Torakusu Yamaha

Torakusu Yamaha in Hamamatsu (Shizuoka Prefecture), Japan † 1916

Torakusu Yamaha was a Japanese entrepreneur who was the founder of the Yamaha Corporation. Yamaha was a watchmaker who built his first portable ree...

Torakusu Yamaha was a Japanese entrepreneur who was the founder of the Yamaha Corporation. Yamaha was a watchmaker who built his first portable reed organ in 1887. Then, he became the president of Nippon Gakki Co. which makes Yamaha motorcycles and musical instruments. The Yamaha brand trademark comes from the name of its founder Torakusu Yamaha who pioneered the production of Western musical instruments in Japan. Born to a family of a Kishu Tokugawa clansman, Torakusu was captivated by Western science and technology from early on. Fascinated by the watches that were gaining popularity in Osaka at the time, he took up watchmaking, studying business along the way. Over time, Torakusu began repairing medical equipment and was invited to visit a hospital in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture. On one occasion, the hospital asked him if he would try to repair a reed organ. He agreed and was able to repair it successfully, marking the first step toward the birth of the Yamaha brand. Recognising its business potential, while repairing the organ, Torakusu created a blueprint for the inside of the organ, later creating his own prototype organ. To deliver it to the then Music Institute, Torakusu slung his creation over his shoulder on a carrying pole and crossed the mountains of Hakone. This historic trek was later immortalised as a bas-relief. The organ, however, was criticised harshly for its poor tuning. Undaunted, and starting from zero, Torakusu began studying music theory and tuning. After four months of seemingly endless struggles from early morning to late at night, he was finally able to complete the organ. It is easy to see how he came up with the concept of the Yamaha Corporation's logo—a trio of interlocking tuning forks, inspired by the difficult experience of studying tuning while holding a tuning fork in his hand. This information is supplied by the Yamaha Corporation website.*

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torakusu_Yamaha

Torakusu Yamaha
Copyright 2016 heaven.world

Most parts of the website heaven.world are protected by copyright and exclusively belong to the provider of the website. Copyrights of third parties are reserved. Further utilization for private usage is permitted with full acknowledgement of the source. Any other utilization, in particular the complete or partial reproduction of texts, graphics and other elements in electronic or printed form, is only permitted with prior written consent from heaven.world.