Kuwata
K.K. Kuwata Shōkai (株式会社桑田商会) was a Japanese distributor, based in Osaka.[1] Between 1936 and 1942, it distributed the Mulber (3×4) camera, the Mulber Six, the Semi Mulber, the Mulix and the Seica.
Kuwata was probably the owner of the "Mulber" brand. However the name Mulber Camera Works appears on the shutter plate of the Mulber (3×4) camera, and in an advertisement dated March 1936 for the same camera under the form "Murber Camera Works". It is unclear if Mulber Camera Works was an independent company or just Kuwata's manufacturing branch, or some sub-contractor.
Some products distributed by Kuwata are called KKS or have a KKS marking, whose signification is unknown.
The company Kuwata Shōkai survived the war, and it was an authorized dealer of the Shinkoh Rabbit in 1953.
Cameras distributed
127 film
- Mulber (3×4)
- Seica (4×4)
120 film
- Semi Mulber (4.5×6)
- Mulber Six (6×6)
- Mulix (6×6)
Other
Kuwata also distributed other products:
- the Mulber filters,
- the Mulber accessory rangefinder,
- the Magnon Special 75/4.5 enlarging lens,
- the KKS Anastigmat Mulber 210/4.5 large format lens,
- the KKS darkroom chemicals.[2]
Notes
- ↑ Its address in 1936 was Ōsaka-shi Nishi-ku Shinmachi-dōri 1-chōme 2-banchi (大阪市西区新町通一丁目二番地), and from 1937 to 1939 it was Ōsaka-shi Nishi-ku Itachibori Minami-dōri 1 (大阪市西区立売堀南通一).
- ↑ Advertisements by Kuwata, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, pp. 77, 95 and 96.
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.
