Yamaha Corporation

ActiveHamamatsu, Shizuoka, Japan

BiographyThe Yamaha Corporation, formally established as the Nippon Gakki Company Limited, was founded in 1887 by Torakusu Yamaha of Hamamatsu in the Shizuoka prefecture of Japan, and was officially incorporated in 1897. Although Yamaha is currently associated with a variety of products, including orchestral instruments (since 1965), harmonicas (since 1914), guitars (since 1942), motorcycles (since 1954), furniture (since 1903), home appliances, sports equipment (since 1959), industrial robots (since 1984), semiconductors (since 1971), and educational music programs (since 1959), they began primarily as a piano and reed organ manufacturer. Their origin in musical instrument production has been recognized in the company’s logo, which, since 1927, has consisted in three overlapped tuning forks; the company’s first logo, trademarked in 1898, depicted a hoo (Chinese phoenix) holding a tuning fork in its mouth. Their efforts in motorcycle design began following the Second World War with repurposed construction from war-era parts, machinery, and technology. The success of their first model, the YA-1 (dubbed the “Red Dragonfly”), led to the foundation of the Yamaha Motor Company Limited subsidiary in 1955. In addition to grand and vertical pianos, for which they are currently among the world’s leading and most respected manufacturers, Yamaha remains a highly prolific contributor in the production of numerous other musical instruments such as drum kits, acoustic and electric guitars, woodwind instruments, orchestral stringed instruments, brass instruments, and orchestral percussion instruments such as vibraphones, timpani, xylophones, and marimbas. Their contributions in the design and manufacture of electronic music instruments and related equipment are equally notable; among the most successful are electric pianos such as the CP-70, synthesizers such as the CS80, GS1, and DX7, combo organs such as the YC-45D, digital pianos such as the Disklavier, alternate MIDI controllers such as the SHS-10 keytar, as well as a series of samplers, drum machines, amplifiers, and music production and pro-audio equipment. In 1988, Yamaha acquired the name, assets, and research and development efforts of the California-based Sequential Circuits, Inc., after the company ceased operations the year prior; in what was hailed as an unprecedented gesture of good will, Yamaha’s current president, Takuya Nakata, recently returned the rights of the name to the company’s founder, Dave Smith. The company also held a majority stake in Korg, also of Japan, between 1987 and 1993. In 2007, Yamaha acquired the Bösendorfer piano manufacturer, who continues to operate as a subsidiary based out of Austria.