Tougodo box-shaped cameras
The Tougo cameras (トウゴーカメラ)[1] using the no-need-darkroom process were introduced by Tougodo in 1930.[2] Among the first models, many were box cameras.
Evolution of the range
No original document dated 1930 has been found so far. The original range is therefore unclear, but it seems that the company started by selling a single model for ¥1, in a set including film, paper and chemicals.[3] A historical account of the company published in 1955, based on the interviews of the three founders, says that the first model was the "Mikasa-Go", sold for ¥1.[4] It actually seems that such individual model names only appeared at a later time, perhaps around 1934;[3] it is nonetheless probable that the original model was essentially the same as the later Mikasa-Go.
The earliest known occurrence of the Tougo cameras in printed sources is in Asahi Camera February 1931.[5] This magazine contains a full-page advertisement for the Tougo, as well as an article on Tougo cameras.[6] The advertisement mentions three models, called A (¥1), B (¥2) and C (¥3), with no further details. (These model names have nothing to do with film sizes A, B and C which would appear for Tougodo cameras from 1937.)[7] The article mainly speaks of the one-yen model, mentions the two-yen model in passing and says that the three-yen model is a reflex camera. It also implies that other no-need-darkroom cameras are sold by different companies, without naming them explicitly. The picture of the advertisement shows someone holding a Tougo box camera; this camera has a single brilliant finder and a release control on the photographer's right, and has some illegible trademark written at the bottom right of the lens (as seen from the front). It seems likely that the camera pictured in the advertisement is the model A, which would later become the Mikasa-Go.
To be continued.
Actual examples
The simpler Tougo models have a single brilliant finder at the top, no diaphragm and Bulb exposure only. Depending on the camera, the Tougodo trademark is simply stamped in the paper covering of the front plate, or the words TOUGŌ CAMERA or simply TOUGŌ are inscribed above the lens. The Mikasa-Go is a simple model; it has the words TOUGŌ CAMERA and MIKASA-GO around the lens.[8] The Speed-Go has two brilliant finders and Bulb and Instant settings, selected by a lever on the photographer's right; it has the words TOUGŌ CAMERA and SPEEDGO around the lens, together with the logo of Tougodo.[9] (Around the same time, Tougodo was also making a Speed-Go Reflex camera.) The Hit-Go looks the same but adds three aperture settings, numbered 1, 2, 3 below the lens; the words TOUGŌ and HITGO are written around the lens, and a large Tougodo logo is inscribed above.[10]
Notes
- ↑ In the original documents observed so far, the name "Tougo camera" is written トウゴーカメラ (Tougō kamera) in katakana script, whereas the company name is written 東郷堂 in kanji script.
- ↑ Date: Shirai, p.144 of Asahi Camera June 1955, also in Lewis, p.43, Sugiyama, p.63, McKeown, p.931.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Awano, p.1 of Camera Collectors' News no.314.
- ↑ Shirai, p.144 of Asahi Camera June 1955.
- ↑ Earliest occurrence: Awano, p.7 of Camera Collectors' News no.317, quoting the book Nihon Shashinshi Nenpyō (日本写真史年表).
- ↑ Advertisement and article reproduced in Awano, pp.6–7 of Camera Collectors' News no.315.
- ↑ Film sizes A, B, C appearing in 1937: Awano, p.2 of Camera Collectors' News no.315.
- ↑ Example pictured in Sugiyama, item 4075.
- ↑ Example pictured in this page at Infocam, where it is wrongly described as a Hit-Go, and example pictured in Lewis, p.43.
- ↑ Example pictured in Sugiyama, item 4076.
Bibliography
- Awano Mikio (粟野幹男). "Tōgō kamera (1)" (トーゴーカメラ[1], Tougo cameras [1]). In Camera Collectors' News no.314 (August 2003). Nishinomiya: Camera Collectors News-sha. Pp.1–11.
- Awano Mikio (粟野幹男). "Tougō kamera (2)" (トウゴーカメラ[3], Tougo cameras [2]). In Camera Collectors' News no.315 (Septober 2003). Nishinomiya: Camera Collectors News-sha. Pp.1–11.
- Awano Mikio (粟野幹男). "Tougō kamera (3)" (トウゴーカメラ[3], Tougo cameras [3]). In Camera Collectors' News no.316 (October 2003). Nishinomiya: Camera Collectors News-sha. Pp.9–21.
- Awano Mikio (粟野幹男). "Tougō kamera (4)" (トウゴーカメラ[4], Tougo cameras [4]). In Camera Collectors' News no.317 (November 2003). Nishinomiya: Camera Collectors News-sha. Pp.7–12.
- 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). P.43.
- McKeown, James M. and Joan C. McKeown's Price Guide to Antique and Classic Cameras, 12th Edition, 2005-2006. USA, Centennial Photo Service, 2004. ISBN 0-931838-40-1 (hardcover). ISBN 0-931838-41-X (softcover). P.931.
- Shirai. "Tōgō kamera: 'En-kame' yume miru san-kyōdai" (東郷カメラ・"円カメ"夢みる三兄弟, Tougo cameras: three brothers who dreamed of "yen-cameras"). In Asahi Camera June 1955. Pp.144–5. (Contains interviews of Nagatsuka Masanori, Tanaka Kōichi and Toyota Yoshio, founders of the Tougodo company.)
- Sugiyama, Kōichi (杉山浩一); Naoi, Hiroaki (直井浩明); Bullock, John R. The Collector's Guide to Japanese Cameras. 国産カメラ図鑑 (Kokusan kamera zukan). Tokyo: Asahi Sonorama, 1985. ISBN 4-257-03187-5. Items 4074–6.
Links
In Japanese:
In Korean:
- Tougo box cameras at Infocam (the picture captioned as a Hit-Go actually shows a Speed-Go)
