Kuwata
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| Advertisement by Kuwata in Asahi Camera June 1938. (Image rights) |
K.K. Kuwata Shōkai (株式会社桑田商会) was a Japanese distributor, based in Osaka[1] and founded at the beginning of the 20th century.[2] From 1936 to c.1943, it distributed the Mulber (3×4) camera, the Mulber Six, Semi Mulber, Mulix and Seica. It also imported the Certo Dollina III.
Kuwata was certainly the owner of the "Mulber" brand. The name "Mulber Camera Works" appears on the shutter plate of the Mulber (3×4) camera and in original advertising documents.[3] This was certainly a dummy name, as other names ending in Camera Works. The actual manufacturer of the Mulber cameras is unknown; it could have been Kuwata's own manufacturing branch, or some sub-contractor.
Various products distributed by Kuwata are called KKS or have a KKS marking, whose significance is unknown. It is not known if these initials wre directly used by Kuwata or belonged to a manufacturing subcontractor.
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)
The Green, a rebadged version of the Gotex by Kigawa, has the exact same KKS logo as the Mulix; this might indicate some relation to Kuwata.
Other products
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| KKS Anastigmat Mulber 21cm f/4.5. Picture courtesy of Jay Tepper. (Image rights) |
- KKS Anastigmat Mulber 210/4.5 large format lens, reported to have no diaphragm, sold ¥125 in 1941;[4]
- Bimagon (ビマゴン) wide-angle attachment for the 210/4.5 lens, sold ¥35 in 1941;[5]
- Mulber accessory rangefinder, sold ¥15 in 1936;[6]
- Mulber filters;[7]
- Mulber flash powder;[8]
- Magnon Special 75/4.5 enlarging lens, advertised in 1940;[9]
- KKS darkroom chemicals.[10]
In the early 1930s, Kuwata was the importer of the Gevaert products.
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| Advertisements for Gevaert products in Asahi Camera February 1930. (Image rights) |
Notes
- ↑ Its address in 1936 and early 1937 was Ōsaka-shi Nishi-ku Shinmachi-dōri 1–2 (大阪市西区新町通一丁目二番地); from May 1937 it was Ōsaka-shi Nishi-ku Itachibori Minami-dōri 1–13 (大阪市西区立売堀南通一丁目十三番地). Source: advertisements in Asahi Camera April 1936 to September 1939.
- ↑ Lewis, pp.27–8.
- ↑ See Mulber (3×4).
- ↑ Advertisement in Asahi Camera February 1941 reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.77. An example sold in an online auction was reported to have no diaphragm.
- ↑ Advertisement in Asahi Camera February 1941 reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.77.
- ↑ Advertisements in Asahi Camera November 1936, p.A65, and December 1936, p.A61. That dated December is also reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.95.
- ↑ Advertisements in Asahi Camera June and September 1939, October 1940 and February 1941, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, pp.77 and 95–6. — Advertisement on p.17 of Nihon Shashin Kōgyō Tsūshin, December 15, 1939, reproduced on p.51 of Hyaku-gō goto jūkai no kiroku.
- ↑ Advertisements in Asahi Camera May 1937, p.A65, June 1937, p.A52, and July 1937, p.A54.
- ↑ Advertisement dated October 1940 reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.95.
- ↑ Advertisements in Asahi Camera April 1939 and February 1941, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, pp.77 and 95.
Bibliography
- Asahi Camera. Advertisements by Kuwata Shōkai:
- February 1930, p.A17;
- April 1936, p.A26;
- July 1936, p.A44;
- August 1936, p.A48;
- September 1936, p.A56;
- October 1936, p.A63;
- November 1936, p.A65;
- December 1936, p.A61;
- January 1937, p.A57;
- February 1937, p.A52;
- March 1937, p.A104;
- April 1937, p.A108;
- May 1937, p.A65;
- June 1937, p.A52;
- July 1937, p.A54;
- August 1937, p.A53;
- October 1937, p.A50;
- November 1937, p.A50;
- December 1937, p.A40;
- January 1938, p.A44;
- February 1938, p.A37;
- March 1938, p.A44;
- April 1938, p.A46;
- May 1938, p.A44;
- June 1938, p.A42;
- September 1938, p.A36;
- January 1939, p.A27.
- 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.
- Nihon Shashin Kōgyō Tsūshin (日本写真興業通信). Hyaku-gō goto jūkai no kiroku (百号ごと十回の記録, Ten records, every hundred issues). Tokyo: Nihon Shashin Kōgyō Tsūshin Sha (日本写真興業通信社), 1967. No ISBN number. Advertisement on p.51, corresponding to p.17 of the December 15, 1939 issue.
- Lewis, Gordon, ed. The History of the Japanese Camera. Rochester, N.Y.: George Eastman House, International Museum of Photography & Film, 1991. ISBN 0-935398-17-1 (paper), 0-935398-16-3 (hard).
