A Brief History of Akai

Beginnings

Akai was established is July 1929 as a manufacturer of radio components, sockets and other electrical parts. The company was founded by Masukichi Akai. A true cottage industry, Akai was started in a backyard shed. The workplace was so small it could hardly be called a factory and his employees were entirely from his immediate family. Masukichi had originally worked at a plant run by a large electric company in Tokyo. The plant, however, was completely destroyed in the Great Kanto Earthquake. Masukichi, reflecting that fate had taken a hand in his survival, vowed to live life to its fullest from then on. Masukichi, a highly skilled worker, went out on his own and founded what was to become Akai.

Masukichi's business expanded rapidly through the 20's and 30's. Masukichi's eldest son, Saburo, grew up in the factory, running errands after school, learning to work the presses and drills. As Saburo was finishing school, his father called him in one day for a talk. "It looks like I am going to finish my days running a small firm with only 10 or 20 people," said Masukichi, "You, too, will probably spend most of your life in overalls. And if that is how things are going to be, it's better for you to learn a skill than spend all your time reading books. The best plan is for you to do your studying at night school." Thus Saburo enrolled himself in night school at the Tokyo Institute of Technology to study electrical machinery.

This turned out to be a watershed event for as Akai grew, they expanded into the production of electrical motors due largely to Saburo's new expertise in electrical engineering. The motor Saburo eventually designed caught the attention of a company which was making 16mm film projectors. This was a time when the first 16mm movies were being made in Japan. The new business generated by the production of electrical motors allowed the father / son team to move their facilities from the backyard premises to a factory in Kamata in 1933.

Next: War, Death and the Rebirth of Akai

Copyright © 1996 by Akai Electric Co. Ltd. All rights reserved.

File last updated: May 14, 1996

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