DAY 112

HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY

Nikon

JAPAN GETS CAMERA-READY

Nippon Kogaku Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (loosely translated as “Japan Optics”) of Tokyo was formed in 1917 when the three leading producers of optical materials (one of which had been in business since 1881) merged to form one company. Much like the German companies Leitz and Zeis, they initially produced well-regarded microscopes, telescopes, surveying equipment, and other instruments for science and industry, not cameras.

In the 1930s Nippon Kogaku Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha was producing photographic lenses for other companies, such as Canon, when the Japanese government selected them to be their largest supplier of military optics, producing binoculars, periscopes, bomb sights, and aerial lenses. It was during this time that, partially in response to demand from the Japanese navy, the company began to do more research into cameras, and they soon began to manufacture cameras for reconnaissance airplanes as well as naval vessels.

At the end of World War II, the occupation, eager to reestablish the Japanese economy, reorganized the company to make products for civilian use only. In the mid-1940s, the company decided to enter the camera market after years of supplying their products to other manufacturers. After a couple of years of development, studying, and improving upon the designs of the Leica and the Contax, they introduced their first product, the Nikon I, under the brand name Nikon, in 1948. U.S. Occupation forces discovered the high-quality products while stationed there and brought them home, eventually creating demand, popularity, and the rise of an industry giant. —DJG