100-year history of Japan’s PENTAX

June 13, 2024

PENTAX brand story

PENTAX is one of the most well-known brands in the world's camera industry and has long been a pioneer in photographic equipment. The company continues to manufacture cameras and other photographic equipment, including the *ist D digital SLR camera, the Optio series of compact digital cameras, the MZ series of autofocus SLR film cameras, and the ESPOP series of compact film cameras. Pentax also produces other accessories such as interchangeable camera lenses and lens adapters, as well as a variety of other optics-related products, including binoculars and telescopes; medical equipment, including endoscopes and fiberscopes; and medical fine ceramic products, including Apaceram Artificial bone and artificial tooth roots. In addition, Pentax develops a number of software and information technology businesses, including text-to-speech and related applications.

Lens manufacturers in 1919

Founded in 1919 by Kumao Kajiwara in Toshima, a suburb of Tokyo, Asahi Kogaku Goshi Kaisha (Asahi Optical Co., Ltd.) began as a small eyeglass lens manufacturer. Asahi quickly earned a reputation for the quality of its lenses, in part because the company used polishing techniques more commonly used in microscopes and telescopes. Starting in 1923, Asahi expanded its business into other lens categories, such as cinema projection lenses. By the early 1930s, Asahi also began producing camera lenses, including for future Japanese photographic equipment leader Minolta from 1932, and Konica in 1933. To this end, the company built a new factory outside Tokyo in 1934.

Entering the 1930s, Asahi's production increasingly shifted to producing camera lenses on the one hand, and optical equipment such as periscopes and sights for the Japanese army on the other. However, after the military government came to power in 1937, Asahi's operations were placed under government supervision and production shifted entirely to the production of optical equipment for the military. By then, Kajiwara had died and leadership of the company was taken over by a relative, Saburo Matsumoto, who had also worked for Asahi for several years before starting a career as a printer. Matsumoto became interested in photography - even owning the first German-made single-lens reflex camera - and began planning Asahi to expand beyond the production of camera lenses into the cameras themselves. However, with Asahi production coming under military supervision, Matsumoto was forced to find new outlets for his plans. In 1938, Matsumoto bought a small factory in Tokyo and changed its name to Asahi Optical Co., Ltd. There, Matsumoto resumed production of camera lenses.

Soon after, however, production at the new factory was also diverted to support the country's military efforts. During the war, the Japanese government discouraged the development of a consumer photography market. Despite this, Asahi remained in the photography business, producing aerial photography and related photographic equipment for the military. In this way, the company was able to develop its lens production and polishing techniques during the war.

By the end of the war, Asahi's factories had been destroyed and most of the company's employees had perished. In order to pay off the company's debts and with no hope of recovering the money owed by the disbanded military government, Matsumoto sold the company's remaining equipment and inventory and got out of debt. Asahi managed to resume operations in the summer of 1946, when the company received its first orders to supply binoculars to the American occupation forces. Soon after, Pentax began to secure new lens supply and polishing contracts from American camera manufacturers.

However, Matsumoto is now determined to transform Asahi from a mere parts supplier into a full-fledged consumer goods manufacturer. Asahi's first product was a telescope, produced specifically for the total solar eclipse in the spring of 1948, a year when Pentax telescopes became ubiquitous in northern Japan. Pentax telescopes are made with tubes made of cardboard and high-quality lenses. The success of the telescope allowed Matsumoto to quickly identify himself as the mayor of telescopes and start the production of binoculars, which was a small but promising market in Japan at the time. By the end of the year, Asahi launched the popular "Jupiter" compact binoculars, which were welcomed by many consumers not only in Japan but also overseas. Jupiter's success is due in large part to the company's commitment to high quality. As part of Jupiter's design, the company worked with Nagoya University to develop a new lens coating technology that produces sharper, more durable lenses.

Photography Pioneers 1951

Matsumoto also turned his attention to developing Asahi's first camera. To this end, Matsumoto was determined to develop the company's technology rather than imitate the German camera designs that were leading the industry at the time. Matsumoto assembled a small design team and set out to create a new single-lens reflex (SLR) camera that would comply with the 35mm film standard. With no DSLR cameras available, Asahi's R&D team was forced to invent a camera from scratch. Nonetheless, by the end of 1949, the company had successfully produced a prototype camera.

By 1951, Asahi had successfully developed the finished product, called Asahiflex. The company initially tried to market its cameras directly to stores, but store owners refused to carry them. The company continued to improve the Asahiflex design and in 1952 entered into a distribution agreement with Hattori Tokeiten (the future Seiko Co., Ltd.). The camera, the first of its kind in Japan, was so popular that soon the company's production increased from 200 units per month to more than 500 units per month. Asahi continued to make improvements to the Asahiflex, such as adding a preset aperture ring in 1953, which made it easier for photographers to focus. In 1954, the company introduced its next generation Asahiflex camera. At the same time, the company began developing a new camera design, the world's first SLR camera using a pentaprism. Introduced as the Pentax in 1957, this camera put Asahi on the world camera stage.

Pentax's success was immediate, and by the mid-1960s, the company had sold more than 1 million SLR cameras. Meanwhile, Pentax has added a new innovation, Spotmatic, which measures exposure through the camera lens. Spotmatic further boosted Pentax sales, with sales exceeding 2 million units by the early 1970s.

International production: 1980-2000

At that time, Asahi had already opened its first European distribution subsidiary in Belgium in 1962. The company opened a new factory in Tochigi in 1968 and was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 1971. Two years later, Asahi opened its first overseas manufacturing plant in Hong Kong. This was followed by the opening of a factory in Taiwan in 1975 and sales and distribution subsidiaries in the United States (1976) and Canada (1978).

At the same time, Asahi had also begun to diversify its operations and entered the computer market in 1973 with the launch of its Photoplotter automatic drawing system. In the 1980s, the company diversified into the field of medical ceramics, notably in 1983 with the debut of the Apaceram artificial tooth root. In 1985, the company added another medical product, apatite, an artificial bone filler. Asahi's international markets also continued to grow, with new subsidiaries established in France in 1981 and in Switzerland, Sweden and the Netherlands in 1982. The company has also expanded sales of eyeglass lenses, launching Pentax Vision Inc. in the United States.

At the same time, Asahi remains a leading innovator in the camera market. The company's accolades include launching the world's first compact zoom lens camera in 1986 and the first autofocus SLR camera with built-in automatic flash in 1987. That same year, the company adapted its camera technology to the medical market and began producing its first electronic endoscope.

By the end of the century, Pentax began to move more production outside of Japan. Pentax reached a licensing agreement with China's Gansu Optical Instrument Industrial Company to begin producing Pentax-branded compact autofocus cameras for the Chinese market. In the same year, Asahi established its own production plant in the Mactan Export Processing Zone in the Philippines and began producing a lower-priced camera series. The company continued to open new production facilities throughout the 1990s, adding an eyeglass lens manufacturing plant in the Philippines in 1992 and a new optical equipment plant in Vietnam in 1994.

Going digital in the new century

Throughout the 1990s, Asahi continued to introduce new Pentax camera models, including the 1997 645N, the world's first medium format autofocus SLR. However, the company's commitment to film cameras would come at a heavy cost in the new century due to the persistence of the founding Matsumoto family, who determined the company's direction at the time. The arrival of the first digital camera caught the company off guard; by the early 2000s, its camera sales had dropped by half.

In 2001, the company's top design engineer, Fumio Urano, was brought in to lead the company, becoming its president, CEO and chairman. Urano led the company through a strategic transformation that not only embraced new digital formats but also determined to become a technology leader. As part of the review, Asahi changed its name to the better-known Pentax name. Pentax quickly fulfilled its promise and successfully transformed. For example, in 2003, Pentax launched the Optio series of extremely compact digital cameras. In 2004, the company launched its latest innovation, the *ist DS line of digital SLR cameras, which became the smallest and lightest interchangeable lens cameras on the market. Pentax launched a new line of low-priced digital cameras that year, and its new transformation also helped the company return to profitability.

However, the rise of a slew of new rivals, including low-price rivals from China, as well as unlikely camera makers such as printer makers HP and Epson, and appliance makers such as Panasonic, continues to put pressure on Pentax. In response, Pentax seeks to further diversify its business. For example, in 2004, the company entered the laparoscopic device market with the acquisition of US-based Microline Inc. In late 2005, the company began exporting its video endoscopy systems to global markets, and in January 2006, it acquired Voiceware Co., a maker of text-to-speech software technology.

Pentax sought to protect its corporate position and in 2005 Pentax introduced a "poison pill" defensive measure to protect itself from potential hostile takeover attempts. That same year, the company formed an alliance with South Korea's Samsung to leverage the group's vast marketing and distribution capabilities. Under this agreement, Samsung launched its own digital camera based on the Pentax*ist D format in January 2006. As a result, the Pentax name continues to be an industry pioneer in the 21st century.

Main subsidiaries

Pentax (SCHWEIZ) AG (Switzerland), Pentax (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., Pentax Benelux BV (Netherlands), Pentax Canada, Pentax USA, Pentax Cebu Philippines , Pentax Europe GmbH (Germany), Pentax Europe NV (Belgium), Pentax France Inc., Pentax Fukushima Co., Ltd., Pentax Hong Kong Co., Ltd., Pentax Imaging Corporation (USA), Pentax Industrial Instruments Co., Ltd., Pentax Medical Corporation (USA), Pentax Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd., Pentax Scandinavia AB Pentax Services Co., Ltd., Pentax North East Ltd., Pentax UK Ltd., Pentax VN Co., Ltd. (Vietnam)

main competitor

Tomoegawa Paper Co., Ltd., Canon Corporation, Fujifilm Co., Ltd., Sony Corporation of America, Ricoh Co., Ltd., Xerox Corporation, Eastman Kodak Company, Konica Minolta Holdings, Inc., Olympus Corporation, Nikon Corporation, AICA Fajihua Group, Sagem AG, Oce NV, 3M Germany GmbH

Chronology

key date

1919 Kumao Kajiwara founded Asahi Kogaku Goshi Kaisha (Asahi Optical Joint Stock Co.) to produce spectacle lenses.

Production of movie projector lenses began in 1923.

1932 Production of camera lenses begins.

1937 The military government forces the company to convert production to military use.

1938 Under the leadership of Saburo Matsumoto, the company acquired a small factory and changed its name to Asahi Optical Co., Ltd. to continue producing camera lenses.

In 1946, with the factory destroyed, Asahi resumed producing lenses for the occupying forces.

In 1948 Asahi Optical launched its first consumer product, a telescope for viewing solar eclipses in northern Japan; later, the company launched its first full-fledged consumer product, the Jupiter binoculars.

1949 Development of the first SLR camera begins.

1951 The first Asahiflex camera is released.

1957 The new "Pentax" single-lens reflex camera using a pentaprism is introduced.

1962 The company opens its first European sales subsidiary in Belgium.

1971 Asahi Optical was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

1973 The company opens its first overseas manufacturing plant in Hong Kong.

1975 Taiwan manufacturing plant established.

1976 The company establishes its first sales and distribution subsidiary in the United States.

Further expansion in Europe occurred in 1982 with the establishment of subsidiaries in Switzerland, Sweden and the Netherlands.

1983 The company launches Apaceram artificial tooth root, the first medical ceramic product.

1986 The first compact zoom camera is launched.

1990 The company establishes a manufacturing plant in the Philippines and begins licensed manufacturing in China.