Zona de identificação
tipo de entidade
Pessoa coletiva
Forma autorizada do nome
Asahi Optical Co., Ltd.
Forma(s) paralela(s) de nome
- Asahi Pentax
- Pentax
- Asahi Kogaku Goshi Kaisha
Forma normalizada do nome de acordo com outras regras
Outra(s) forma(s) do nome
identificadores para entidades coletivas
área de descrição
datas de existência
1919-
história
The company was founded as Asahi Kogaku Goshi Kaisha in November 1919 by Kumao Kajiwara, at a shop in the Toshima suburb of Tokyo, and began producing spectacle lenses (which it still manufactures). In 1938 it changed its name to Asahi Optical Co., Ltd. (Asahi Kōgaku Kōgyō Kabushiki-gaisha), and by this time it was also manufacturing camera/cine lenses.
In the lead-up to World War II, Asahi Optical devoted much of its time to fulfilling military contracts for optical instruments. At the end of the war, Asahi Optical was disbanded by the occupying powers, being allowed to re-form in 1948. The company resumed its pre-war activities, manufacturing binoculars and consumer camera lenses for Konishiroku and Chiyoda Kōgaku Seikō (later Konica and Minolta respectively).