Kikōdō
Kikōdō (暿光堂) was a Japanese distributor based in Tokyo.[1] In 1934, the company asked Umemoto Kinzaburō (梅本金三郎) to set up a camera plant, that would become Umemoto Seisakusho, founded in 1935.[2] It sold the cameras made by Umemoto until the war.
Kikōdō distributed other cameras as well: in 1935 it was selling Super, Kinka and Peter (ピーター) cameras.[3] It was probably the owner of the brand "Super". In 1939 it was using a KIKODO TOKYO logo.[4]
The postwar Superflex 6×6 TLR cameras were made by a company called Bikōdō Seisakusho, that is probably unrelated.
Contents
Cameras distributed
- Super and Special Super (6.5×9 plate folders) by an unknown maker
- Super Makinet Six (6×6 strut-folder) by Umemoto
- Super Flex Baby (4×4 SLR) by Umemoto
Cameras sold as authorized dealer
- Wester or Semi Wester 4.5×6 folder by Nishida
Other
- Super accessory rangefinder (sold ¥15 in 1937)[5]
Notes
- ↑ Its address from 1935 to 1941 was Tōkyō-shi Nihonbashi-ku Kodenma-chō 1, 1 (東京市日本馬市区小伝馬町1の1). Source: advertisements reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, pp. 74–5 and 94.
- ↑ Umemoto company history.
- ↑ Advertisement dated December 1935 reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 74.
- ↑ Advertisement dated February 1939 reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 74.
- ↑ Advertisement dated April 1937 for the Super Makinet Six, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 94.
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 Japanese: