Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Japan; May 31, 2005 — Yamaha Corporation (president: Shuji Ito) produced its ten millionth wind instrument, a trumpet, on May 25, 2005, at its Toyooka plant in Iwata, Shizuoka. This is the first time a wind instrument maker has reached this production milestone. Yamaha manufactured its first wind instrument, also a trumpet, in 1965, and now produces an almost complete range of wind instruments for sale around the world.
It all began in 1963, when Yamaha started providing technical assistance to Nihon Kangakki Kabushikigaisha (also known as Nikkan). This company was born out of Egawa Gakki Seisakusho, a company founded in 1902 by Sentaro Egawa, the pioneer of wind-instrument manufacture in Japan. In 1965 Yamaha took over the technical department of Nikkan and later that year produced its first trumpet, the YTR-1. Yamaha’s wind instrument lineup now includes hundreds of models, including trombones, tubas, flugelhorns,French horns and other brass instruments; and flutes, piccolos, clarinets, saxophones, bassoons and other woodwind instruments.
In an industry that had relied mainly
on artisans’ experience and intuition, Yamaha
became the first to bring computers into the design
process. It set up the current Toyooka plant in
1970, as well as opening workshops and R&D
studios in places such as New York, Tokyo, Frankfurt
and Vienna. From the start, Yamaha has worked
closely with some of the world’s leading
players to guide their product development and
they now manufactures a wide range of wind instruments
designed for all levels of experience; from beginner
to world-class concert performer. Yamaha wind
instruments are now cherished by musicians in
leading orchestras around the world, and can be
found in a wide variety of ensembles from school
bands to world famous soloists in all musical
genres. The company has become the world’s
biggest maker of musical instruments, manufacturing
annually some 400,000 instruments which are distributed
in every region of the world.
Only a little over 100 years have passed since Western music was first introduced into Japan,and yet it took Yamaha a mere 40 years to manufacture its ten-millionth wind instrument. This achievement was possible thanks to Yamaha’s constant efforts to fuse tradition with technology, and its commitment not just to manufacturing and selling, but also to popularizing the benefits and joys of music making around the world.
Going forward, Yamaha will remain committed to developing and manufacturing wind instruments that satisfy all kinds of players, all around the world. Yamaha intends to express its gratitude to the millions of customers who have bought its instruments by various campaigns and events worldwide which will display the logo shown below.
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