カメラワークス) for advertising before dropping camera production.[12] At the beginning, the products were distributed by Kashimura Yōkō, that was still mentioned as authorized dealer for Kantō (Eastern Japan) in 1954.[13]
The company was incorporated again in 1952 as K.K. Fujimoto Shashinki Seisakusho (㈱藤本写真機製作所) and moved to a plant in Osaka, Higashi-sumiyoshi-ku Kuwazu-chō (大阪市東住吉区桑津町).[14]
In 1966 the company became Fujimoto Shashin Kōgyō K.K. (藤本写真工業株式会社, officially translated as Fujimoto Photo Industrial Co., Ltd.).[15]
The company still exists (2007) and makes lab systems, enlargers and slide projectors.
Camera list
Semi Prince
4.5×6 folders
- Semi Prince (1934/5–9)
- Semi Lucky (1937–9)
- Semi Sport (1940–3, sold again in 1949 by Nihon Kōki Kōgyō)
- Luck (1951–2)
Others
Other cameras named Prince are often attributed to Fujimoto[16], but this is not certain. Here is a list:
- Prince, 6.5×9 plate folder
- Prince Peerless, 6.5×9 plate folder
- Pocket Prince, 4×6.5 folder
- Prince Flex, 6×6 TLR
Notes
- ↑ Fujimoto official company history.
- ↑ Fujimoto official company history. The address in 1943 was Ōsaka-shi Minami-ku Horibashi-suji (大阪市南区堀橋筋) 2–8. Source: "Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa" ("Inquiry into Japanese cameras").
- ↑ The earliest advertisement for the Semi Prince was in the November 1934 issue of Asahi Camera. It is reproduced in Tanimura, p. 50 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no. 11.
- ↑ Fujimoto official company history.
- ↑ Tanimura, p. 51 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no. 11.
- ↑ Tanimura, p. 51 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no. 11.
- ↑ Fujimoto official company history.
- ↑ Fujimoto official company history.
- ↑ Tanimura, p. 51 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no. 11.
- ↑ Advertisement reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 143.
- ↑ Fujimoto official company history. McKeown lists "Fujimoto Camera Works" and "Fujimoto Mfg. Co." as two different companies, but this is a mistake.
- ↑ Fujimoto Camera Works: advertisement reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 205.
- ↑ Advertisements reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, pp. 125 and 205.
- ↑ Fujimoto official company history.
- ↑ Fujimoto official company history.
- ↑ For example in McKeown, pp. 331–2.
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.
- "Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa" (国産写真機ノ現状調査, Inquiry into Japanese cameras), listing Japanese camera production as of April 1943. Reproduced in Supuringu kamera de ikou: Zen 69 kishu no shōkai to tsukaikata (スプリングカメラでいこう: 全69機種の紹介と使い方, Let's try spring cameras: Presentation and use of 69 machines). Tokyo: Shashinkogyo Syuppan-sha, 2004. ISBN 4-87956-072-3. Pp.180–7.
- Kawamata Masataku (川又正卓). Semi Prince — Luck. In Supuringu kamera de ikou: Zen 69 kishu no shōkai to tsukaikata (スプリングカメラでいこう: 全69機種の紹介と使い方, Let's try spring cameras: The use of and actual examples from 69 machines). Tokyo: Shashinkogyo Syuppan-sha, 2004. ISBN 4-87956-072-3. Pp. 78–80.
- 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. 331–2, 572.
- Tanimura Yoshihiko (谷村吉彦). "Semi Purinsu kara Rakku made — Takahashi Kenzō shi ni kiku." (セミプリンスからラックまで・高橋健三氏にきく, "From the Semi Prince to the Luck — Asking Takahashi Kenzō") 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.11, March 1988. No ISBN number. Shirarezaru kamera (知られざるカメラ, special issue on unknown cameras). Pp. 50–1. Based on an interview of Takahashi Kenzō, senior advisor of Fujimoto, who entered the company in 1934.
Links
In Japanese:
