Tōkyō Shashin

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At least two different companies were called Tōkyō Shashin in the late 1930s and early 1940s.

See also Tōkyō Shashinkan, a camera maker and distributor in the late XIXth and early XXth century.

Tōkyō Shashin Kōgaku

Tōkyō Shashin Kōgaku Kōgyōsha (東京写真光学工業社)[1] was a Japanese camera maker in the late 1930s and early 1940s, based in Tokyo. The company is called "Tōkyō Shashin Kōgaku Kōgyōsho" (東京写真光学工業所) in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.336 (item 100), perhaps by mistake. [2] It made the Baby Germa 3×4cm camera from late 1938[3] and the Semi Germa 4.5×6cm folder; these cameras were still distributed by Kigawa in 1943.[4] The company also made the Helios 50/4.5 three-element lens mounted on the Baby Germa and on various other cameras.[5] It seems that it also made the Tsubasa accessories (e.g. hoods and self-timer) distributed by Matsuzaki Shashinki-ten,[6] and was probably related to Optochrom and Kigawa.

Cameras made by Tōkyō Shashin Kōgaku

Cameras equipped with a lens by Tōkyō Shashin Kōgaku

Some examples of the following cameras were observed or reported with a Helios Anastigmat lens certainly made by Tōkyō Shashin Kōgaku.

Tōkyō Shashin Shōkai

Tōkyō Shashin Shōkai (東京写真商会, i.e. "Tokyo photography trading") was a Japanese distributor that advertised the Ami and Sintax folding cameras between 1941 and 1943.[7]

It is not known if the two companies were related.

Cameras distributed by Tōkyō Shashin Shōkai

Notes

  1. The name "Tōkyō Shashin Kōgaku Kōgyōsha" is found in the early 1943 governement inquiry. The official price list dated November 1941 only says "Tōkyō Shashin Kōgakusha" (東京写真光学社).
  2. Its address in 1943 was Tōkyō-to Arakawa-ku Nippori-watanabe-chō 1040 (東京都荒川区日暮里渡辺町1040). Source: "Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa" ("Inquiry into Japanese cameras").
  3. Date: Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.336.
  4. "Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa" ("Inquiry into Japanese cameras"), items 65 and 167.
  5. "Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa" ("Inquiry into Japanese cameras"), lens item Jc12.
  6. An advertisement published in Ars Camera October 1938 and cited in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.336 says that "Tōkyō Shashin Kōgaku Kōgyōsho" (sic) was the maker of the Tsubasa products (ツバサ製品), presumably the accessories.
  7. Its address in 1942 was Tōkyō-shi Kanda-ku Awaji-chō 2, 7 — Koguchi Building (東京市神田区淡路町二ノ七・小口ビル). Source: advertisements reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, pp.58 and 74

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.
  • "Kamera no kōtei kakaku kanpō happyō" (カメラの公定価格官報発表, Official announcement of the set prices of the cameras), November 1941. Extract of a table listing Japanese camera production and setting the retail prices, reproduced in "Bebī Semi Fāsuto 'Kore ha bebī wo nanotta semi-ki da'" (ベビーセミファースト"これはベビーを名乗ったセミ機だ", Baby Semi First, 'this is a Semi camera called Baby'), an article by Furukawa Yasuo (古川保男) in Camera Collectors' News no. 277 (July 2000). Nishinomiya: Camera Collectors News-sha. P. 27.
  • "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.