Proving his product. Genichi Kawakami (right)
inspecting the Asami course with the YA-1 team.
VOLUME ISSUE DECEMBER , P145
followed rapidly, and his staff ex-
panded to include cabinetmak-
ers and other specialists.
In 1897, Torakusu Yamaha
founded the Nippon Gakki Com
-
pany (Japan Musical Instrument
Manufacturing Company), which
was soon churning out several
hundred organs per year. Toraku-
su Yamaha died in 1916, aged
65, and in 1987, Nippon Gakki
was renamed Yamaha Corpora-
European-built reed organ, which
had broken down. Although he
had no experience in this field,
he quickly diagnosed and recti
-
fied the problem. It convinced
him that the instrument was
poorly designed, and with the
help of a colleague, he set up a
small business with the aim of
producing the first Japanese-
made reed organ, followed soon
after by a second. More orders
equipment. That led to a move
to Osaka to work in the medical
equipment repair industry. To
make ends meet, he continued
with watch repairs and quickly
built a clientele for his services
in Hamamatsu, which was then
quite a small town.
By chance, word of his techni
-
cal skills reached the head of the
local primary school, who asked
him if he could fix the school's
BY JIM SCAYSBROOK | PHOTOGRAPHY JS ARCHIVES
