Taiyōdō

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Taiyōdō Kōki K.K. (太陽堂光機㈱) was a Japanese company based in Tokyo. It was already active in late 1947.[1] From 1948, it made the Meteor subminiature camera taking 17.5mm film, soon followed by the Vestkam, Epochs and Beauty 14, and by the Spy 16 and Beauty 16 using 16mm film. At about the same time, it was distributing the Gelto 3×4cm camera, the Semi Gelto and other Gelto products, and was using the Planet brand for various accessories.[2]

In mid-1950, the company released the first Beauty Six model, from an address in Jinbōchō (Tokyo).[3] This camera was released later the same year as the Frank Six by Tōsei Kōki; it is not known if the production was transferred to that company or if it produced the camera from the start as a subcontractor of Taiyōdō. It released the Beautyflex TLR in late 1950 or early 1951. In 1951, the sales department was presented as an independent company based at the Jinbōchō address and called Taiyōdō (太陽堂), Kamera Taiyōdō (カメラ太陽堂) or K.K. Taiyōdō (㈱太陽堂).[4] From 1952 or 1953, the name Taiyōdō Kōki K.K. applied both to the manufacturing facility, based in Shimizuchō,[5] and to the sales department at Jinbōchō.

Taiyōdō went bankrupt in September 1957.[6] It was revived as Beauty Camera K.K. (ビューティカメラ㈱) in 1958, with a new address in Kayabachō.[7] The company moved to a new location in Edobashi in 1959 or 1960,[8] then again in Miyamotochō by 1962.[9] The trace of the company is lost after 1963.

Camera list


Clockwise from top left: Beauty Beaumat, Lightmatic 1, Light O Matic 111 and Lightmatic ll

6×6 TLR

6×6 SLR

6×6 folders

35mm viewfinder and rangefinder

728345468_39f3637847_m.jpg
Vestkam by Rick Soloway. (Image rights)

17.5mm film

16mm film


Other

  • Gelto flashgun[10]
  • Planet rollfilm holder (6×9cm and 6×6cm)[11]
  • Planet filters[12]
  • Planet lens caps[12]

Notes

  1. ↑ Advertisement by Taiyōdō in the October 1947 issue of Ars Camera, observed in an online auction.
  2. ↑ Advertisements on p.6 of Nihon Shashin Kōgyō Tsūshin April 20, 1948, reproduced on p.84 of Hyaku-gō goto jūkai no kiroku, and advertisement in Kohga Gekkan May 1948, reproduced in Awano, p.5 of Camera Collectors' News no.239.
  3. ↑ The address was Chiyoda-ku Kanda Jinbōchō (千代田区神田神保町) 1–12. Source: advertisement dated September 1950 reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.166.
  4. ↑ Advertisements dated January, April, May and July 1951 reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, pp.166–7.
  5. ↑ The address was Itabashi-ku Shimura Shimizuchō (板橋区志村清水町) 366. Source: advertisements dated from July 1953 to December 1955 reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, pp.166–9.
  6. ↑ Lewis, p.104.
  7. ↑ Compare the advertisements dated December 1957 (Taiyōdō Kōki) and October 1958 (Beauty Camera) reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, pp.269 and 270. The new address was Nihonbashi Kayabachō (日本橋茅場町) 1–18. Source: advertisements dated October and December 1958 and February 1959, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.270.
  8. ↑ The new address was 日本橋江戸橋 1–15. Source: advertisement dated November 1960 reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.270.
  9. ↑ The new address was 日本橋江戸橋 1–15. Source: advertisements dated July 1962 and September 1963, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.270.
  10. ↑ Advertisement in Kohga Gekkan May 1948, reproduced in Awano, p.5 of Camera Collectors' News no.239.
  11. ↑ Advertisement on p.6 of Nihon Shashin Kōgyō Tsūshin April 20, 1948, reproduced on p.84 of Hyaku-gō goto jūkai no kiroku, and advertisement in Kohga Gekkan May 1948, reproduced in Awano, p.5 of Camera Collectors' News no.239.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Advertisement on p.6 of Nihon Shashin Kōgyō Tsūshin April 20, 1948, reproduced on p.84 of Hyaku-gō goto jūkai no kiroku.

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.
  • Awano Mikio (粟野幹男). "Meteōru, Besutokamu, Epokkusu" (メテオール、ベストカム、エポックス, Meteor, Vestkam, Epochs). In Camera Collectors' News no.239 (May 1997). Nishinomiya: Camera Collectors News-sha.
  • 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).
  • 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. Advertisements on p.84, corresponding to p.6 of the April 20, 1948 issue.

Links

  • Cameras at www.collection-appareils.fr
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