The web of japanese contractors

[theophile]

Although an industry major, hi-fi-wise Hitachi remained a minor and used very direct (but not necessarily true Hitachi or Lo-D T-tags.
Among other providers were Seiwa K., TNK, Taiei, TDK AI Densi, Daiichi Denki, Cherry Denshi, VKW, Shinkoh Denki, Kyoritsu and a little from TOC (= Columbia/Denon) and T. Denkai (= Columbia/Denon).
An HLK tag was used for the DA-1000 and all clones and some built for Diatone/Mitsubishi later in the 1980s (like DA-U53P). The elsewhere unseen MRK is so present throughout the 1970s and 1980s that it must've been at least a partly-owned subsidiary.
Hitachi used Sony for its Japan-only D-9000 EL deck (= Sony EL-7).

Below, the HLK tag, back of the Denon DCD-2000 clone :

 

[theophile]

NEC
Although a semi-major OEM provider for others, Nippon Electric also used the services of many for about half of its audio production which, however, never was as diverse as that of Kenwood or even Sansui.
One can find NEC components built and/or designed and/or assembled by Azden (AV-721, AV-272Pro, AVD-500), AZUMI (NSA-5200), G-DEN (AV-300, AVD-700), Atago Seisaku (A-215M, A-220), HOME DENSHI (one run of CD-10), Miyako Audio (aka Marantz, GCT-3000, AV-3000 Type III) or MJI (aka... Marantz, PCM-500). Also the 1987/88 KD-1000 DAT which was made by NiViCo (aka Victor/JVC... but not necessarily using a Victor mechanism .

NEC's own T-Tags were NEMCO, NEC and the very rare NEL ; Nippon Electric also built the Luxman PX-101 (which saw a SABA version as well because NEC was OEM'ing a lot for SABA at the time).

 

[theophile]

CEC
"Central Electric Company" was founded 1954 and remained an industry micron but a turntable OEM semi-major (Fisher/Sanyo MT-6360, Sanyo TP-L3, Yamaha PX-77, Clarion MP-3000A...) ; its CEO is Ken Ishiwata (no relation to the Marantz Ishiwata), on board since april 1971.
The corporate page says a lot and even spells those CEC built turntables for (http://www.cec-international.com/pages/s01.html) but stretches on being "the first to make turntables in Japan" and forgets to say that most of its OEM output was on the low-end of things - it's a corporate page

Tight links with Sanyo Optronics for manufacturing (FR-XL1 included) and/or distribution until 2000/2001 ; independent since then.
Very present since that move is OEM/ODM provider Carlos Candeias Engineering for the amps and d/a circuit design (and everything else). Still based in Saitama (until 2000 split between Tokyo and Saitama), but most of the production was transferred to China around 2002 (or Taiwan for the TL-2XMKII) ; sometimes acts as distributor for its own products, with or without Sanyo Optronics for the 1990s and with or without Candeias now.

Below the typical CEC tag and logo, back of a CEC BD-3000.
To be compare this with the CDK described above...

 

[theophile]

Micro
Micro very often avoided writing anything next to the T-Tag but development & manufacturing always was in-house but for some motors which were sourced from Victor, like that of the DQX/DDX-1000, and many others from Matsushita.

But for most of the motors (sourced from Panasonic), no contractors here but for three exceptions spotted so far : the DD-35 which bears an unseen-anywhere-else Akisawa Seiki tag (but a Micro tonearm of the MA-505 variant kind), the DD-26II made by Fujiya Audio (!) and the late run of the successful BL-91 which came from Denso...
All the ultra items (SX-8000, S-Z1, BL-111FV etc) never had anything next to the T-tag : all made in-house with very small runs so no need to specify "who". Very late runs before Micro went under have a red "D" added next to the T-tag and that probably denotes Denso (whoever that may have been).

The Panasonic "DAX" motors used by Micro for its own production were of course used for the Luxman turntables, as per Micro's use of the Technics SP-10 drive for its own first DD turntables (and Luxman's) in the mid 70s ; the famed RY-5500 drive also was based on the Panasonic DAX - just long-term business agreement.
Micro tonearms were of course rebadged by plenty throughout the 1970s and early 1980s but the Fidelity Research team and Micro's were close (just like Accuphase's and Sony's for CD players) so there might have been some "input" and exchanges between FR and Micro.
But for a few items (Marantz Tt-7 and SH-B19, Kyocera PL-901 /910 or Kenwood KP-07 /07M for instance), the Micro T-tag was never used on OEM items as Micro seemingly worked on development and design, before the manufacturing segment of the production process - a completely different stance than that of Fujiya Audio btw ; but the aforementioned tags prove that Micro also did manufacture entire items and therefore had at least one (big) factory able to cope with (somewhat) high-volume production...

Late in the day, after Sailor Pen put fresh cash in Micro's coffers, Micro went for big projects which, however, sold very poorly and were all based on something already existent : CD-M1 /M100 /2000X from Philips, CL-M2DC preamp from, possibly, Stax [?]. The rest never saw the light of day and Micro went under for good, in 1998, as an audio manufacturer. However, Micro still exists as a precision metal workshop... yet apparently still accepts up to two or three orders per year to manufacture SX-8000II sets !

MTC : Luxman PD444 & PD441.
MITO : MIcro TOkyo ; Luxman PD121A, last batches of the PD444/441, PD555 / VS555, PD-300.
SAITAMAMICRO : speaks for itself - the immense majority of Micro's output throughout its successful days, from c.1974 to the BL-10X timeframe by way of the DD-88 (which probably was the very end of Micro's DD engineering, along with the SH-B19).

Below the double tag (very Luxman) : MITO (manufacturer, aka MIcro TOkyo) and that of LUX (client and "distributor"

 

[theophile]

Luxman
Lux is Luxman is complexman.
Maddening industry minor with crazy multiplications and distribution systems which drove it to bankruptcy and market retreats many times - and counting.

Before dealing into T-tags, a bit of history :
Up to about 1960/61, Lux components were "Mfd. by the Lux Division of Kinsui Denki Kogyo KK, Osaka Japan", Kinsui being the picture-framing shop Lux was created within in 1925, coming up with a new name in 1926 (Lux), renaming the entire operation in 1935 (KK Kinsuido), then 1943 (Kinsui Denki KK Kogyo, or "Kinsui Electrical Engineering Corp."). Lux started flying independently in 1960/61 by becoming "Luxman".
The 1960-1974 period is the flaming one with ever growing sales, worldwide reputation - the sky's the limit.
With the opening of a USA subsidiary in 1975, however, things started to fly off the handle and Luxman spent a lot on very little, starting along the way to multiply useless lineups, projects, variants and versions - plus the opening of a recording studio in Lux's magnificent offices (like Nakamichi, like Pioneer).
By the early 1980s, despite excellent sales everywhere, like Nakamichi, or Kenwood, or Akai, finances were quite probably off and at odds anyway with a market clearly going for the smaller and cheaper and Luxman's desire to pursue ever pricier components and keeping the tubed lineups alive as well (despite the fact that the production of JP-made tubes had by 1982 stopped entirely).

Alpine, already providing k7 recorders since 1978, gradually took over between september and december 1983 ; this was advertised loudly in november '83 with many ads published throughout the USA hifi press. Already at Alpine USA since 1978, Reese Haggot († 11/2010) became the general manager of the USA Alpine/ Luxman operation until 1986.
Those three years ('83-'86) made for a sort of hiatus, during which it is evident Alpine in Japan didn't know what to do exactly with its acquisition : very old components were kept in lineups for nearly a decade (depending on markets), the LuxKit offspring was gradually killed despite good sales (but plethoric lineups) and by 1986 Lux in Japan was clearly stranded between two directions. This sort of ended, in Japan, when Lux embarked on a very expensive and ultra-high-end program which, surprisingly, made the brand's last successful era with unbelievable sales... in Japan : truly pre-bubble-burst products, they are the 06 and 07 series plus the very popular D-500X's series.

Despite many thinking that Luxman went down in quality during the Alpine ownership, it wasn't so : Lux under Alpine produced its best (like Marantz under Philips) and had marvelously excellent sales - but only in Japan. Domestic components leaning on the Alpine side said "Alpine/Luxman" on their front plates, something which would've helped the export markets clearly separate the top from the bottom... and devise different marketing and distribution channels to avoid uniting what separates an LV-111 from an L-560 or a DP-07. Such was not the case and after 1990/91, Luxman's export sales dwindled very rapidly. Lux, like others, somewhat withdrew to Japan, getting rid of the dual-name fronts along the way, re-centering definitively on high-end products, while Alpine had AZDEN build the lesser (and still exported) lineups, a contractor which finally got to make nearly all of Luxman's production and assembly, kept in constant work until 1999/2000.

Alpine kept LUX under full ownership until 1994/95 which is when Samsung (yes, Samsung from Korea) bought a majority share.
Until another semi-bankrputcy in 1997/98 (export-wise, Luxman was by then quite dead) after which the duet of owners (Samsung + Alpine) made strange business arrangements to make lower-end Luxman-tagged components in Taiwan and Korea c. 1998/2000 in hope of making easy sales with DVD players, HT receivers, 5.1 speaker sets etc [I have all the catalogs for these]. This didn't work and both Alpine and Samsung finally walked out in 2000.
A Mr Yamada stepped in and through the latter's e-Lux company (later renamed "Quants") he took over Samsung's majority share (but not full ownership) ; that's the split ownership which lasted until the 2010 IAG buyout. I was told Mr Yamada only asked one thing of the (renewed, again) Luxman management : that it didn't drive itself to bankruptcy. Luxman did (as usual) and IAG stepped up, from main Asia distributor to 100% owner.


Now for the tags :
After the 1960s "formative" years, the main tag was a non-descript LUX Corp. (either "manufactured by" or "customed by" - subtle difference) until 1974/76 and the gradual beginning of said multiplications.
There was a brief LCJ late 1970s tag (B-12, L-11, G-11 or LX38 period) quickly replaced by a simple LUX which appears and reappears everytime Luxman is sort of in between ownerships or near such changes (late 1982, mid 1990s, late 1990s).
This can be seen in the PD555 & VS555 which were MITO T-tagged (MIcro TOkyo) but the later gold limited edition of them were LUX T-tagged, like the first batches of C-05 / M-05, CL36u or LX38u, all produced just before and/or throughout/after the Alpine buyout of summer/fall 1983. The last batch of L-68A and the entire production of M-4000A, C-5000A or MB88u fall into this as well (LUX T-tag) but didn't see an Alpine run as they were discontinued before the sale.

To remain in Lux complexifications, the LUX T-tag covered parts of the LuxKit production as well (with added stickers, like on the A502 Limited) - which means, quite probably, some reshuffling of the cards and recapitalizing because LuxKit, if fully-owned, was a separate corporation of its own...

This LUX tag was however used only on top-end components, those with very limited production runs ; its first appearance was therefore added to the very common YOSII tag which covered the less expensive output (1978-1983, from the L-5 to the L-550 ; "YO" probably stands for YOkohama) ; that YOSII tag however first appeared on the L-504 (1973), L-507, SQ-505 then the L-30 and L-80 /85V, then the last batches of M-2000, circa 1977, L-309V and one run of 5C50 in '77.
Strangely, this early YOSII tag is present only with a tinytiny stickers added under the power cords. The tag (re)surfaced in full in 1978 and until the Alpine sale, this time with normal lettering on the s/n plates/stickers. Variant for the L-507 : most have YOSII stickers/tags, other have the same stickers but with "PANA" written... Panasonic ? Difficult to believe but given the early 1960s patent collaboration (on MFB) between the two, it is possible.

Although I doubt it (even if anything is possible with Luxman), Lux apparently bought a factory dedicated to tape recorders around the time of the 5K50 / K-12, perhaps from dead Dokorder (?). However, the K-12 and later 5K50(M) have a LUX-A tag and that sounds very much like Alpine. More probably a joint venture in which Alpine had the lead at 51% and above...


Throughout its long and cahotic history, Luxman also used the services of Hashimoto, T.Sound, Copal Koki, Fujiya Audio, AMCO (=Sony), Aimor, Goto D.S., Sonic, YAGI, TSDK, FEC, Yokohama B.S. (since the recent IAG buyout) and Fukusima D for the recent PD-171.
And Lux, through Alpine, also used the services of Toshiba for many of its 1984-1986 CD Players, with a very prudish and subtle "T" T-tag (which is also found, among many others, on the Kenwood L-03DP, aka Aurex/Toshiba XR-Z90).

Now for the other way around : Lux OEM'ed c. 1962/63 one of its SQ5A variants to Matsushita due to the MFB patent which it was using - it's always two-way : I give you this, you give me that

The 1972-1984 LuxKit DIY offspring always used the same T-Tags (either "manufactured by" or "customed by" - subtle difference, again) whether the components were true DIY kits or fully factory-assembled and/or kit versions of normal Luxman items or LuxKit-only releases (and every other possibility one can imagine in between).
The last dedicated LuxKit catalog was printed may 1984 ; the last catalog showing LuxKit products was printed october 1984, one year after the Alpine takeover.

And that's without mentioning the Luxman-built BIC amplifiers and receivers, the brief rebadging by Whistler of several late 60s integrated amps like the SQ507, the 1970s Luxman-derived Luxor components (Sweden), the Luxman-built small Eumig lineup, too, and the 1972-1976 L•G adventure : cheaper but beautifully designed "trendy" components which were either L•G or Lux-named depending on the (few) destination markets (apparently "TSDK" handled the manufacturing of the entire L•G sub-brand) !
And, on top of that, the 900 and 910 Kyocera components which were all designed (circuits and looks) by ex-Luxman people.
Lux is Luxman is complexman.

Many ex-Luxman people launched their own brands ; the well-known ones are Atsushi Miura (A&M / Air Tight ; see here : http://www.quinceton.com/airtight/history.htm), Junji Kimura (Sakura Systems, worked extensively on the Kyocera components), Nishimura-san (Nissha Laboratory Inc ; products made by AIMOR, a Lux sub-contractor since the late 1990s...) and Taku Hyodo (Leben).

(Those willing to know more about Luxman's can read this old TVK page : http://www.thevintageknob.org/MISCELLANEOUS/WHATWHEREWHO/whatwherewho.html)

 

[theophile]

https://web.archive.org/web/2018052...knob.org/tvk_talk/viewtopic.php?f=1503&t=2395

Marantz
Used several contractors although it had by essence many in-house providers due to the decision of Superscope to use asian manufacturing very early in the ownership.

The main T-tags were Kumamoto (a subsidiary established by SRC in 1972) and Marantz Japan (1972-1980s), both later engulfed in the non-descript MJI (Marantz Japan Inc, 1980s/90s) and MCJ (Marantz Company of Japan, 1990s/2000s) tags.
Kumamoto still exists, still a Marantz subsidiary, still in Yokohama, although it was divested from audio in 1989 to center on communication, chip insertion mounting machi eptember 2013, Kumamoto had 92 people in employ.

MJ
(Marantz Japan Inc.)
However, nothing is ever simple and while MJI started to build outside Japan for low(er)-end components such as the PM-68 (Singapore) in the mid to late 1990s and Hungary (DR450) or, earlier, in Japan for A&D (1980s DA-U530). This MJI tag is still active for items built in China (and there are more and more in the present Marantz' lineus ; CR301 for instance) or Korea for Marantz itself, for Vestax, Bose (model "AMS-DMC", in Korea), Onkyo, NEC or the AH!
MJI also served as contractor to Wadia when the latter "made" its WT3200 transport (1991 ; aka Philips CD960).

MCJ
(Marantz Company of Japan)
This works in parallel to the MCJ which is reserved for the upper end such as the PM-15S1 and SA-7S1 (2005) or the D&M since 2008 (PM-15S2 or PM8004).
On occasions, MCJ also builds (or assembles only) for others outside of the ex-Philips/Marantz galaxy but in Japan : Denon DCD-755AE (Denon and Marantz are both part of D&M holdings so this explains that), Vestax (PDX-2000), a lot for Bose (PLS-1210 /1310, SSS-1MC, 2705MX, 1200VI - among others), Teac (DV-15) and a couple of high-end others like Soul Note and its sc1.0, ph1.0 and sa1.0.

The entire Philips LHH series after 1987 and the LHH1000 is MJI or MCJ-tagged with a couple of "MJC" variants (like the PM-95) - same difference. The CD-16 ('94) for instance was an MJI, but its CD-16D version ('97) was an MCJ.


Marantz Japan also built for the BMB brand (part of the Usen Group ?) which produced some strange items in the 1980s such as the CD-W1 cd auto-player/changer, the GR-2 CD graphics decoder, a/v amps and karaoke things later on. BMB seems to have continued operation throughout the MJI/MCJ period with TEAC and Yamaha (DA-MA7000 ; DSKK) now building for it in China.
Also in the sub-brand / licensing subject, Marantz Japan (ie. D&M) operates (or licenses) mid-end chassis (6004-7004/8004 series) to an "AirBow Master" outfit which upgrades the insides slightly. Serial numbers for those units have a distinct "A" prefix accompanied by a very ugly back sticker ; otherwise visually 100% identical to the normal production items. It's like a small-foot Ishiwata but outside Marantz per se...

Tokushuseiki (80s/90s) was used for second runs of popular units (some originating from Philips in Belgium...) or dubious items such as the ED-3 (a CD-23-like dual mini-gramophone with built-in horn speaker...), ED-5 or A/V amps like the PM788AVF. Tokushuseiki, however, also built for other brands (Victor and Fostex for instance) so possibly not entirely a 100%-owned contractor.
In 1998, M&SE built in the USA the Model-66 (> http://www.hifido.co.jp/KW/G/P0/A10/E/0-10/S0/C13-75422-93609-00/) which was however only distributed in Japan (and selling very poorly) ; the same outfit was responsible for the 1995 Model 7 /8B /9 reissues.

For the classic years, Miyako Audio was very often used, as setup in 1972 by the future Marantz Japan Inc. (1975) ; Miyako however also built for Taito, Pioneer (SA-V20II), Bose as well (2705MX, 4702-II, 4702-III, 1701 and 1702 amps for instance), Sansui (D-M70W) and BMB (DA-X21).
The well-remembered Marantz period (Models 140, 1150, 1250, SD-3000 /4000 etc) very often came from Miyako, possibly all the export-only receivers as well, Model 3500/3600 included.
Miyako originally seems to have had a tape-related specialty but also made, on top of the above, the strange (and unique) GR-2 : the box able to decode the graphics that were planned to be incorporated into CDs as early as 1981, a potential option dropped rapidly by everybody but Marantz (ie. Philips) which seems to have believed in it until about 1985/86 (as noted on the front of the CD650 : "digital and graphic output" !).
This notwithstanding, the Miyako-made components basically made what Marantz called the "B Line", therefore the bulk of Marantz sales worldwide. Like Kumamoto, Miyako Marantz still exists and operates.

Below, one of the (manymany) Miyako-made Marantz, during the latter's last heyday - 1975/76 :

and... when said heydays had become not so hey, back of an SD565 :

Below, one of the very rare Micro-tagged Marantz, c. 1978/79 :

Also present were Gekko (for the Esote Ad-5 /6 only), S&R (Model 140) and the 1960s original SRC which was used up to and including the Model 1060 which was the first 100% Marantz Japan item ; the Model 1070 saw the switch from SRC to the traditional Kumamoto (Marantz' main factory in Japan) in 1972
Marantz in Japan also operated (and possibly owned) until the early 1980s the UNIX brand which mainly consisted of boomboxes such as the CRS7000 ; said boomboxes were produced through the "Marantz Japan Inc." tag, the biggest of those beasts being the SRS6000 (MJI) and CRS-5800 (Miyako) which both have a large door folding down to reveal a... turntable ! UNIX also made a copy of Sony's TPS-L2 Walkman under the name PC200. The Miyako-made UNIX often use Marantz' typical font (heavily customized Bernhard Modern).
I don't know when that outfit was shut down but it must have happened around 1983.

Around 1980/81, Marantz Japan also participated in the Sound House lineup : SH was a popular (and wealthy) distributor who custom-ordered components so as to have its own (mini-) lineup. Marantz provided the amp and tuner (the upstream SH-A20 and 6-gang SH-T10), both somewhat Esotec-related, and Micro, yes, provided the turntable (the lower-end SH-B19) - all very rare and Japan-only

 

[theophile]

Pioneer
Speaker specialist and industry minor turned major thanks to boomy car-audio and video Laserdisc - paradoxes !
Very clean and organized, stable, manufacturing and distribution with a single PNR T-tag.

However, from the list above, it is obvious Pioneer also called on many OEM/ODM makers - even Sony for the famous SK-900 "Runaway" boombox which was made at SKDK (Sony Sakura, a Sony subsidiary) or the RT-701 and RT-707 which were made at KKKG, apparently a Sony outfit.
Pioneer avoided writing anything next to its D-1000 T-tag... because it was based on the Sony chassis and mechanism of the DTC-1000ES. Now for the other way around, two Sony LDPs were made by Pioneer : the mid 1980s LDP-180 and LDP-250CD (the latter also being rebadged by Marantz, Luxman, Teac and Nad) and Sony's first standalone DVD-R/RW recorder [RDR-A1, 2001] bears a PNR tag.

More recently, there also was the Pioneer PL-990 which is a Sony PS-LX250H - but down to such bargain plastic "components", the name on the front doesn't matter : just cheap whatevers made in wherever. And since such items are not made in Japan... there's no T-tag to trace the source.
The other way around : Pioneer also built speakers for Panasonic in more recent years.

Among many other dedicated factories :
Hiwada DS (CD and Laserdisc, incl OEMs, also k7)
Niikawa DS (CD and Laserdisc, incl OEMs, also k7)
Nikawa DK (CT-F1250/F950, CD, tuners, amps like M-10X or A-D5X ; also DAT recorders for Tascam [DA-20 /20MKII])
Nikawa Giken (or "Niikawa Giken" ; CD, MD, tuners, amps)
YP Denshi (Denon, Teac LV-8000V and some Pioneer LDs like the CLD-737 or CLD-HF9G; the Teac was also PNR T-tagged - previsibly
Universal Pioneer (strange one used for the LD-1000 but it probably came from the MCA proximity for Laserdisc...)
KKDS (rare tag ; amps like SA-8800 /7900 /7000, filters)
KKKD (rare tag ; CT-9)
M.Pioneer (very rare tag ; XL-A700, PL-1250)
S.Pioneer (very rare tag ; XC-HG10, DVL-9)
TWD.Pioneer (x-rare tag ; CLD-C5G, CLD-05)

Below : the main Pioneer T-tag ("PNR") and another Pioneer made by Furukawa Denshi.
Note the "F" addd after the normal Pioneer s/n sequence.

Below : the rare "EMUSU" T-tag (or "Emusus" or "EMS AMR"), mainly found on LD players.
Strange since Pioneer was the LD provider for everybody but Sony. Probably a temporary arrangement for supplementary production-runs.
Note the "EM" addd after the normal Pioneer s/n sequence.

 

[theophile]

Aiwa
Built all on its own before being bought at 52% by Sony in 1969, the remaining 48% passing on to Sony in 2002.
Between 1969 and 2002 Aiwa remained fully independent (like Victor vs. Matsushita) even if marketing and product planning was done in direct and close relation with Sony so as to avoid overlapping lineups, products and features.

Aiwa and Sony shared some manufacturing but that was almost never reflected in their respective T-tags or, more precisely, it was reflected on Sony's components but not on Aiwa's : the Sony TA-1500 bears an "AAKK" tag (that's Aiwa KK ; silkcreened in 100% Sony way : four letters, bold font under- and above-lined) but the Aiwa original (AA-15X) doesn't.
If parts-sharing between Sony's TCD-D10 series and Aiwa's HD-X7000 series is obvious (and that's just one example), I have found so far only two Aiwa T-tags on Sony products beyond the TA-1500/AA-15X :
the TC-W30 which bears Aiwa's early 1980s staple front design and its very recognizable 1960s logo as T-tag,
the 1984 CDP-3000 broadcast CD player (but the first 600 were made by Sony AU(dio), like the entire runs of the CDS- remote and CDF- fader unit).

Aiwa also built for others outside of Sony's duet strategy : Onkyo (k7 recorders), BASF, Metz, Uher and Wega which all rebadged the "22" (My Pace) system between 1978 and 1982. Unlike the others, the Wega version was previsible since Wega was also fully owned by... Sony.

 

[theophile]

Wega
This shouldn't be here since Wega was German But since Sony bought 100% of Wega in march 1975...
Three types of lineups/components were produced :
> straight rebadges (with color schemes changed nevertheless) :
B 4610 = TC-755, V-4810 = TA-5650, Modul 301V = TA-F45, V700 = TA-F55 etc
> in-house developments (with some internal Sony parts used) :
Modul 42V is based on STR-7800SD parts, Lab Zero pre and amp are TA-E88 and TA-N88 in disguise
> in-house developments that had no equivalents at Sony :
LabZero tuner, Concept 51K.

Some of the in-house stuff was (and still is) amazing (LabZero tuner for instance), some wasn't. Design was most of the time absolute perfection (Hartmut Esslinger oblige), sometimes the transition from Sony design to Wega "identity" did well (V700, T700, Modul 301 series) and sometimes it really didn't work.
The Wega teams also designed and/or modded Sony components and speakers and tuned them for "european ears" - Sony was the first of the japanese brands to go that route. Actually it didn't "go" : it merely opened the way which others went for full-tilt with success.
It is however around video that the Wega/Sony duet was centered : audio only was a side activity with small production runs and distribution limited to Germany (mostly).
After april 1980, Sony emptied Wega of its substance, fired key executives and the brand suffered a slow death until the summer of 1982 when it was abruptly, stupidly, pointlessly, shut down.

 

[theophile]

Sony
Industry major with a million factories linked, assembled & reorganized many times.
The last reorganization, outlined in march 2000, brought an end to the mayhem with an ubiquitous "S. EMCS" T-tag which means Sony Engineering, Manufacturing and Customer Services.
The factories consolidated/united into EMCS on april 1, 2001, were :

Sony Senmaya Corp. Iwate Prefecture
Sony Nakaniida Corp. Miyagi Prefecture
Sony Kitakanto Corp. Ibaraki Prefecture
Sony Bonson Corp. Saitama Prefecture
Sony Kisarazu Corp. Chiba Prefecture
Sony Digital Products Inc. Nagano Prefecture
Sony Broadcast Products Corp. Shizuoka Prefecture
Sony Kohda Corp. Aichi Prefecture
Sony Ichinomiya Corp.Aichi Prefecture
Sony Densi Corp. Aichi Prefecture
Sony Inazawa Corp. Aichi Prefecture
Sony Mizunami Corp. Gifu Prefecture
Sony Minokamo Corp.Gifu Prefecture

With 12,000 employees, a sales revenue of 1,5 Trillon ¥ and an HQ located in Shinagawa Ku, Tokyo, this ensemble was later expanded to Sony Malaysia, or SOEM). Since then, however, actual manufacturing has dwindled to much less...

Sony started to outsource manufacturing in Korea and Taiwan around 1977 but that remained very marginal, delegated to low-low-end things only (TA-F3A,TC-U2 and below, ST-A35, ICF-9740, RT-5) : Sony always had a fairly strict rule regarding the "Made In Japan" reality and the jobs this allowed to keep "at home". However, after the mid 1980s, and mostly the early 1990s, Taiwan, Korea and China were used regularily (but still : on the side only, unlike most other brands). Below, one example of the few Sony made outside Japan :

The overwhelming majority of the Sony T-tags between c. 1966 and 1989 have a common visual structure :
the four letters (ASCO, IZDK, SOAU, SKKC, KGDS etc) are set in between two lines, one above and one below ; the font itself is a customized and bold Eurostile Extended.

Sony
(generic tag between the 1960s and 1977/78 depending on series ; used for ELcaset, amps, receivers, tuners etc. The first few hundred TA-D88 were tagged "Sony", all the later ones "ASCO". Same for the PS-X9 which went from "Sony" to "DTKK" (Sony Daitoh) after about 500 were made.
ASCO
Sony Audio Specialty COmpany, located in the Chiba prefecture ; the name of the actual plant was "Togane".
Unlike other plants, ASCO also was under direct corporate/marketing control and I'm sure some components with an ASCO tag were actually made outside Togane, elsewhere in the Sony galaxy.
As a plant, ASCO was between 1971 and 1981 dedicated to quality audio : ES, ESII, V-Fet, pre-Esprit, 1979-1980 ESPRIT, all export STR receivers. The ASCo tag is one of the few T-tags which was kept on exported (and generally high-end) components between late 1977 and 1979.
The ASCO operation was gradually merged into SOAU between 1980 and 1981, depending on lineups ; the Togane plant is still active for Sony.

Below, the "ASCo" sticker on a TA-N88 :

Below, the "ASCo" sticker on a TA-P7F :

SOAU
SOny AUdio ; audio at large between 1974 and continuing after the efficient 1980/81 reorganization by Masao Morita (a relative of Akio). Falcon, Precise, PS-2800, 1980s ES, FH-7 & PS-Q7, turntables, everything, 1981-1984 ESPRIT, CDP-R1 & DAS-R1.
The earliest SOAU T-Tags I could spot are on some PSE-2500, TTS-2400, PS-2400, ST-5090 but also the HPS-600, MJ-100K, TA-501, PS-501, PS-300 and HMK-50 (the 2400/2500/5090 should normally have been part of ASCO).
SOAU was replaced at the very end of the 1980s by the more specific Sony BP, DP, TB, Kitakanto, Nagano TT etc.

Below, the "SOAU" sticker put on the first hundred TA-E901s to cover the "ASCO" tag here denotes a c. spring 1981 transition between ASCO and SOAU :

Below, the "Sony AU" tag later in the 1980s, doing away with the 1970s tag design and conforming to the new two-letter postfix denomination (Sony AU /BP /DP /TB etc) :

S.Kitakanto
Main 1995/1999 audio plant until the S.EMCS unification.
Top-flight ES, series "1" & 5000/3000 (SCD-1, TA-E1 /N1, CDP-X5000 /X3000, TA-F5000 /F3000 etc), one (big) run of DTC-2000ES but also broadcast and studio/pro (PCM-R700, CDP-3100, CDR-W33, DPS series, MDS-B3, SRP-P50.
Below, the "Iwate TKR" and "Sony Kitakanto" tags on pro/broadcast units :

Sony DP
Digital Products ; R1 & R10, ES amps & tuners, 1000ESD & 2000ESD, CDP/TCK/STS/TAF-ESA/ESL/ESJ series.

Sony BP
Broadcast Products ; mainly the broadcast/studio gear, from the LDP-1500, PCM-7000 /E7700 series, the DSR, DV-Cam, to the Betacam /DigiBeta /DVW series. Audio-wise, the top-of-the-top flight ES/DAT/CDPs, CDP-R3 /R1a /X777ES and MUSE HIL-C1 /2 /3 LDPs [the C2 having seen a Panasonic version as LX-HD20]).

Sony Tsukuba
Sony TB or SOTB originally. The first item I could spot are the TC-357B, then the batteries for the TC-510-2 but SOTB became one of the main plants after 1979 for k7 like last run of TC-K88, TC-FX6, PCM-F1, last run of PS-FL770, PS-X555ES, ES series at large like DTC-ZA5ES or 1990s broadcast & pro like PCM-7010F /2700A, DPS-R7...

Below, the "Sony TB" tag on a TC-357B :

IZDK (TA-1120F /3130F /3140F /4300F /3200F /1130 /5650 /5550 /F45, HA-55 ; possibly the Sansui AT-15S as well [?])
M.IZUMI (probably the same as IZDK ; intermediate TA-N86 & TA-F55 runs between the original ASCO and the later SOAU, second TA-D900 run, SEH-310)

Nagano TT
ES, amps, tuners, TTS, EQs, audio at large since at least the TA-1090 and YJ-200, through the TC-K7B /K8B and up to the TA-F555ESR period.

Nagano KK
Probably a temporary outfit which I have spotted only on the ST-SA50ES, the quite cheaper version [inside] of the big ST-SA5ES.

S. Kohda or "SOKD" (main LDP plant up to the MDP-999 : consumer and pro LDPs, broadcast video ; lower-end Beta, DHR-1000)
S. Kisarazu (Beta, most of the VHS/S-VHS/miniDV/DVD and LDPs ; although now operated by the EMCS outfit, Kisarazu has become the main non-Malaysian Sony Plant.)

Taiheyo K (several ESA CDPs ; bought from Yamaha c. 1989/90 [?] to become a Sony subsidiary.)
Konishi D (last run of TA-D900, a few TA-E901 ; small Sony subsidiary.)

(no idea what scripting was blanked out by the blank sticker right of the T...)


S Nakanida (or "Nakaniida" ; luxury portable items such as the D-3000 "Celebrity" designed by Giugiaro, under the Sony Family Club Inc. marketing outfit, later renamed SME Families Inc.
Sony BN MD-7000 upped version of the D-3000, with a MiniDisc unit added and garnering a JP Good Design award ; custom order from the Sony Music Group [SMG] for its 30th birthday in 1998, still with the old CBS logo and selling like the original D-3000 extremely well.)

Sony IT (CDPs like CDP-991, TA-F510R...)
Ikari KK (last run of TA-NR1 and first run of CDP-R10 ; complete runs of the TA-ER1 + RPS-ER1, SAT-55GRX /100GRX, TA-FA3ES)

Sony Magnescale (established 1965 for production of instrumentation, magnetic, laser and measuring technologies ; the DAT-based PC204 instrumentation recorder, HDD heads etc. Apparently let go by Sony in 2010 ?)

AMCO (Sony TC-8000 /835 /7 but also Luxman [yes !] K-5 and K-8 or Columbia TRC-382 and many more ; probably integrated into ASCO in the mid 1970s.)

Sound Tec
All MM and MC XL cartridges, HA-T1, and later on all the "MU" and StudioLabo series plus the famed & outlandish (but Invisibilia) SUP drivers / SEM series in the mid 90s.
The Sound Tec Corp. was located at 3-9-17 Nishigotanda, Shinagawa-Ku in Tokyo and the man behind the Figure 8 / XL-55 series was Yoshihisa Mori, who started designing tonearms and cartridges at Grace before joining Sony, heading the Sound Tec division until c. 1986. I believe Mr Mori also participated regularly to the editorial dept. of the Sony ES Review corporate magazine (of which I own all issues).
The engineering base and manufacturing of the XL-55 /44 /33 (sans "L") was handed over JP niche manufacturer Final Audio (aka Takai Laboratory Inc.) for ultra-priced versions (in the 200k¥ range, and above) just as the XL-MC7 was rebadged (as "Carnegie One") by Mark Levinson / Madrigal at about the same time.
Sound Tec seems to have finally vanished (or been absorbed /reshuffled /etc) after the SUP / SEM adventure, c. 1996.

Below, the "Sound Tec" sticker put on the (underside of an) HA-T1 :

JOLSON
or "Jolson HJ." ; production mainly in connection with the Sony Sound Tec division ; one run of Sony HA-50, MU-A081, SRP-P152 /E311 /E1031 /P2005 /P2070.

Sound System
1970 to 1980 ; turntables only like PS-2310 /5190 /3700 /4300 /4750 > 8750 /11 /X3 > X7 /P7X /X50 /X65 /X75, TTS-8000 /6000 etc - see the image below.

Audio System
shortlived 1979 to 1981 outfit added to, then incorporated into SOAU ; Syscon353CD, PS-X45 /X700 /X800 /FL5 etc.

DTKK or Daitoh
TA-4300F, first run of TA-1150D, TC-707MC, SQD-2020, Falcon SA-20F /10F /5F speakers, main run of HA-55 ; PS-X9, TA-N86 Mk2, first runs of PS-B80, TA-D900 & TA-N901.
Early DTKK stamp on a 1970 TA-4300F (but strangely not present on the accompanying TAD-43F ; after about 200 made, the stamp was replaced by a normal DTKK sticker) :

(and after about 1500 TA-4300F were made, the DTKK sticker was replaced by an... IZDK sticker


KWDK
Main plant for pretty much everything with audio tape.
Open-reel TC-755 series, TC-765 /766-2 /510-2 /366 /5100 /6200 /7660, k7 like TC-4300SD /2350SD /K8B /K55 /K71 /K75 /K3 > K8B /K80 /K96R, first run of TC-K88... and all ELcaset : EL-7 /7B /4 plus, of course, the Lo-D / D-9000 Hitachi variant of the Sony EL-7

Daiichi TK
Sony SRP-P2025 /P300, TA-N7050, PA-A200, first run of Sony CDP-5000 [1982] last run of TA-D900... but also Hitachi EQs and timers ; probably closer to Aiwa than Sony.

THTK or TOHOKU HT [TC-2220 /3000SD /5350SD /K7 /K7II /K7BII /K40 /K55, TAS-5]

(the three first kanji signs mean "Sony" ; the following ones mean "corporation")


KWDS (TC-2800 /2890SD /2350SD /2000 /5350SD)
DDKK (TC-K4 /K5 /K61 /K55 /K555ESII /R303 /U4 /3000SD /FX4 /FX200 /FX66 /V910WR, open-reel...)
IMDK (small open-reel, TC-4805, SQA-200, SQD-2050, PS-202, STR-201 /202, MJ-300, TA-1055A)
TTKK (TA-1166, STR-100A /101 /151, PS-101 /151, HP-50, HMP-70, YJ-200 etc ; also built for NEC [NS-637])
SSCO (early turntables up to the PS-5100 timeframe ; possibly the Sansui APS-900 luxury all-in-one as well...)
Sony-Radio (TA-1700)
Sony KZ (CFD-66, CFS-88 /10 /V5)
SON (VT-X5R)
Kibo KK (all Sony electrostatic speakers [SS-R10, SA-S1, SA-MD9 & PixyPro / Compo S], SMS-1P [broadcast powered mini-monitors])
Sony Ichinomiya [MUSE decoders like MSC-3000 /4000]
Iwate TT (world receivers like ICF-6800 /6800A, Falcon TAE-20F)
Iwate TKR (1990s later incarnation of the above ; broadcast & studio gear, like CDP-D11)

KKKG Very rare tag, silkscreened in typical Sony style : Eurostile bold, above- and under-lined.
Present on the Pioneer RT-701 /707, CT-9, T-3050 and some runs of the Sony TC-6150SD /4250SD /2150SD ; either a Sony/Pioneer joint-venture or a Sony subsidiary who built some of Pioneer's most remembered (mainly export) tape products... For those wondering, Pioneer always was a speaker specialist, Sony was a tape specialist.

(Not a visual coincidence : this IS a Sony source.)

(the five kanji signs in bold font mean "Pioneer" ; the following ones mean "corporation")

The following two apparently were of the earliest factories (identified as such) which may, or not, have been reshuffled to become any of the others mentioned above and below...)
KTLN (TA-1000 /1010, TC-6360 [aka TC-366])
SSKK [TTS-3000 /A, PS-3000 /A, PS-1200]

And also, among others :
IDSK (TC-100 /100F)
MSDK (CRF-320 /320A, one run of ICF-6800)
KTSK (TC-U4, TC-K5)
TWSO [TC-K5]
KGDS [PS-100]
TKKG [PS-100A]
TMDK [PT-24], but also Yamaha DT-2B
HCKK [PS-200A]

SSCO [PS-5100]
SKKC [TC-1160]
STKK [TA-1090] ; [TA-1150] (1090 : one run ; otherwise at Nagano TT) ; (1150 : late runs, otherwise at ASCO)
SKDK [or "Sakura" ; CFS-10 /F5 /V1 /V2 /V3 /V8, CF-2400 /6600] (but also the Pioneer SK-900 "Runaway" boombox
KWSO [TC-15F /K4 /K65 /FX6C]
KFSK [TC-1265 /1270 /2600, CF-1900]
SKEI [TC-1360]
AAKK [TA-1500, aka Aiwa AA-15X ; Aiwa factory]


Below, one example separating a japanese back sticker for the PS-8750 turntable, and an export equivalent.
Only the original shows the T-Tag, here Sony's "Sound System" which was between 1970 and 1980 the outfit dedicated to turntables.
As with the PS-X9 (and other pricey components), the PS-8750's early units had a simple "Sony" tag, replaced after about 500 were made by the dedicated outfit, which is probably when the export versions got into production as well.

And one T-tag which made it outside Japan : between late 1977 and 1979, many (but not all) exported high-end items had a small ASCO sticker added.
Here my own TA-N7B ; on the other #500082 number (first prod. run with silver faceplate) the sticker was added as well.... but penciled out by Sony DE !

And one more to show the look of the 1970s Sony T-tags (under- and above-lined), here for the TC-R6, aka TC-765 outside Japan.
This is KWDK, Sony's major tape/recorder factory before the early 1980s reorganization.

There are several sub-contractors that used this exact look and font and proportions for their T-tags : "AMCO", "YTKK", "KNSK" (apparently a k7 specialist) and "KKKG" are four of them, the latter two producing for Teac, Luxman and Pioneer (and Sony of course). I can't link them directly to Sony but they were all very very probably Sony-operated ; if not owned, they must have been direct affiliates, short-lived or not and later absorbed (or not, etc).

______________________________________________________________________________



Below, the Akai

Victor / JVC
[_UNDER CONSTRUCTION_]

 

[theophile]

Yamaha
The normal Yamaha T-Tag (Nippon Gakki Co. Ltd.) is generally "generic" and may hide a couple of little white lies It was replaced after 1987 and the centennial anniversary by a simple "Yamaha Corporation".

Most came in-house but Yamaha occasionally used AZDEN for specific products (pro lineups and the A100 /100a bestsellers), many turntables from Fujiya Audio, receivers, Sony for the DTR-2 and Technics for the DTR-1 ; Taiheyo K provided a lot before its switch to Sony. Yamaha's mid 1970s top turntable, the YP-1000, used a Stax UA-7 tonearm, too (and a Technics SP-10 motor/rotor).
Yamaha is the first of the sound-centered brands to have (officially) opened its own factory outside Japan (Malaysia, '84), a factory still active today for everything left of Yamaha's audio activities. But before that, the 1981/82 "77" system of separates, for instance, was sourced from no less than four different outfits : Ikeda DK (k7), Daisen DK (eq), Taiheyo K (amp), "TN" (turntable), plus Yamaha itself for the tuner.

The following are the main in-house and in-Japan Yam' factories :
NSKK Most of Yam's audio production : CDPs from the CD-2 to the CDX-700D /10000 /2020 but also video items like SLV-1000 or CDV-90M and A/V amps like the AVC-30 and all the rest)
DSKK (HA-1>5 head-amps, CX-1, MX-1, MX-D1, AVX-100)
FUJI K (GT-2000 /2000L /2000X /1000 /750)
Fukuroi K (T-6, T-7, T-750, T-2000, TX-505, MS-5000A)
Fukai K (speakers like YST-SW1000)

 

[theophile]

Kenwood
Used like all the minors many sub-contractors for everything non-amp and non-tuner but kept non-descript "Kenwood" or "Trio" T-Tags (or Trio-Kenwood).
Late 1950s amps bore a "Kasuga Radio Co Ltd" name (with "Trio" as commercial identity) and early 1960s units like the AF-R5 amp or AF-10 receiver were T-tagged "Kasuga Musen Kogyo Co Ltd (Trio)". Jiro Kasuga really founded Trio and this explains the meanderings Kenwood went through after his departure to launch Kensonic Labs, aka Accuphase, because he took the high-end audio impetus with him.

By 1978 Kenwood was in dire financial situation (like Akai) and after 1980 many sub-contractors appeared, visibly this time and even for amps and tuners (IIDA Denshi, EMENICS, Seiko IND, OKN, MTK, Shinwa Audio, CPLK, Kyonan Seiki, Komoro...), under a gradually reshuffled Kenwood operation and the original Trio name vanishing even in Japan.
This dire financial situation is quite probably what caused the quartet of LX prototypes (1979 ; the most impressive set of prototypes ever made by anyone, ever) to remain unproduced.
It is also a paradox since Kenwood wanted to stay close to the tangible cash machine while Kasuga took on the niche market of risqué super-hifi with Accuphase ; fourty years later, Accuphase is still standing on its own, strong as ever, while Kenwood has dwindled to next to nothing even after the merger with JVC/Victor in 2007/2008.

Anyway -
Kenwood launched a Kencraft sub-brand around 1971 which offered small lineups of DIY components [including one turntable !] ; it consistantly sold very poorly and was buried c. 1976, long before Alpine killed Luxman's LuxKit - an equivalent but much more interesting (and successful) offspring than Kenwood's. I have a few Kencraft catalogs - extremely rare items.
Kenwood also asked Bertagni to design sound panels (model "50W 6045 V-2-I" wth dyn cones, not electrostats) with ultra-70s-ish front decor ; these were made in Argentina and Bertagni later on became "BES", mostly known in Japan.
Slightly after this, Trio also took a dip into record production (like Lux and Nakamichi did later on) and produced a Dee Dee Bridgewater LP record ("Afro Blue", 1974) but didn't manage to distribute it outside Japan - or produce anything else.

Throughout the 1980s, Kenwood & Toshiba apparently exchanged plenty and shared sub-contractors along the way, most visibly for turntables : the Aurex SR-P90 (T-tagged "OKN") is evidently a (beautiful) repackage of the pretty Kenwood KP-770D (T-tagged "Seiko Ind. Co.") and parts in other turntables are evidently, visibly, blatantly, shared both sides.
Kenwood also made semi-flat speakers' drivers for the Aurex SS-F07 and built/designed several components for Aurex such as the ST-V73, XR-V73, SK-V3R, PC-V51WR or SB-V8 (through the Emenics outfit for the latter). And Aurex/Toshiba made some for Kenwood in return
Six years after the SS-F07, Aurex/Toshiba made a rebadge of the Kenwood ESPACE high-quality system under the name of "SK-V730" ; the back T-tag is unequivocal : "Kenwood"

 

[theophile]

Kensonic / Accuphase
Kensonic is the only minor to have survived all others, majors included, without ever having been bought/sold and/or forced to mix with somebody else.
But for the CD & SACD drives which always came from Sony and the few MC cartridges in the late 70s and 1980s, nothing else here to note as everything was all made in-house and always has been.
After Kensonic switched names to become Accuphase (the latter was that of a series only, not a brand name), it rarely wrote anything next to the T-Tag logo but sometimes did with an "ALI" : Accuphase Laboratory Inc."

 

[theophile]

Nakamichi
Used like all the minors sub-contractors but kept only one non-descript T-Tag : Nakamichi-F (similar to the Sansui-F...).
I haven't been able to trace much from that "-F" but the OMS-50 /50II /70 /70II and OMS-30 have the Cybernet logo as T-Tag (no wonder) and the Dragon CT has that of Fujiya Audio ; several later Nak' CDPs were made by Home Denshi and the big PA-70 came from D.Sangyoo.

However, Nakamichi always had small lineups and one central specialty so this prevented wide and constant calls on OEM/ODM providers for all of what the other minors were offering (eqs, tuners, speakers, TTs etc).
But even on its own speciality, k7 recorders, the 500 and 600 recorders for instance were made by KNM (which also made the rest of the 600s as well as the 400 series) while the BX-1 and BX-125 came from T.Narita...
("KNM", however, sounds very close to NaKaMichi, just like "NKY" sounds very close to oNKYo - probably time-limited joint-ventures or participations or whatever).

 

[theophile]

Onkyo
Until 1971 a 50/50 part-ownership with Toshiba (yes , then on its own and in 2014 buying Pioneer's a/v business (and possibly more now).
Used like all the minors sub-contractors but kept only two non-descript T-Tags : FRX and ONK.
Onkyo opened fairly early on its own factory in Malaysia (like Yamaha) which probably helped outsource development and components more discreetely. Some early 1970s amps like the TA-7055 bear very obvious resemblance with Nikko semi-equivalents, too.

I haven't been able to trace much from those FRX and ONK except for a little coming from Azden (ME-50, PE-33, PE-77X) , Yagi (MA-1000, PA-300), MD (A-4400), Fujya Audio (CP-790F), Miharu DK (PE-C50), Hide Denshi (T-200, T-415), Aiwk (A-623 ; = Aiwa), Arusu (PL-33X), MJI (T-420CS ; = Marantz) and a lot from NKY (oNKYo ?).
The 2004 C-1VL 800£ CDP was made in Japan but by "GGE".

 

[theophile]

Sansui
Sad story for one of true audio greats but one should keep in my mind Sansui always remained a minor, sales-wise and industry-wise.
Therefore even minor setbacks would, and did, have profound effects on the brand's health. I know the whole story, in detail, of what happened to Sansui but... not allowed to post. Made a lot of its profit in Japan as distributor of JBL and Thorens ; once those contracts vanished... the writing was on the wall.
Used like all the minors sub-contractors aplenty but kept only two main non-descript T-Tags : Sansui-F and Sansui, the latter almost always in Kanji characters ; there also was a Sansui-S tag which I suspect was used for exterior contracting only.

Beyond some turntables, SOC, NDS, AZUMI, T.Sound, Nagano D, Kitahinon TK (SE-8II ; the first SE-8 was also built elsewhere), A. Saitama (Akai or Alpine ?), Kurume Denshi (see Teac for that one), JVC for some MD decks and a few others bits like the made-in-USA B-209 tube 200 pieces limited edition, I haven't been able to trace much but Sansui naturally used many different contractors.
Sansui built for Bose (yep : RA-8 & CDA-8) but probably through a Korean factory loop so not Sansui per se - and at that time Sansui was already way under.
___________________________________________________________________________



Imagine what jobs all of this made : engineers, product planners, developers in each of these outfits !
Of course, all of this is mostly gone, and nobody makes copper-plated diecast aluminium chassis anymore - too expensive.
Gone to China now : cheap, fast and shortlived.

The End.

 

[theophile]

That was content provided by AK member 'Axel'. All I did was cut and paste. At least we have the archive of it now, here. Thus I have finished what I started a few years ago.

Again: Thank you Axel.

 

[lini]

All I did was cut and paste.

Nevertheless thanks for doing the work.

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini

 

[Sam08861]

Thank you theophile!

 

[theophile]

Nevertheless thanks for doing the work.

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini

Thank you theophile!

You are welcome gentlemen. I did it mainly so that Axel's work could be found somewhere. I also thought that in the long term it was valuable for AK members.

I mean, if you go back to the source of all this via that archive.org page,

thevintageknob.org • View topic - The web of japanese contractors

you will see that I was the first person to congratulate Axel on this incredible posting. I meant my praise. For this to be lost and not appreciated is not accceptable to me. I am glad to have completed this as it should have a place somewhere other than the wayack machine.