Television History - The First 75 Years
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1960-1969 Japanese Television Sets  
(Sets sold in Japan Only)

Japanese professor Kenjiro Takayanagi began television experiments as early as 1925.  Successful demonstration of a cathode-ray (Braun) tube was achieved in 1926.  In 1939, NEC and Toshiba developed the first Japanese electronic television set.  In 1940, Japan planned to telecast the Tokyo Olympic games over a nationwide hookup, via a system of 441 scanning lines and 25 images per second.  This plan was not realized due to the onset of World-War II.  Later, research and development was continued on a small scale.

Post war Japanese television was launched in 1953, telecasting via the NTSC system of 525 scanning lines and 30 images per second.  In 1962, there were 72 government operated television stations and 64 private TV stations, bringing the total to 136 -- in a combined network, covering 80 per cent of the entire Japanese nation.

1953 Sharp TV3-14T (12K bytes) (12K) - 1953 Sharp - The first Japanese electronic post-war TV

Five commercial stations began color television broadcasts in Tokyo and Osaka, Japan, on September 10, 1960.  Japan became the third nation in the world to have color television, following the USA and Cuba.  One of the first Japanese-made color sets available was the 1960 Sharp.  The 21-inch Model CV2101 color TV cost 500,000 yen at that time. This was extremely expensive and only 1,200 units had been sold by the time color TV broadcasting started.

1960 Sharp CV2101 (16K bytes) (16K)
1960 Sharp - Model CV2101 Color TV

By 1962, there were four government operated color TV stations, and four private color TV stations.  At the end of the year 1961, there were a total of 13 million B&W and color TV sets in Japan.  Monthly TV set production at the end of the same year totaled 500,000 sets. 

Japanese TV Set Production (B&W-color) -- (68K bytes) (68K) - Chart showing 1957-1961 Japanese TV set production (B&W and color)

In 1962 Japan was manufacturing portable transistorized TV sets with 5" and 8" screens (sets using batteries), and TV sets with 8", 10", 14", 16", 17", 19" and 21" screens.

1962 Japanese TV sets (120K bytes) (120K) - TV sets for the Japanese market.  The 8" portable Sony was exported to the USA and other non-Japanese markets, in addition to being offered in Japan.

1962 Japanese TV sets (120K bytes) (120K) - Japanese family of 1962 watching television

1962 Japanese TV sets (80K bytes) (80K) - Various 14" B&W TV sets from Nippon Columbia Co., Ltd., Fuji Electric Mfg., Co., Ltd., Hayakawa Electric Co., Ltd., and Nippon Electric Co., Ltd. with stereo phonograph.

1962 Japanese TV sets (100K bytes) (100K) - Four different 16" TV sets, from Hayakawa Electric Co., Ltd., Meidensha Electric Mfg. Co., Ltd., Hitachi, Ltd., and Nippon Columbia Co., Ltd.,

1962 Japanese TV sets (120K bytes) (120K) - The following manufacturers are shown: Victor Co. of Japan, Ltd., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., Tokyo Shibaura Electric Co., Ltd., and the 21" color set from Hayakawa Electric Co., Ltd.
 

Read more Japanese TV history: NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation)

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