is a Japanese

multinational corporation A multinational company (MNC), also referred to as a multinational enterprise (MNE), a transnational enterprise (TNE), a transnational corporation (TNC), an international corporation or a stateless corporation with subtle but contrasting senses, i ...

and

conglomerate Conglomerate or conglomeration may refer to: * Conglomerate (company) * Conglomerate (geology) * Conglomerate (mathematics) In popular culture: * The Conglomerate (American group), a production crew and musical group founded by Busta Rhymes ** ...

with a very wide range of products and services. It is one of the constituents of

Nikkei 225 The Nikkei 225, or , more commonly called the ''Nikkei'' or the ''Nikkei index'' (), is a stock market index for the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE). It has been calculated daily by the '' Nihon Keizai Shimbun'' (''The Nikkei'') newspaper since 19 ...

and is the world's largest

musical instrument A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person who pl ...

manufacturing company. The former

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: Long-distance ...

division was established in 1955 as Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd., which started as an affiliated company but later became independent, although Yamaha Corporation is still a major shareholder.

History

Nippon Gakki Co. Ltd. (currently Yamaha Corporation) was established in 1887 as a reed organ manufacturer by

Torakusu Yamaha was a Japanese businessman and entrepreneur known as the founder of the Yamaha Corporation. Yamaha was the first Japanese manufacturer of the reed organ and established Nippon Gakki Co Ltd in Hamamatsu to produce organs and other musical instr ...

(山葉寅楠) in

Hamamatsu is a city located in western Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. the city had an estimated population of 791,707 in 340,591 households, making it the prefecture's largest city, and a population density of . The total area of the site was . Overview H ...

Shizuoka Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Shizuoka Prefecture has a population of 3,637,998 and has a geographic area of . Shizuoka Prefecture borders Kanagawa Prefecture to the east, Yamanashi Prefecture to the northea ...

and was incorporated on 12 October 1897. In 1900, the company started the production of

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

s. The first piano to be made in Japan was an upright built in 1900 by Torakusu Yamaha, founder of Nippon Gakki Co., Ltd. — later renamed Yamaha Corporation. The company's origins as a

manufacturer Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to ...

are still reflected today in the group's logo—a trio of interlocking tuning forks. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, 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

s. 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 A cylinder (from ) has traditionally been a three-dimensional solid, one of the most basic of curvilinear geometric shapes. In elementary geometry, it is considered a prism with a circle as its base. A cylinder may also be defined as an ...

, two-stroke street bike patterned after the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

DKW RT 125 The RT 125 was a German two-stroke motorcycle made by DKW in Zschopau in the 1930s, IFA and MZ in the 1950s and early 1960s, and DKW in Ingolstadt in the 1950s and 1960s. "RT" stands for "Reichstyp" or "National Model". In the 1930s DKW pi ...

(which the British munitions firm, BSA, had also copied in the post-war era and manufactured as the Bantam and

Harley-Davidson Harley-Davidson, Inc. (H-D, or simply Harley) is an American motorcycle manufacturer headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1903, it is one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depre ...

as the Hummer). In 1955, 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. Yamaha has grown into the world's largest manufacturer of musical instruments (including pianos, "silent" pianos,

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

s, brass instruments,

woodwind Woodwind instruments are a family of musical instruments within the greater category of wind instruments. Common examples include flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone. There are two main types of woodwind instruments: flutes and re ...

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

viola ; german: Bratsche , alt=Viola shown from the front and the side , image=Bratsche.jpg , caption= , background=string , hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow , range= , related= *Violin family ...

s, cellos, and

vibraphone The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist ...

s), and a leading manufacturer of

semiconductor A semiconductor is a material which has an electrical conductivity value falling between that of a conductor, such as copper, and an insulator, such as glass. Its resistivity falls as its temperature rises; metals behave in the opposite way ...

s, audio/visual, computer related products, sporting goods,

home appliance A home appliance, also referred to as a domestic appliance, an electric appliance or a household appliance, is a machine which assists in household functions such as cooking, cleaning and food preservation. Appliances are divided into three ...

s, specialty

metals A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typical ...

, and

industrial robot An industrial robot is a robot system used for manufacturing. Industrial robots are automated, programmable and capable of movement on three or more axes. Typical applications of robots include welding, painting, assembly, disassembly, pick ...

s. 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 In computing, an optical disc drive is a disc drive that uses laser light or electromagnetic waves within or near the visible light spectrum as part of the process of reading or writing data to or from optical discs. Some drives can only ...

. Yamaha purchased Sequential Circuits in 1988. It bought a majority stake (51%) of competitor Korg in 1987, which was bought out by Korg in 1993. Yamaha Ginza

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. In 2002, Yamaha closed its

archery Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In ...

product business that was started in 1959. Six archers in five different

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a multi ...

won gold medals using their products. 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. Kemble & Co. Ltd, the UK piano sales & manufacturing arm, was unaffected. On 20 December 2007, Yamaha made an agreement with the Austrian Bank BAWAG P.S.K. Group BAWAG to purchase all the shares of

Bösendorfer Bösendorfer (L. Bösendorfer Klavierfabrik GmbH) is an Austrian piano manufacturer and, since 2008, a wholly owned subsidiary of Yamaha Corporation. Bösendorfer is unusual in that it produces 97- and 92- key models in addition to instrum ...

, intended to take place in early 2008. Yamaha intends to continue manufacturing at the Bösendorfer facilities in Austria. The acquisition of Bösendorfer was announced after the NAMM Show in Los Angeles, on January 28, 2008. As of 1 February 2008, Bösendorfer Klavierfabrik GmbH operates as a subsidiary of Yamaha Corp. Yamaha Corporation is widely known for its music teaching programme that began in the 1950s. 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. 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: *

Klavierfabrik GmbH, Vienna, Austria. * Yamaha Fine Technologies Co., Ltd. * Yamaha Music Communications Co., Ltd. * Yamaha Pro Audio * Steinberg *

Ampeg Ampeg is a manufacturer best known for its bass amplifiers. Originally established in 1946 in Linden, New Jersey by Everett Hull and Stanley Michaels as "Michael-Hull Electronic Labs," today Ampeg is part of the Yamaha Guitar Group. Although ...

* Line 6

Corporate mission

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. Some reasonable English equivalents are "emotionally touching" or "emotionally moving".

Yamaha Music Foundation

The Yamaha Music Foundation is an organization established in 1966 by the authority of the Japanese Ministry of Education for the purpose of promoting music education and music popularization. It continued a program of music classes begun by Yamaha Corporation in 1954.

Products

Yamaha expanded into many diverse businesses and product groups. The first venture into each major category is listed below. * 1887 Reed organs *1900 Pianos * 1903 Furniture * 1914 Harmonicas * 1922 Audio equipment (crank phonograph first) * 1942 Guitars * 1955 Motorcycles – made by Yamaha Motor Company, which started as an affiliated company of Nippon Gakki (Yamaha Corporation's name at the time) but is a separate company today * 1959 Sporting goods (starting with archery) * 1959 Music schools * 1961 Metal alloys * 1965 Band instruments (trumpet first) * 1967

Drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

* 1971 Semiconductors *2000 Yamaha Music Communications (record company) * 2001 Yamaha Entertainment Group (record company) File:Yamaha piano (cropped).jpg, Yamaha Grand Piano File:YamahaKeyboard-2.jpg, Yamaha Keyboard File:Yamaha Club Custom Drumset Swirl Black - front.jpg, Yamaha Drumset File:Yamaha YAS-280 20190713a.jpg, Yamaha Saxophone File:Yamaha guitars, NAMM 2011.jpg, A collection of Yamaha Guitars File:Yamaha THR5A Acoustic Guitar Amp.jpg, Yamaha Acoustic Guitar Amp File:Mikser cyfrowy DM2000V2k firmy Yamaha.jpg, Yamaha Mixing Console File:Yamaha hifi, IFA 2018 (P1070120crop).jpg, Yamaha Hi-Fi File:Yamaha ymf744b v.jpg, Yamaha Sound Chip File:Yamaha RX-V685 20190127a.jpg, Yamaha AV Receiver File:NS 1000M.JPG, Yamaha Speakers File:DVD Player Yamaha S540.JPG, Yamaha DVD Player File:Yamaha scooters.jpg, Yamaha Aerox Scooter File:Yamaha YZF R1-silver-grey.Wilt.jpg, Yamaha YZF-R1 Superbike File:Amy Green Racing Her Yamaha FZR (5078596656).jpg, Yamaha Waverunner File:YAMAHA FX Nyutro R-TX 2008 Yamaha Communication Plaza.jpg, Yamaha Nytro Snowmobile File:2003 yamaha blaster 200cc 2013-09-14 17-31.jpg, Yamaha Blaster ATV File:Yamaha yxz1000r in the ycp.JPG, Yamaha YXZ 1000R UTV File:Yamaha Golf Cart (1).jpg, Yamaha Golf Car File:Zodiac Inflatable Boat.jpg, Yamaha Inflatable Boat File:Yamaha outboard motor f350aet.JPG, Yamaha Outboard Motor

Synthesizers and samplers

Yamaha announced the singing synthesizer

Vocaloid is a singing voice synthesizer software product. Its signal processing part was developed through a joint research project led by Kenmochi Hideki at the Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, Spain, in 2000 and was not originally intended to b ...

for the first time at the

fair

Musikmesse Musikmesse Frankfurt was an international fair regarding the music industry that took place in Frankfurt am Main, Germany from 1980 until 2019. In 2012, 68,587 visitors and 1,512 exhibitors from 51 countries were counted. Despite an exhibitor drop ...

on March 5–9, 2003. Yamaha began the sale and production of Vocaloid applications, starting with Lily which was later sold via

Internet Co., Ltd. or Internet, is a software company based in Osaka, Japan. It is best known for the music sequencer Singer Song Writer and Niconico Movie Maker for Nico Nico Douga, a video sharing website. It also develops singing synthesizers using the Vocaloid ...

's website. Their involvement continued with the VY series, with VY1 being the first, released in deluxe and standard editions on September 1, 2010. The VY series is a series designed to be a high quality product for professional musicians. The series is also designed with the intention to set a new standard for the Vocaloids for having no face, sex, or set voice, but are designed to complete any song. VY1 has a new approach to how the software handled the database of samples and improved the performance of the Vocaloid 2 engine. Yamaha announced a version of the Vocaloid 2 software for the iPhone and

iPad The iPad is a brand of iOS and iPadOS-based tablet computers that are developed by Apple Inc., Apple Inc. The iPad was conceived before the related iPhone but the iPhone was developed and released first. Speculation about the development, ...

, which exhibited at the Y2 Autumn 2010 Digital Content Expo in Japan. Later, this version of the software was released using the VY1 voice. VY2 will also be released for this version of the software.

Factory locations

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

. *Kakegawa Factory **1480, Ryoke, Kakegawa-shi, Shizuoka *Toyooka Factory **203, Matsunokijima, Iwata-shi, Shizuoka *Tenryu Factory **283, Aoyacho, Minami-ku Hamamatsu-shi, Shizuoka

Sports teams

* Yamaha Jubilo—

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

Júbilo Iwata is a professional Japanese association football team that currently play in the J2 League. The team name ''Júbilo'' means 'joy' in Spanish and Portuguese. The team's hometown is Iwata, Shizuoka prefecture and they play at Yamaha Stadium. For ...

—

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

References

External links