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==Doi in the 1940s and 1950s== {| class="plainlinks" align="right" width=250px style="text-align: center;" || [http://www.flickr.com/photos/rebollo_fr/5025392447/in/pool-camerapedia http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4112/5025392447_a83dea0567_m.jpg] |- || ''Advertisement by Doi Shōten in {{ACA}} April 1941. {{public domain Japan old}}'' |} '''Doi Shōten''' (土居商店) was already active from 1939 to 1942, as a retailer or distributor based in Osaka.<REF> Its address was Higashi-ku Zaimoku-chō (東区材木町) 10. Source: advertisement in {{ACA}} April 1941, p.509, advertisement on p.25 of {{NSKT}}, December 15, 1939, reproduced on p.59 of ''Hyaku-gō goto jūkai no kiroku'', and advertisements dated January 1941 to July 1942 reproduced in {{Kokusan}}, pp.64, 83 and 104, [http://syasinsyuu.cool.ne.jp/camera/syasinki26.jpg here] in the [http://kyoto.cool.ne.jp/syasinsyuu/index.htm Gochamaze website] and [http://www.remus.dti.ne.jp/~inasan99/camera/b_camera/automat42_l.jpg here] in [http://www.remus.dti.ne.jp/~inasan99/camera/nostalgic_camera.html Nostalgic Camera] by Toshio Inamura. </REF> By 1939, it was already selling products under the Elega brand.<REF> Advertisement on p.25 of {{NSKT}}, December 15, 1939, reproduced on p.59 of ''Hyaku-gō goto jūkai no kiroku'', and advertisement dated February 1941 reproduced in {{Kokusan}}, p.104. </REF> This perhaps means that Doi had bought the company [[Elega|Elega-sha]], known to exist in 1938, or that Elega-sha was an earlier name for Doi Shōten. From 1939 to 1942, Doi also sold a number of cameras made by [[Ricoh|Riken Kōgaku Kōgyō]]. After the war, it is said that the company was revived in 1949.<REF> The date 1949 is given as the date of foundation in the [http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%89%E3%82%A4 Japanese Wikipedia page] and in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doi_%28retailer%29 English Wikipedia page]. </REF> In 1951, Doi was distributing the [[Elegaflex]] and Elega (ヱ<!--sic-->レガ) items, from another Osaka address.<REF> Advertisement in {{ACA}} September 1951, reproduced in {{Kokusan}}, p.122. The address was Kita-ku Sonezaki-naka (北区曽根崎中) 1–32. The same address appears in the advertisement on p.5 of {{NSKT}}, January 10, 1951, reproduced on p.91 of ''Hyaku-gō goto jūkai no kiroku''. </REF> By November 1952, it had changed its name to '''Nittō Shashin Yōhin K.K.''' (日東写真用品{{kabu}}), with the same Osaka address.<REF> Advertisement dated November 1952 reproduced in {{Kokusan}}, p.123. Only the Osaka address is given for the company, with the mention "former Doi Shōten" (土居商店跡). </REF> The new name means "Japan photographic goods". By April 1953, the company had moved its main office to Tokyo and opened a branch in Fukuoka.<REF> The Tokyo address was Chūō-ku Nihonbashi Honchō (中央区日本橋本町) 1–6 and the Fukuoka address was Higashi-nakasu Sakujinmachi<!-- or Sakujinchō --> (東中州作人町) 168 in April and May 1953 and Kamioyamamachi (上小山町) 36 in July 1954. Source: advertisements dated April 1953 to July 1954 reproduced in {{Kokusan}}, p.123. </REF> Under the new name, the company continued to distribute the Elega products, including the [[Elegaflex]] 6×6 TLR, the [[Elega-35]] camera and the Elega enlarger.<REF> Advertisements dated November 1952 to July 1954 reproduced in {{Kokusan}}, p.123. </REF> It was also an authorized dealer of the [[Elbowflex]], [[Elbow Six]], [[Cosmo 35, Micronta 35 and Rolex 35|Cosmo 35]] and [[Tanack 35 to IV-S|Tanack 35]]. Some sources attribute the Elegaflex and Elega-35 to Nittō Shashin Yōhin, but it was probably not a manufacturer. Of the various addresses known for the company, the ones in Osaka and Fukuoka are of stores (営業所); the Tokyo address is much more likely that of a trading company than a manufacturer.
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