Canelon Toys

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Canelon Toys Logo.png
Canelon Toys
Founded: 1894[1]
Merged with: Maruzen Co. Ltd (株式会社丸善)
Headquarters:
Honjō, Saitama Prefecture, Japan (formerly: Chiyoda, Tokyo)

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Canelon Toys (株式会社キャネロン, Kabushiki Gaisha Kyaneron), currently Canelon Chemicals Co. Ltd[2] (キャネロン化工株式会社, Kyaneron Kakō Kabushiki Gaisha), a division of Maruzen Co. Ltd[3] (株式会社丸善, Kabushiki Gaisha Maruzen), is a plastic products[4] manufacturing company (plastic containers, trays, packaging and growing systems for the horticultural and food industries) and former toy manufacturer[5][6][7][8] based in Honjō, Japan.

Canelon Chemicals Co. Ltd. in Honjō, Japan (2012)

History

The history of the company can be traced back to 1894[1], when Japanese entrepeneur and pioneer of the Japanese celluloid industry Seijiro Nagamine[9][10] (永峰清次郎) who had just started production of celluloid combs, manufactured[11][12] celluloid blow ball pipes known as "Fukigami balls" (吹上玉, Fukigami Tama), the first celluloid toys in the history of Japan, produced in his workshop called Nagamine Seijiro Shoten (永峰清次郎商店, lit. Seijiro Nagamine Store).

Three years after in 1897[1], Gendō Tsuboi (坪井玄道) introduced in Japan the first table tennis ball and in the next year in 1898[1] production of table tennis balls begins at Seijiro Nagamine's workshop which had just began exporting celluloid blow ball pipes in that year, shipping fifty dozens[12] to Chongqing in China.

In 1911[1] Seijiro Nagamine invented the blow molding method of manufacturing dolls, which he patented in 1913[13][14] and in 1915 Nagamine's celluloid dolls manufactured with this method were ehxibited[15][9][10] for the first time outside Japan at the Panama–Pacific International Exposition held in San Francisco.

The demand for Japanese toys increased due to the outbreak of World War I a year before in 1914[1] and in 1918, with three large manufacturing plants in Tokyo Metropolis, located in the special wards of Chiyoda, Kōtō and Arakawa, Seijiro Nagamine changed the name of the company to Nagamine Celluloid Co. Ltd.[16][17][18] (永峰セルロイド株式会社, Nagamine Seruroido[19][20][21][22] Kabushiki Gaisha) also known as Nagamine Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. (株式会社永峰化成工業, Kabushiki Gaisha Nagamine Kasei Kogyo). Export value of celluloid toys exceeded 350 million yen in that year but after only two years in 1920[1], demand decreased substantially and orders plummeted to less than one quarter.

In 1924[1] economy recovered and both exports and domestic consumption increased and three years after in 1927 the production volume was the largest since the decline in demand four years before. This however caused a series of business difficulties with the major of them being a drop in prices.

The Japanese industry of celluloid enjoyed a decade of prosperity during the 1930s[23] with a record of billions in production and with an export value of 20 million yen in 1935[23], supplanted only by a 42 million yen export value in 1937[23].

However in 1940[23] after Europe banned imports of Japanese toys due the outbreak of World War II, the company ceased operations until 1945[23], when despite the catastrophic impact, it managed[23] to resume production at the end of the war.

On July 18, 1949[24] Nagamine Celluloid Co. Ltd. (永峰セルロイド株式会社) amalgamated Tokyo-based trading company, Nagamine Shoji Co. Ltd[25] (永峰商事株式会社[26]), adopting the name of the amalgamated company, becoming famous in the 1960s and 1970s for its line of celluloid toys and dolls and mechanical tin toys (Roly Poly, Elephant Merry-Go-Round, etc) which were sold in Japan and abroad under the brand[27][28] name "Canelon".

Sometime after, the company changed its name to Canelon Co. Ltd. (named after its well known brand of toys), producing mostly toys for babies, including several from the Miffy series of toys for children, sold by Sega Toys in Japan, like the Busy Gym.

In 2002 the company was acquired by Maruzen Co. Ltd (株式会社丸善) which had been investing capital in the company since 1989, becoming Canelon Chemicals Co. Ltd. (キャネロン化工株式会社).

Photo gallery

Old toys

External links

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 File:History of Japanese Celluloid Industry JP Part 2.pdf, page 9
  2. http://www.maruzen.net/canelon/index.html
  3. http://www.maruzen.net/index.html
  4. https://archive.fo/3PqVZ/da23d02a759ca3fc58eff4f28ce4c8f96b00fe61
  5. File:CanelonToys Box.jpg
  6. File:CanelonToys Doll.jpg
  7. File:CanelonToys Baby Toy.jpg
  8. File:CanelonToys Piano.jpg
  9. 9.0 9.1 File:Japan and Her Exhibits at the Panama-Pacific International Exhibition Book JP 1915 (by Hakurankwai Kyokwai, Tokyo).pdf, page 282
  10. 10.0 10.1 File:Japan and Her Exhibits at the Panama-Pacific International Exhibition Book JP 1915 (by Hakurankwai Kyokwai, Tokyo).pdf, page 466
  11. File:Yokohama Port and Celluloid Toys JP Research Report (by Kazuhiko Matsuo).pdf, page 6
  12. 12.0 12.1 12.2 File:Yokohama Port and Celluloid Toys JP Research Report (by Kazuhiko Matsuo).pdf, page 7
  13. 13.0 13.1 http://archive.ph/ZlFcb
  14. http://archive.fo/01xOG
  15. https://www.daicel.com/news/2017/20171130_109.html (Wayback Machine: 2020-02-15 15:00)
  16. File:Working Rules for Financial Statements and Pre-WW2 Financial Reporting of Japanese Industrial Firms 2008-03 (by Masayoshi Noguchi and Michiyasu Nakajima).pdf, page 10
  17. File:Working Rules for Financial Statements and Pre-WW2 Financial Reporting of Japanese Industrial Firms 2008-03 (by Masayoshi Noguchi and Michiyasu Nakajima).pdf, page 14
  18. File:Working Rules for Financial Statements and Pre-WW2 Financial Reporting of Japanese Industrial Firms 2008-03 (by Masayoshi Noguchi and Michiyasu Nakajima).pdf, page 25
  19. File:Production Organizations in Japanese Economic Development Book JP 2007-01-18 (by Tetsuji Okazaki).pdf, page 190
  20. File:Production Organizations in Japanese Economic Development Book JP 2007-01-18 (by Tetsuji Okazaki).pdf, page 191
  21. File:Production Organizations in Japanese Economic Development Book JP 2007-01-18 (by Tetsuji Okazaki).pdf, page 208
  22. File:Production Organizations in Japanese Economic Development Book JP 2007-01-18 (by Tetsuji Okazaki).pdf, page 210
  23. 23.0 23.1 23.2 23.3 23.4 23.5 File:History of Japanese Celluloid Industry JP Part 2.pdf, page 10
  24. File:OfficialGazetteofJapan JP 1949-09-24 (English Edition; Government Printing Agency).pdf, page 25
  25. File:Commercial Import Detentions Report 1971-1972 (United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare; Food and Drug Administration).pdf, page 379
  26. File:Canelon JP PrintAdvert.jpg
  27. File:Agriculture Environmental and Consumer Protection for Fiscal Year 1972 (United States Senate; Committee on Appropriations).pdf, page 150
  28. File:ConsumerNews US Volumes 1-3 (United States Office of Consumer Affairs).pdf, page 67
  29. https://archive.fo/2Pnz2
  30. http://archive.fo/XDDOU
  31. http://archive.fo/zo1cc