History (History of company) ｜ ASHIDA SOUND CO.,LTD.

1940's

• 1942

  Yanagawa Haruo took over ASHIDA COMPANY that was founded as the Far Eastern general agent of Magnavox in 1924 and founded Tokyo Kakuseiki Kenkyujo (Tokyo loudspeaker laboratory) as a sole proprietorship in the Shinbashi Ekimae Tsutsumi Building to start domestic production of speakers. Started manufacturing domestic speakers.

  Billboard used when founding Tokyo Kakuseiki Kenkyujo.

• 1943

  Started production of permanent speakers that large magnets were applied to and the trade name ASHIDAVOX was given. This permanent type was the predecessor of the compact speakers that were beloved after the post-war period.

  Relief having the trademark ASHIDAVOX above a lion.

  Permanent speakers using permanent magnets instead of electromagnets.

1950's

• 1950

  Reorganized into corporate organization and established ASHIDA SOUND CO., LTD. Yanagawa Haruo became a representative director and the president.

  The headquarters building at the time of the establishment of ASHIDA SOUND CO., LTD.

  Founder Yanagawa Haruo who contributed to make great progress in speakers.

• 1953

  Started domestic production and mass-production of magnetic earphones.

• 1959

  Developed the ST-1 headphones for Hi-Fi stereo and drama.

  The ST-1 became the forerunner for modern headphones.

  Factory production line in the 1950s.

• 1959

  Developed the 6P-HF1 ultra full-range Hi-Fi speakers Held a concert with 200 musicians at Korakuen Stadium.

  The 6P-HF1 uses the MR cone that was a masterpiece made of special materials and manufacturing methods.

  Symphonic music by 200 musicians was brought to 20,000 people in the audience.

• Achieved surround sound system by installing equipment at six points including first base, third base and home.

  Eight pieces of equipment were used at the concert by 200 musicians.

1960's

• 1969

  Developed high performance RUH-5 speakers for acoustic traffic signals that guide people with visual challenges at pedestrian crossings. Acoustic sound like the bird chirping heard at pedestrian crossings was developed at this time High performance horn speakers.

  Screw free design of the exterior surface allowed waterproof and rust resistant finish.

  Factory production line in 1960's.

• The headquarters building in the 1960's.

  The factory in the 1960's.

1970's

• 1973

  Established TOHOKU ASHIDA SOUND CO., LTD. in Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture and planned to expand production as the production base.

• 1974

  Delivered the RUH-12 cold resistant speakers to the Mt. Fuji weather station that requires products with reliability for severe environments. Reliability of ASHIDAVOX products was increased to manufacture safe and secure speakers for infrastructure.

  Delivered the RUH-12 cold resistant speakers to the Mt. Fuji weather station.

  The second cargo-reception building built along Yamate-Dori Avenue (1973).

• Factory production line in the 1970's.

1980's

• 1981

  Developed the MP-1 inner ear stereo headphones
  Started OEM production and supplying major domestic audio system manufacturers.

  The MP-1 using samarium cobalt magnets was the forerunner of authentic inner earphones that can be used even for home audio systems.

• 1984

  Yanagawa Yuzuru became a representative director and the president.

  Yanagawa Yuzuru who was the second President and expanded the product line-up with the motto of ‘Develop new products ahead of the needs of the times’.

• 1986

  Developed the RUK-107W railway vehicle alarm reflex horn.

  Adopted by railway companies and installed on trains operating in the Tokyo Metropolitan area.

• 1987

  Construction of the new headquarters building next to Irugi Shrine near the west exit of Osaki Station.

  The headquarters building in Osaki.

• 1989

  Released the MT-667 head set for computer terminals.

  Headset with flexible microphone.

1990's

• 1990

  Developed the ST-31 studio monitor stereo headphones.

  Achieved high sound insulation and flat sound quality and used at many recording studios.

• 1991

  Newly built the headquarters building of TOHOKU ASHIDA SOUND CO., LTD.

  The headquarters building of TOHOKU ASHIDA SOUND CO., LTD. based in Ishinomaki City.

• 1999

  Released the LP-200 tie-pin microphone.

  Products including communication equipment were widely used in many fields.

2000's

• 2000

  Developed the ST-7000NS Hi-Fi noise silencer headphones.

  Noise cancelling headphones reducing the surrounding noise and reproducing the original sound.

• 2004

  Released the JM-700 (hand type) and JM-710 (neck band type) throat microphones.

  Best choice for talking in noisy conditions.

  Many customers used them at construction sites and events.

• 2005

  ODM/OEM business started booming.

2010's

• 2013

  Joint development of the tie-pin microphone for smart phones with Japan Airlines and NTT DoCoMo.

• 2015

  Joint development of the shock mount for the SMT-01 microphone with Panasonic.

• 2015

  Yanagawa Hisashi became a representative director and the president.

  The third President
  Yanagawa Hisashi.

• 2017

  Opened ASHIDA SOUND online shop at Amazon.

• 2018

  Released the EA-HF1 canal stereo earphone.

  High quality earphones for general users developed by ASHIDA SOUND that manufactures products for professionals.

• Released the DMC-001 stereo microphone.

  Ideal for capturing sound when filming with single-lens reflex cameras and video cameras.

Future

We will keep creating sound impressing customers!