Early Historic Photos from Famous Japanese Companies

Recently there was a popular thread on the Japanese interwebs that sparked a lot of interesting discussion about early photos of iconic companies, so I thought I’d do a post on it for everyone. So enjoy these early photos of some of the most famous Japanese companies.

Toyota is one of Japan’s most legendary companies. It was founded in Toyoda, Nagoya Prefecture in 1933. They originally sold cars under the brand “Toyopet.”

Kyocera means “Kyoto Ceramics.”

Legendary electronics maker that got its name because one of the founders thought “sonny boy” was a cool phrase. Many Japanese grow up thinking Sony is an American company because its name is written in katakana.

A very hip clothing brand today. Though often called a “Gap clone,” it was founded in 1949, twenty years before Gap.

A legendary company that’s studied in business schools. They not only made all the video game characters you loved growing up, but were so good at business, they were more valuable than Toyota at their peak. Not allowing third party makers to create more than two games per year on their platforms, to avoid software companies getting leverage to use against Nintendo, was genius.

Of course, Nintendo is a bit older than most video game companies. They were founded in 1889 in Kyoto, making children’s card games like Karuta. They tried many new business ideas in the 1960s, including running a love hotel and making an “electronic compatibility meter” to test if couples were romantically right for each other, before finding their current niche.

Bridgestone was founded in 1930 by Sojiro Ishibashi, whose last name means “stone bridge.”

Morinaga was founded in 1899 by Taichiro Morinaga, a Japanese man who’d gone to San Francisco to learn how to make chocolates so he could start his own company. They’re single-handedly responsible for the current tradition of females giving men chocolate on Valentine’s Day, which came from a marketing campaign in 1960.

Suntory was founded in 1899 by Shinjiro Torii (the name of the company is basically “Torii-san” reversed) as an importer of foreign wines. In 1923 they created Japan’s first whiskey distillery, Yamazaki.

Another Japanese company that’s been able to translate its unique business model all around the world. Yakult makes probiotic yogurt drinks and sells through “Yakult Ladies,” who come around and ask if you’d like to buy any yogurt drinks today. Who can resist?

Panasonic was founded in 1918 by Matsushita Konosuke, who is regarded as one of the greatest business founders.

A company very close to our hearts, and to our butts, Tōyō Tōki (“Oriental Ceramics Company”) was founded in 1917. Their big opportunity came after the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake, which destroyed Tokyo and Yokohama, leading to a lot of people needing new toilets. They introduced the Washlet, toilets that wash your butt for you, in 1980.

In a way, Yamaha was my first contact with Japan. I was three, and distinctly remember wondering why the organ we owned was by Yamaha, but the company also made motorcycles and lawnmowers. How could one company do many different things? Of course, now I know that Japanese companies always have varied businesses. Panasonic makes performance bicycles and has a home remodeling business. Toyota makes manufactured homes in the same factories that make their cars. Sony has a line of makeup products and a popular auto insurance business.

Founded in 1910 in Hitachi, Ibaragi, the company started out making motors used in mining. They also made a tree in Hawaii very famous.

Since I live in Gunma, where Subaru was founded, it’s a company that I love. The company started out as the Nakajima Aircraft Company, which made the Zeros that attacked Pearl Harbor—there’s a really long road in Ota that’s famous because it was once a runway for an airbase used for testing planes. The company was broken up into several smaller companies during the U.S. occupation. Five of these “stars” combined to form the modern Subaru, which is the Japanese name of the Pleadies. Incidentally, another famous wartime airplane manufacturer was Miyazaki Airplane, owned by Hayao Miyazaki’s father.

Here’s another Japanese company you might know, J-List! This is the shop we opened for a day on April 1st. Unfortunately, it’s totally fake, though this hasn’t stopped many customers from trying to find it.

Thanks for reading! The original Japanese thread is here.