Yamaha Corporation
Yamaha Corporation (ヤマハ株式会社, Yamaha Kabushiki gaisha, /ˈjæməˌhɑː/; Japanese pronunciation: [jamaha]) is a Japanese musical instrument and audio equipment manufacturer.
This article is about the music equipment manufacturer. For the mobility company that was spun off in 1955, see Yamaha Motor Company.
Native name
ヤマハ株式会社
Yamaha kabushiki gaisha
Nippon Gakki Co., Ltd. (1887–1987)
- TYO: 7951
- Nikkei 225 component
October 12, 1887
Worldwide
Takuya Nakata, President and Representative Executive Officer
28,112 (including temporary employees) (2017)[1]
It is one of the constituents of Nikkei 225 and is the world's largest musical instrument manufacturing company.[2] The former motorcycle division was established in 1955 as Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd., which started as an affiliated company but later became independent.
Nippon Gakki Co., Ltd. (日本楽器製造株式会社, Nihon Gakki Seizō Kabushiki gaisha, lit. 'Japan Musical Instrument Manufacture') was established in 1887 as a reed organ manufacturer by Torakusu Yamaha (山葉寅楠) in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture and was incorporated on 12 October 1897. In 1900, the company manufactured its first piano, the first piano to be made in Japan,[3] and its first grand piano two years later. In 1987, 100 years after the first reed organ built by Yamaha, the company was renamed Yamaha Corporation in honor of its founder.[4] The company's origins as a musical instrument manufacturer are still reflected today in the group's logo—a trio of interlocking tuning forks.[5][3]
After World War II, company president Genichi Kawakami repurposed the remains of the company's war-time production machinery and the company's expertise in metallurgical technologies to the manufacture of motorcycles. The YA-1 (AKA Akatombo, the "Red Dragonfly"), of which 125 were built in the first year of production (1954), was named in honour of the founder. It was a 125cc, single cylinder, two-stroke street bike patterned after the German DKW RT 125 (which the British munitions firm, BSA, had also copied in the post-war era and manufactured as the Bantam and Harley-Davidson as the Hummer). In 1955,[6] the success of the YA-1 resulted in the founding of Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd., splitting the motorcycle division from the company. Also, in 1954 the Yamaha Music School was founded.[3]
Yamaha has grown into the world's largest manufacturer of musical instruments (including pianos, "silent" pianos, drums, guitars, brass instruments, woodwinds, violins, violas, cellos, and vibraphones), and a leading manufacturer of semiconductors, audio/visual, computer related products, sporting goods, home appliances, specialty metals, and industrial robots.[7] Yamaha released the Yamaha CS-80 in 1977.
In 1983, Yamaha made the first commercially successful digital synthesizer, the Yamaha DX7.
In 1988, Yamaha shipped the world's first CD recorder.[8] Yamaha purchased Sequential Circuits in 1988.[9] It bought a majority stake (51%) of competitor Korg in 1987, which was bought out by Korg in 1993.[10]
In the late 1990s, Yamaha released a series of portable battery operated keyboards under the PSS and the PSR range of keyboards. The Yamaha PSS-14 and PSS-15 keyboards were upgrades to the Yamaha PSS-7 with short demo songs, short selectable phrases, and sound effects.[11]
In 2002, Yamaha closed its archery product business that was started in 1959. Six archers in five different Olympic Games won gold medals using their products.[12]
In January 2005, it acquired German audio software manufacturer Steinberg from Pinnacle Systems. In July 2007, Yamaha bought out the minority shareholding of the Kemble family in Yamaha-Kemble Music (UK) Ltd, Yamaha's UK import and musical instrument and professional audio equipment sales division. It was renamed Yamaha Music U.K. Ltd in late 2007.[13] Kemble & Co. Ltd, the UK piano sales & manufacturing arm, was unaffected.[14]
On 20 December 2007, Yamaha made an agreement with the Austrian Bank BAWAG PSK Gruppe to purchase all the shares of Bösendorfer,[15] with Yamaha intending to continue manufacturing at the Bösendorfer facilities in Austria.[16] The acquisition was announced on 28 January 2008, after the NAMM Show in Los Angeles. As of 1 February 2008, Bösendorfer Klavierfabrik GmbH operates as a subsidiary of Yamaha Corporation.[17]
Yamaha electronics have proven to be successful, popular, and respected products. For example, the Yamaha YPG-625 was awarded "Keyboard of the Year" and "Product of the Year" in 2007 from The Music and Sound Retailer magazine.[18] Other noteworthy Yamaha electronics include the SHS-10 Keytar, a consumer-priced keytar which offered MIDI output features normally found on much more expensive keyboards.
Other companies in the Yamaha Corporation group include:
Corporate mission[edit]
Kandō (感動) is a Japanese word used by Yamaha Corporation to describe its corporate mission. Kandō is the sensation of profound excitement and gratification derived from experiencing supreme quality and performance.[19] Some reasonable English equivalents are "emotionally touching" or "emotionally moving".
Yamaha Music Foundation[edit]
Yamaha Corporation is widely known for its music teaching program that began in the 1954. In a continuation of that program, the Yamaha Music Foundation was established by the authority of the Japanese Ministry of Education for the purpose of promoting music education and music popularization In 1966.[20]
Yamaha expanded into many diverse businesses and product groups. The first venture into each major category is listed below.[21]
In Japan, the company maintains three factories for musical instrument manufacture, engine and various vehicle manufacture (motorcycles and marine products), with all factories located in Shizuoka Prefecture.
