Ōsawa

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Ōsawa (大沢) was a Japanese distributor from the 1930s to the 1960s.

History

The company was already active in 1937 as K.K. Ōsawa Shōkai (㈱大沢商会), with an address in Kyoto.[1] It was the distributor of the Rosen Four and Semi Rosen. It perhaps owned the "Rosen" trademark, and it is likely that it was also the distributor of the Rosen plate folder and Baby Rosen 3×4cm camera.

In the early 1940s, the company distributed the Primo folders made by Daiichi Kikō. By 1940 it had opened a branch in Tokyo, at Ginza 42–5.[2] By the end of the year this became the main address of the company, which also had branches in Nagoya, Ogura and Seoul, in addition to the original shop in Kyoto.[3] By early 1944, the company was operating as Ōsawa Sangyō K.K. (大沢産業㈱),[4] a name that was used only for a short time.

The company survived the war; in 1948 it was again operating under the name K.K. Ōsawa Shōkai (㈱大沢商会), and the only remaining address was that in Ginza.[5] In the 1950s, the company reused the "Primo" trademark (which it probably owned) for the Primoflex and Primo Jr TLR cameras made by Tōkyō Kōgaku.[6] This was also used for the Primo exposure meter, whose actual manufacturer is unknown.

The company was still active in 1960, as an authorized dealer of the Kinotar and Kinotel cine lenses; it was still in Ginza but the address was slightly altered, perhaps merely because of a reform of the postal system.[7] In 1962, it was distributing the Viscawide-16 panorama camera made by Taiyō Kōki.[8]

Distributed cameras

Other

  • Cosmos rangefinder (c.1937)[9]
  • Primo exposure meter (sold ¥3,800 in 1955)[10]

Notes

  1. Advertisement in Asahi Camera April 1937, p.A38, reproduced in this page and in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.104. The exact address was Kyōto-shi Sanjō Obashi Nishiiri (京都市三条小橋西入).
  2. Column on the Semi Rosen III in Asahi Camera April 1940, pp.705–6, mentioning a branch opened at Tōkyō-shi Kyōbashi-ku Ginza 42 (東京市京橋区銀座四二丁目).
  3. The address is given as Tōkyō Ginza 42–5 (東京・銀座・四二ノ五), with mention of Kyōto (京都), Nagoya (名古屋), Ogura (小倉) and Seoul (京城), in an advertisement in Asahi Graph, 23 December 1942, reproduced at Gochamaze, and in an advertisement in Hōdō Shashin May 1943 reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.90.
  4. Advertisement in Shashin Kagaku January 1944, p.2.
  5. The address is Tōkyō-to Ginza-ku Nishi 42–5 (東京都中央区銀座西四二ノ五) in the advertisement on p.2 of Nihon Shashin Kōgyō Tsūshin, April 20, 1948, reproduced on p.80 of Hyaku-gō goto jūkai no kiroku.
  6. McKeown, p.924.
  7. Advertisement in Asahi Camera Annual '60. The exact address was Chūō-ku Ginza Nishi 3–1 Namiki Building (中央区銀座西3–1並木ビル).
  8. Advertisement dated May 1962 reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.268. The address was changed again to Ginza Nishi 2–5.
  9. Advertisement in Asahi Camera April 1937, p.A38, and May 1937, p.A35.
  10. Column in Photo Art no.80, June 1955, p.103.

Bibliography

Original documents

  • Asahi Camera. Advertisements by Ōsawa Shōkai:
    • April 1937, p.A38;
    • May 1937, p.A35.
  • Asahi Camera. "Atarashii kikai to zairyō" (新しい機械と材料, New equipment and materials), April 1940, pp.705–7. (Mentions Ōsawa in the column on the Semi Rosen III.)
  • Asahi Camera Annual '60 (アサヒカメラ年鑑'60). Tokyo: Asahi Shinbun-sha. No ISBN number.
  • 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.80, corresponding to p.2 of the April 20, 1948 issue.
  • Photo Art rinji zōkan: Kamera akusesarī zensho (フォトアート臨時増刊・カメラアクセサリー全書, Photo Art special issue: All the camera accessories). June 1955, no.80 of the magazine. "Denki roshutsukei" (電気露出計, Electric exposure meters). Pp.102–3.
  • Shashin Kagaku January 1944. Advertisement by Ōsawa Sangyō on p.2.

Recent sources

Links