Latest news with #TamiyaInc
The Star
2 days ago
- Automotive
- The Star
Another legend calls it a day - Tamiya, the man who brought perfection to plastic race car models, dies at 90
Under the leadership of Shunsaku Tamiya, Tamiya Inc. gained worldwide popularity for producing kits that excelled in quality and historical accuracy. -- PHOTOS: TAMIYAUSA/FACEBOOK SHIZUOKA (Japan): Chairman of the Japanese plastic model kit maker Tamiya Inc., Shunsaku Tamiya, known for its radio-controlled cars and Mini 4WD models, has died, the company has announced. He was 90, Kyodo News reported. Tamiya, who died of undisclosed causes, was credited with raising the global profile of the Shizuoka-based toy maker. While the funeral was held privately by close relatives, the company plans to hold a memorial event. The Shizuoka native long served as the company's president, helping raise his hometown's standing in the plastic model industry through trade and hobby shows, according to the maker. After graduating from Waseda University in Tokyo in 1958, he joined Tamiya Shoji & Co., which was then operated by his father, Yoshio. Tamiya became president of the company in 1984 and was named chairman in 2008. For the record, Tamiya led the company that bore his family's name for more than four decades, turning it into one of the world's largest makers of build-it-yourself plastic model kits of race cars and military vehicles. Since producing its first such kit in 1960, of the Japanese World War II battleship Yamato, Tamiya Inc has become a globally known brand that also produces remote-controlled cars. Under the leadership of Tamiya, who replaced his father as the company's president, Tamiya Inc won popularity worldwide for making kits that excelled in quality and historical detail. In 1967, one of its miniature models so faithfully reproduced a Formula One racing car, down to the location of a starter battery beneath the driver's seat, that the maker of the original vehicle, Honda Motor, wondered if he had access to trade secrets but decided to let it pass. His pursuit of accuracy also once took him to the embassy of the Soviet Union in Tokyo, where he sought details about Warsaw Pact tanks. This drew the attention of Japan's public security bureau, which placed him under surveillance for a time. Tamiya was serving as the company's chair at the time of his death. According to the company, he still enjoyed standing at the entrance to an annual trade show near Tamiya's headquarters in Shizuoka, a city south of Tokyo, to watch the children come in. Although the company continues to produce model kits in Shizuoka, it also opened a factory in the Philippines in 1994. -- Agencies
Straits Times
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Straits Times
Shunsaku Tamiya, who brought perfection to plastic race car models, dies at 90
Under the leadership of Mr Shunsaku Tamiya, Tamiya Inc won popularity worldwide for making kits that excelled in quality and historical detail. TOKYO – Mr Shunsaku Tamiya transformed his father's former sawmill into a leading manufacturer of plastic model kits, with a passion for detail that once led him to buy and disassemble a Porsche to make a perfect miniature version. He died July 18 of undisclosed causes at age 90. For more than four decades, Mr Tamiya led the company that bore his family's name, turning it into one of the world's largest makers of build-it-yourself plastic model kits of race cars and military vehicles. Since producing its first such kit in 1960, of the Japanese World War II battleship Yamato, Tamiya Inc has become a globally known brand that also produces remote-controlled cars. Under the leadership of Mr Tamiya, who replaced his father as the company's president, Tamiya Inc won popularity worldwide for making kits that excelled in quality and historical detail. In 1967, one of its miniature models so faithfully reproduced a Formula One racing car, down to the location of a starter battery beneath the driver's seat, that the maker of the original vehicle, Honda Motor, wondered if he had access to trade secrets but decided to let it pass. His pursuit of accuracy also once took him to the embassy of the Soviet Union in Tokyo, where he sought details about Warsaw Pact tanks. This drew the attention of Japan's public security bureau, which placed him under surveillance for a time. Mr Tamiya was serving as the company's chair at the time of his death. According to the company, he still enjoyed standing at the entrance to an annual trade show near Tamiya's headquarters in Shizuoka, a city south of Tokyo, to watch the children come in. 'He turned our city of Shizuoka into a world center of plastic models,' Mayor Takashi Namba told reporters after learning of Mr Tamiya's death. 'He also built a global brand. I truly respected him.' Although the company continues to produce model kits in Shizuoka, it also opened a factory in the Philippines in 1994. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Almost half of planned 30,000 HDB flats in Tengah to be completed by end-2025: Chee Hong Tat Singapore Students hide vapes in underwear, toilet roll holders: S'pore schools grapple with vaping scourge Singapore 'I've tried everything': Mum helpless as son's Kpod addiction spirals out of control Singapore Black belt in taekwondo, Grade 8 in piano: S'pore teen excels despite condition that limits movements Singapore As Asean looks to nuclear energy, public education efforts are needed: UN nuclear watchdog chief Asia Thousands rally in downtown Kuala Lumpur calling for the resignation of PM Anwar Asia Death toll climbs as Thai-Cambodia clashes continue despite calls for ceasefire Born in Shizuoka on Dec 19, 1934, Mr Tamiya's lifelong passion for military vehicles began as a child during World War II, when he spotted a US B-29 bomber passing high overhead. 'It was the first time I had ever seen an enemy plane, a shining object at the end of a long white contrail in the cloudless blue sky, but I was fascinated by its leisurely flight in the stratosphere,' he told the Shizuoka Shimbun, his home city's newspaper, in 2001. 'It was a spine-chilling sight, but for a boy who loves models, it was also an exciting sight.' After the war, his father, Yoshio, founded a sawmill and lumberyard called Tamiya Shoji & Co. When Mr Shunsaku Tamiya joined after college in 1958, the family business was making simple wooden kits for building cars. With his father, Mr Tamiya led the company into the production of plastic models, then still a relatively new product. He visited the United States for the first time in 1966, when he struggled to sell kits. He was eventually able to 'overthrow America' in the kit business by offering superior quality. 'We showed we were serious about making good products,' he said in a 2003 interview with the Shizuoka Shimbun. The company, which was renamed Tamiya in 1984, also won customers because of the meticulous accuracy of its kits. Mr Tamiya visited military museums around the world to research archives and take pictures of tanks, warships and aircraft. At locations where photography wasn't allowed, he memorised the details, recording them in a notebook afterward. During the Cold War, he got his first up-close look at Soviet tanks at a museum in Israel, which had captured them from Arab countries during the Six-Day War. His company also built model kits of racing cars as well as radio-controlled cars. To make a miniature replica of a Porsche 911 that was perfect down to the shape and placement of the engine, he bought one of the expensive German sports cars. He did this 'not to drive it, but to use it as a reference,' Mr Tamiya wrote in a memoir. 'I brought the 911 into my garage and disassembled everything that could be disassembled.' He kept Tamiya Inc a family-owned business after taking over as president in 1984, four years before his father died. In 2008, he made himself chairman when his son-in-law took over as president. After the son-in-law died of an unspecified illness at the age of 59 in 2017, Mr Tamiya returned to serve as president and chairman. Last year, he named Mr Nobuhiro Tamiya, the husband of a granddaughter, to replace him as president, with the elder Tamiya once again staying on as chairman. The company did not release details of other surviving family members. NYTIMES
Tokyo Weekender
5 days ago
- Automotive
- Tokyo Weekender
Tamiya Chairman Shunsaku Tamiya Dies Aged 90
On Tuesday, Tamiya Inc. announced the passing of its chairman and former president, Shunsaku Tamiya. The man who helped turn the plastic model company into a globally recognized brand died on July 18, aged 90. A private funeral service has already been held in accordance with his wishes. The company added that it will release information about potential memorial events in the coming days. Tributes came pouring in from around the world following the announcement. Among those to pay their respects was Takashi Namba, the mayor of Shizuoka city, where Tamiya was born. 'I would like to express my deepest sadness and heartfelt condolences,' said Namba. 'He developed the company into a global brand for plastic models and was the driving force behind making Shizuoka city a 'city of models.' I truly respect him.' Remembering Shunsaku Tamiya Born in 1934, Tamiya started making model cars at a young age and was instantly hooked. 'You can't understand how excited I was to see the model I made running. I was in the fifth grade of elementary school when the war ended. I made the motor myself using dry batteries and I was so satisfied when I hooked it up and started swinging it,' said Tamiya at a Shizuoka hobby show last year. Tamiya joined the family-run business, then known as Tamiya Shoji LLC, in 1958 after graduating from Waseda University. Appointed head of the product planning division two years later, he initially focused on wooden designs, before Tamiya shifted to plastic model manufacturing. The company started to attract global attention in 1968, when it participated in the Nuremberg Toy Fair in Germany for the first time. Taking over from his father as company president in 1978, Tamiya helped turn the family business into one of the world's most well-known model kit companies. Some of Tamiya's most famous products include its first electric-powered radio control led (RC) car, the Porsche 934 Turbo model, released two years before he became president, and the and the fast Mini 4WD racers, introduced in 1982. Nobuo Tamiya, the husband of Shunsaku's granddaughter, took over as president last year. Discover Tokyo, Every Week Get the city's best stories, under-the-radar spots and exclusive invites delivered straight to your inbox. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy . Related Posts Dragon Ball Creator Akira Toriyama Passes Away at Age 68 Noriko Ohara, Voice of Doraemon's Nobita Nobi, Passes Away at 88 Princess Yuriko Dies Aged 101
