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The beginning (& end) - Camera Taiyodo the shop (1946 - 2013)

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In 1946, an advertisement appeared in the January and July editions of Ars Camera($) - a Japanese magazine for photography enthusiasts. This sought to purchase or swap used cameras, stating "buy at a high price, high grade camera" (高價買入 囯産舶耒,高級 カメラ) and "exchange welcome" (交換歡迎) (see Figures 1 & 2). The advertiser's name was “Camera Taiyodo” (カメラ太陽堂), although elsewhere on the Internet the word "Camera" (カメラ) tends to be omitted. Their address was the Kanda-Jimbocho crossing in Chiyodo Tokyo.

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Some writers have attempted to translate Taiyodo (太陽堂) but it isn't necessary: it's a name and the same in any other language. The characters 太陽堂 are common to both Chinese and Japanese, and when translated from Chinese to English we get sun (太陽 taiyo) and hall (堂 dou) - two separate words (or perhaps hyphenated), but this is irrelevant because Taiyodo was a Japanese enterprise! The alternative "Taiyo-Do" is suggested at Came-Raw-iki (see what I did there!), probably inspired by Sugiyama, and inaccurate. Figure 3 illustrates the consistent one-word "Taiyodo" labelling on a sample box, camera, and instruction manual cover, while Figure 4 shows a circa 1953 advert in which "Taiyodo" (no hyphen) is written in English characters. "Taiyo-Do" (and Taiyo-Dou) is utter doo-doo (perhaps only English speakers will understand this comment?).

 

​Various Japanese Bloggers claim the Chiyodo store dates back to 1920. The only document I can find that supports this date is a page in the book - "Tokyo: VIP's Confidential Guide" - written by American Actor Donald Briggs'($) and published in 1970. Here is a copy of the entry. This also names two further satellite Taiyodo stores at the Akasaka Tokyu Hotel and facing Shijuku Station in Tokyo. So far as I can establish, Briggs had no personal insights, and simply visited Tokyo in the 1970s when his career was in decline. I don't doubt there may have been a camera shop at the Kanda-Jimbocho Crossing since the twenties, however, "evidence" that Camera Taiyodo was established in the late 1940s can be found in two rather more recent and credible sources.

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The "Distribution(†) Company Yearbook" (流通会社年鑑) published by "Japan Economic Newspaper($)" (日本経済新聞社), and based on "the annual Japan Retail Industry Survey", comes from the stable of a company better known for their flagship publication - "The Nikkei" - the world's largest financial newspaper. Page 1306 of the 2003(‡) edition says the Camera Taiyodo store was established on 24 August 1946. I can't imagine a more reputable information source, and as the Figure 1 adverts suggest, it would appear that Camera Taiyodo were stocking their shelves with second hand goods in the first half of 1946. 

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† "Distribution" focuses upon the goods or services offered by retailers rather than "Distributors" who are middlemen in the flow of stock from manufacturers to retailers.
‡ The  oldest Distribution Company Yearbook I am aware of is 1961, but 2003 happens to be the issue to which I had access.

 

A 2010 magazine($) published by Senshu University of Chiyoda (Figure 5) included a feature on the shop, which stated that "the company was founded in 1947". This may not completely agree with the date quoted above, but it's much closer than 1920! Chronicling a chat with the veteran staff, the magazine article reported that the store's focus in more recent times had become developing, printing and enlarging, and named a couple of former Prime Ministers who were regular customers (Ryutaro Hashimoto & Yasuo Fukuda). A forth satellite store at Terminal 1 of Narita International Airport was also mentioned. But more importantly, the column confirmed Camera Taiyodo's connection to the camera manufacturer Taiyodo Koki (stating that the factory was located behind the shop), and named the company's President as "Kunio Doi".

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I wonder if this was the same Doi after whom the1951 Beauty Flex "Doimer" lens was allegedly named, along with the 1952 Beautyflex U "Teiko" after Doi's wife (see here($)).  This 2010 Blog($) talks of contacting Taiyodo about a repair, and speaking to someone in their seventies. I wonder if it was Doi, although he would have been at least in his eighties?

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​​The Chiyoda store remained in business until 30th June 2013. The closure was immortalised by a number of Japanese Bloggers who lamented the end of an appreciated shop.​​​

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Here's a few examples of Blogs documenting the closure:

• Ani-Came! - Taiyodo, a long-established camera shop in Shimpo-cho, is closed.

• Mtntrillium - Taiyodo.

• Photography Diary - "camera taiyodo" closes.

• Stick to photos - long-established "Camera Taiyodo" closed.​

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Here's a 1971 Camera Taiyodo catalogue cover (found on eBay) which affirms the existence of Akasaka and Shijuku stores. There have been a few other "Camera Taiyodo" outlets outside of Tokyo, and some remain open today. 

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The distributor myth debunked

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I would prefer not to mention this at all (having established Camera Taiyodo was a shop), but the fiction that (Camera) Taiyodo was a distributor from early 1946 is widespread. Even the Science Museum Group($) UK have repeated the yarn (and mis-spelt distributer, but they don't appear to be interested in facts or accuracy - see correspondence).

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Allow me to interject a quick English lesson. The verb "to distribute" means to share or supply. Verbs are often turned into nouns by adding the suffix "er" (sometimes "or" or "ar"). So a "distributer" might mean someone who supplies, but in English there is no such word. There is however the noun "distributor", which has the specific meaning of an agent that supplies stock from manufacturers to retailers for onward sale to the public in their shops, thereby enabling manufacturers to sell to markets that are otherwise out of their reach. 

 

Where did this "distributor" notion come from? Tracking through the early edits of Camerapedia (the content of which was imported into the break-away Camera-wiki), it appears that the original researcher was only aware of Taiyodo Koki the manufacturer, and without the benefit of translations he could neither explain adverts for, nor the role of pre-1948 (Camera) Taiyodo. Without a shred of evidence or justification, on the 12th October 2008($) the nebulous yet correct statement "Taiyodo was already active in late 1947" was changed to read "Taiyodo was already active as a camera distributor". This was the genesis of an honest-lie (which today's custodians of sham-ra-wiki would rather defend than amend). The wiki date was latterly changed to "early 1946" on discovery of the Figure 1 advert. 

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This entirely fabricated detail has been cut & pasted by almost all who have masqueraded as knowledgeable about these cameras (which to be fair isn't a vast number of people). However, the distributor hypothesis just doesn't make sense in the aftermath of WWII.

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To quote from a Wikipedia entry, the "Bombing of Tokyo($)" was a series of bombing air raids launched by the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. Known as Operation Meetinghouse, raids conducted by the U.S. military on the night of 9–10 March 1945 were the single most destructive bombing sortie in human history. 16 square miles of central Tokyo was destroyed, leaving an estimated 100,000 civilians dead and over one million homeless. The raids were devastatingly effective because most of the city's buildings were made of wood. 

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Many Japanese cities were severely damaged by fires and bombs, the economy fell into ruins, inflation was rampant which fuelled a black-market operated by Yazuka gangs, and the people were homeless and starving for several years after the surrender (see Wikipedia Feeding the starving populace($)). 

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According to page 7 of "the Evolution of the Japanese Camera" (see Books) - "Despite the marked social despondency and scarcity of commodities in Japan just after the war, production of cameras was resumed surprisingly quickly. The reason for this was that the General Headquarters of the Occupational Forces ordered that cameras be supplied by Japan for sale to military personnel, for private use". There were some 430k American troops, 40k British Commonwealth soldiers, plus thousands of civilian contractors and their dependents stationed in Japan according to Occupation of Japan​($) - Wikipedia. With a captive market, there was no need for Distributors to find consumers. "The Evolution of the Japanese Camera" goes on to remark that while these cameras could theoretically be sold domestically, a 120% tax put the items beyond the means of most Japanese citizens ... leading to the popularity of tiny and affordable Hit-types. However, initial post-war production levels were LOW!

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Canon have a well documented history, and serve as an illustration of post-war manufacturing. Their factory escaped major damage, and they were one of the first manufacturers to resume production from October 1945. By the year end they had made three cameras, which increased to a mere 560 by November 1946 (see Canon History 1945($) and 1946($)). The point I am attempting to illustrate is that when demand exceeds supply there is no need for a distributor to exploit new markets. A more comprehensive study of who made what, and how little of it in 1946 can be found here. 

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However, let's explore this utter nonsense in a little more detail and see where it leads, because elsewhere in its pages, Camera-wacky claims that (Camera) Taiyodo was a distributor of Gelto and Semi-Gelto models made by Toa Koki. The evidence for this is two shadowy, never reproduced advertisements from 1948 (not 1946).

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The first was apparently in an April 1948 trade journal "Nihon Shashin Kogyo Tsushin", which was reproduced in a 1967 book by the Japan Photo Industry News Agency called "Ten records for every 100 issues of the Photographic Industry News". The wiki assertion that Taiyodo was a Gelto distributor, is supported by a line of quoted characters - ゲルト製品販売店 (which I assume was copied from the advert?). This actually translates as "Gelto product Dealers", or with the characters for Gelto (ゲルト) removed, it reads "Retailers". 

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The second "briefly mentions the Silver Gelto" in a May 1948 magazine for amateur photographers - Kohga Gekkan, which is similarly known through reproduction in a later journal -  Camera Collectors' News no.239. This is staggeringly flimsy grounds for claiming Taiyodo was a distributor!

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​​I have however found two very similar examples of Camera Taiyodo advertising Gelto models. One was from a December 1947 issue of Kohga Gekkan (Figure 11) detailing Planet accessories with an inset picture of a Gelto. It's been translated here. The inset reads Gelto Camera "Publisher" (発売元), and publisher has a distinct meaning in Japanese (explained in more detail here($)) which differentiates a company with the rights to use trademarks (an authorised dealer): 発売元 tells us Camera Taiyodo was an authorised dealer and therefore NOT a distributor.

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The other was for Taiyodo's first camera - the Meteor - from the May 1948 issue of Ars Camera (Figure 12), which has been translated here. It features the separate bullet-points "Gelto products" and "distributor Planet products". I'll deal with the mysterious Planet products (first seen in December 1947) in Odds & Ends to avoid tangents, but the salient point here is that the advertisement does not present Camera Taiyodo as a distributor of Gelto cameras: it depicts a shop, just as the pamphlets and advertisements in Figures 6, 7 & 8, 11 & 12, 14 & 15 portray a shop selling used Canon, Konica, Mamiya, Nikon and Gelto cameras to the people of Tokyo.

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Previous researchers (especially the Camera-icky echo chamber) have succumbed to the "illusory truth effect($)" and attempted to bend facts to make them fit a belief that Camera Taiyodo was a distributor, despite the focus and content of 1940s advertising being directed at the general public, Japan Keizai Shimbun's industry survey identifying Camera Taiyodo as a retail shop, and brushing-aside the reverberations of a six year war in which an estimated 3.1($) million Japanese people died. 

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The final nail in the coffin of Camera-wiki's Gelto distributor gibberish can be found elsewhere on the wiki, because from 17th June 1946 (and onwards), the Japanese Ministry of Finance set prices for cameras made for sale to the home market. Gelto cameras (which translates as "Gert") did not appear on this list until September 1947($), which suggests they were not in production at the time of the prior August 1947 list. Accordingly, it would have been impossible for Camera Taiyodo to have been a Gelto distributor "in early 1946". But, I guess there are also people who want to believe the Earth is flat, or Elvis faked his own death ?

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Taiyodo Koki - the manufacturer (1948 - 1957)

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Mercifully, most critics seem to agree that Camera Taiyodo developed a manufacturing arm early in 1948, which was named Taiyodo Koki Co Ltd (太陽堂光機㈱). The translation of the additional characters is a touch wibbly-wobbly because 光機㈱ translates as "Optical machinery" Co Ltd from Chinese, but in spoken Japanese it's kouki (kabu), hence Taiyodo kouki kabu adopted the initials TKK. Elsewhere (I leave you to guess where?), you'll read that TKK was an acronym for Taiyodo Koki K. K. (which proves there are three different types of people; those who can, and those who can't count!).

 

Some bloggers suggest Taiyodo Koki preceded Camera Taiyodo, but there isn't a speck of evidence to support this idea. Anyway, cameras were made from 1948 at the Kanda-Jimbocho address, since this was a large building comprising some 10 units. The first was a sub-miniature called the Meteor. Taiyodo Koki (or TKK) made a spread of cameras in different formats, but with the exception of the Meteor (and its variants), these were named using variations of “Beauty”; the Beauty Six (a 6x6 folder), Beauty 14 & Beauty 16 (subminiatures), Beauty Flex, Beautycord, Beautyflex & Beauty (6x6 TLRs), Reflex Beauty (6x6 SLR), Beauty 35 (35mm viewfinder), Beauty Super 35 & Canter Beauty (35mm rangefinders).

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Taiyodo magazine advertisements published between 1949 and 1950 were usually in two parts: one half publicising a TKK product, and the other inviting people to sell and exchange cameras at their Chiyoda shop (see Figures 10, 11 & 14). There can be no doubt that Camera Taiyodo and Taiyodo Koki were different faces of a single enterprise.

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A change of name to the Beauty Camera Company (1957 - 1963)

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In mid-1957, Taiyodo Koki changed its name to the Beauty Camera Company (ビューティカメラ㈱). It has long been my personal opinion (agreed by a few Japanese Bloggers) that Taiyodo Koki changed their company name to match that of their core product (as did Orion to Miranda, Nippon to Nikon, Seiki Kogaku Kenkyojo to Canon, Takachiho to Olympus, and Tokyo Kogaku to Topcon), thereby enhancing their appeal to Western markets (see Figure 16 - strong post-war anti-Japanese attitudes were beginning to soften).

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This view has always been dogged by page 104 of Gordon Lewis’ 1991 book "The History of the Japanese Camera($)", which says the name change was the consequence of bankruptcy occurring in September 1957, and which has been unquestioningly repeated all around the Internet. Lewis did not research and write this book - he merely edited a translation (by William and Amy Fujimura) of the aforementioned "Nihon Kamera No Rekishi", and combined its contents with a 1984 exhibition catalogue from the International Museum of Photography (at George Eastman House) called “The Evolution of the Japanese Camera($)". I have never seen page 104, but it would appear, based on Camera-wiki citations of manufacturers that became bankrupt, to comprise little more than a list.

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Bankruptcy is a lengthy procedure whose main purpose is to manage and exchange debtor's property and distribute it fairly to creditors. Plenty of Japanese companies vanished due to bankruptcy, e.g. Aires, Nicca, and Zunow, to name a few of the period. If Lewis's claim is to be believed, then Taiyodo Koki was the ONLY company to have survived the process, and completed the procedure with uncommon speed! 

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Contrary evidence to Lewis's claim comes from page 1306 of that previously mentioned heavyweight, the 2003 "Distribution Company Yearbook" (snippet view at Google Books($), click "search inside"), which says that on 21st August (1957), Taiyodo Koki was reorganized as a joint-stock company and changed to its current trade name (the Beauty Camera Company). A joint-stock company is a business in which shares of the company's stock can be bought and sold. Shareholders essentially purchase a slice of the company's profits. If that company was facing or recently bankrupt, any profits would go towards paying debts, not shareholders' dividends (what sane person would invest in a share of debts?). Taiyodo Koki's name change moment was the inverse of bankruptcy.

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Returning to Canon as a comparative example. They too reorganized as a joint-stock company($) in August 1937 - to reinvigorate their business - and simultaneously changed their name to Precision Optical Industry Co., Ltd, but no one has ever claimed Canon went bankrupt!

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Who should we believe - Nikkei (and common sense) or Lewis? It's a bit like asking whether you'd favour peak-of-condition Iron Mike Tyson or Andy Pandy (the least threatening character I could think of) to win a boxing match!

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Who would have guessed that - you know who? - would say the new company name was Beauty Camera K.K. - a counter intuitive fusion of plain English "Beauty Camera" and the oriental version of  "Optical machinery" Co Ltd". More Doo-doo! See Figure 18 & 19. 

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​​Common sense has driven my efforts to disprove the bankruptcy myth, because Taiyodo Koki appear to have been doing rather well prior to September 1957. In addition to selling their own cameras (including the rebrand Gen), Taiyodo Koki made models for Santa Monica based photographic equipment manufacturer and retailer "Miller-Outcalt", the Chicago based mail order giant "Montgomery Ward" and the "United States Camera Corporation($)", the mysterious Canadian "SCL", plus the Dutch distributer "Fodor", through which almost 99% of Japanese photographic equipment apparently entered the Netherlands (according to Barry Toogood($)).

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1957 was a pivotal time for Taiyodo Koki, as early in the year they decided to abandon TLRs, and focus on 35mm cameras, starting with the Beauty Canter. Their intentions were published in an advertisement in the 23rd March 1957 edition of "Army Times". This record can be viewed at archive.org($), (Tokyo Firm Readies New 35 For Export) or the extracted text read here. This is a very significant document, since it reveals details of the extent of Taiyodo Koki's market, manufacturing capabilities, and future product development intentions. Usually, a business in difficulties changes direction following a take-over, because the old strategy was not working. However, in this instance, the "new company" followed the path of the old, and the March 1957 plans were delivered in 1958.

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In summary the change of name to the Beauty Camera was indicative of success, and not as the result debt.

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Manufacturing beyond 1963?

 

Some Internet commentators have speculated that the Beauty Camera Company became bankrupt in 1963, but I think it is more likely that they simply couldn't keep up with competitors, and opted to revert to their origins as a shop. According to JCII records, there were 170 Japanese companies in 1954 when the JCII was established. In 1984, only 11 of those remained in business (recounted in "the Evolution of the Japanese Camera" - see Books).

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However ... withdrawal from camera production may not have been the end of the company's manufacturing enterprises? I've been in communication with Collectiblend($) site administrator "dire" who agreed to remove the groundless claim that Taiyodo was a distributor, only to replace it with the suggestion that Beauty was renamed as Denshi Koki Co., Ltd., in 1965 (電子光機株 - which translates as Electronic Optical Machinery Co., Ltd.). This fits with another unsupported assertion found on a Japanese photography Blog, which states a 35mm camera with a radio was prototyped (see "other projects" at the foot of this linked page). There is no evidence to support either claim, and I certainly would not chose this questionable detail for inclusion in a summary of the manufacturer known for actual cameras made between 1948 and 1963.