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| Misuzu Shōkai and MSZ logo (1932). (Image rights) |
Misuzu Shōkai (i.e. Misuzu Trading Company) was a Japanese distributor. It was founded on June 1st, 1922 as simply Misuzu Shōkai (美篶商会) and became K.K. Misuzu Shōkai (㈱美篶商会) on May 16th, 1936.[1] It was based in Tokyo, Ginza.[2] and distributed cameras from 1936 to 1944. In 1944, it had shops in Tōkyō, Nagoya, Sapporo, Ōsaka, Kyūshū and Seoul.[3] After the war, Misuzu advertised cameras again from about 1947 to the early 1950s. It sold a number of cameras under its own brands, and it perhaps made some cameras as well: it is said that the Midget subminiature was manufactured by the company.[4]
On June 24th, 1965, it changed its name again to Misuzu Shōkai K.K. (美スズ商会㈱, abandoning the kanji character, whose reading is hard to guess).[5] The company was still in existence in 2004.
Cameras sold by Misuzu Shōkai under its own name
- Vest Alex (4×6.5, 1936–8), later sold by Riken as the Vest Olympic
- Midget (1937)
- Romax plate folder (6.5×9, 1938)
- New Midget (1939, again in 1947)
- New Midget II f/4.5 (1940)
- Andes Four (4×4, 1941)
- Semi Lead (4.5×6 folder, 1941–4)
The website of the company said that the Midget was made by Misuzu itself.
Other cameras sold by Misuzu Shōkai
As a distributor
- Well Standard and Well Super by Nihon Kōki
- Semi Leotax by Shōwa Kōgaku (prewar and wartime period)
- Baby Leotax by Shōwa Kōgaku
- Alpenflex by Hachiyō Kōgaku Kōgyō
As an authorized dealer
- Vester Klapp by Ginrei (as an authorized dealer)
- Speed Pocket by Kuribayashi (as an authorized dealer)
- Olympus Standard and Semi Olympus II by Takachiho (as an authorized dealer)
- Tsubasa Chrome, Tsubasa Spring and Tsubasa Super Semi by Kigawa (as an authorized dealer)
- Romax (6×6) (as an authorized dealer)
- Baron Six by Chūō Seiki (as an authorized dealer)
- Shinkoh Rabbit by Tougodo (Yamanashi) (as an authorized dealer)
Field and studio cameras
    
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| Advertisements by Misuzu Shōkai in Ars Camera November 1924, December 1926, February and November 1927, and in Asahi Camera March 1928. (Image rights) |
Misuzu Shōkai advertised field and studio cameras in the 1920s. The advertisement in the November 1924 issue of Ars Camera lists two different studio cameras in yotsugiri format (25.4×30.5cm). The less expensive one, at ¥250, has four standing legs and is pictured in the advertisement. The more expensive one, at ¥450, has two standing legs. The latter probably corresponds to the Misuzu studio camera model A (ミスズ写場用暗函A號) pictured in the December 1926 advertisement in Ars Camera. The February and November 1927 advertisements in the same magazine show the four-legged model again, called Misuzu model D (ミスズD號) and the Jupiter (ジュピター號) field camera. The March 1928 advertisement in Asahi Camera shows the Jupiter and the Misuzu model A.
Other advertisements
 
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| Advertisements by Misuzu Shōkai in Asahi Camera February 1930. (Image rights) |
 
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| Advertisements by Misuzu Shōkai in Asahi Camera June 1932. (Image rights) |
Notes
- ↑ Chronology of the Misuzu official website (web archive version Sep 24, 2004).
- ↑ Its address from 1939 to 1944 was Tōkyō-shi Kyōbashi-ku Ginza 8-chōme (東京市京橋区銀座八丁目). Source: advertisements reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, pp.96 and 102.
- ↑ Advertisement on the back cover of Nihon Shashin Kōgyō Tsūshin, February 15, 1944, reproduced on p.78 of Hyaku-gō goto jūkai no kiroku.
- ↑ Midget page of the Misuzu official website (web archive version Sep 24, 2004).
- ↑ Chronology of the Misuzu official website (web archive version Sep 24, 2004).
Bibliography
- Ars Camera. Advertisements by Misuzu Shōkai in November 1924, December 1926, February and November 1927. No page numbers
- Asahi Camera. Advertisements by Misuzu Shōkai in March 1928 (p.A39), February 1930 (pp.A2 and A41) and June 1932 (pp.A2 and A45).
- Asahi Camera (アサヒカメラ) editorial staff. Shōwa 10–40nen kōkoku ni miru kokusan kamera no rekishi (昭和10–40年広告にみる国産カメラの歴史, Japanese camera history as seen in advertisements, 1935–1965). Tokyo: Asahi Shinbunsha, 1994. ISBN 4-02-330312-7.
- 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.78, corresponding to the back cover of the February 15, 1944 issue.
Links
In Japanese:
- A web archive version (Sep 24, 2004) of the Misuzu Shōkai corporate site, which is now dead. There is a company presentation, with a chronology and the history of Misuzu's name, and a page presenting a Midget camera. (If the text is garbled rather than Japanese, switch the encoding to Shift-JIS.)