Ueda

From Camerapedia.org

Ueda Shashinki-ten (上田写真機店, meaning "Ueda Camera Shop")^[1] was a Japanese company, founded in 1901 as a camera shop in Osaka.^[2] At the beginning of the century, it was the distributor of the products of Konishi Honten in that town.^[3]

The company made and distributed some cameras in the 1910s under the "Star" brand name. It again distributed cameras on its own behalf in the late 1930s and early 1940s, but these were made by sub-contractors. For a short time in 1937–8, advertisements for the Vero Four mentioned the name Star Camera Works (スターカメラウワークス), but this was certainly a dummy name crafted for advertising purpose, the same as other names ending in Camera Works.

Contents 1 Distributed cameras 1.1 Plate film 1.2 127 film 1.3 120 film 2 Imported cameras 3 Other 4 Notes 5 Bibliography 5.1 Original documents 5.2 Recent sources 6 Links

Distributed cameras

Plate film

• Star Camera (5×8cm box)^[4]
• Moment watch camera, copy of the Ticka watch camera (c.1910)
• Star watch camera, copy of the Lancaster watch camera (1912)
• Memo Book, book-shaped detective camera^[5]
• Star Premo (8×10.5cm, 4×5in or 12×16.5cm folder)
• Star Poco (8×10.5cm folder)
• Starette, copy of the Ensignette^[6]

Vero Four F

127 film

• Comet (3×4)
• Vero Four (4×4)
• Vero Four F (4×4)
• Vesten (4×5)

Star Semi

120 film

• Star Semi I, II, III, IIIA, IIIB, V (4.5×6 folder, 1940–3)
• Semi Solon (4.5×6 folding, 1940–1)
• Starflex (6×6 TLR)

Imported cameras

Ueda imported a number of cameras, among which the Plaubel Roll-Op (written ローロップ).

Other

• Star rangefinder, sold ¥16 in 1938–9^[7]
• Star prism finder (1939), sold in 1939 at ¥3.50 for 6×6 and 4.5×6 and ¥3 for 3×4 and 4×4^[8]
• Star J tripod (1938–40)^[9]
• Star adjustable processing tank (1939)^[10]
• Star filters (1939)^[11]

Notes

1. ↑ An alternative romanization of "Ueda" is "Uyeda". It is probably a family name.
2. ↑ Date: see 戦前期の入江泰吉と光藝社.
3. ↑ See this page about the Cherry, Star and Nipper in the R. Konishi Rokuoh-sha website.
4. ↑ Sugiyama, item 1026.
5. ↑ Lewis, p.27.
6. ↑ Lewis, p.27.
7. ↑ Advertisements reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.92, and advertisement on p.24 of Nihon Shashin Kōgyō Tsūshin, December 15, 1939, reproduced on p.58 of Hyaku-gō goto jūkai no kiroku.
8. ↑ Advertisement on p.24 of Nihon Shashin Kōgyō Tsūshin, December 15, 1939, reproduced on p.58 of Hyaku-gō goto jūkai no kiroku.
9. ↑ Advertisements reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, pp.76 and 92, and advertisement on p.24 of Nihon Shashin Kōgyō Tsūshin, December 15, 1939, reproduced on p.58 of Hyaku-gō goto jūkai no kiroku.
10. ↑ Advertisement on p.24 of Nihon Shashin Kōgyō Tsūshin, December 15, 1939, reproduced on p.58 of Hyaku-gō goto jūkai no kiroku.
11. ↑ Advertisement on p.24 of Nihon Shashin Kōgyō Tsūshin, December 15, 1939, reproduced on p.58 of Hyaku-gō goto jūkai no kiroku.

Bibliography

Original documents

• Nihon Shashin Kōgyō Tsūshin (日本写真興業通信). Hyaku-gō goto jūkai no kiroku (百号ごと十回の記録, Ten records, every hundred issues). Tokyo: Nihon Shashin Kōgyō Tsūshin Sha (日本写真興業通信社), 1967. No ISBN number. Advertisement on p.58, corresponding to p.24 of the December 15, 1939 issue.
• Ueda Ginzō (上田銀蔵). Jicchi shashin-jutsu (実地写真術, Field photography). Ōsaka: Ueda Shashinki-ten (上田写真機店), June 1912. Available in electronic form at the National Diet Library.
• Ueda Teijirō (上田貞治郎). Saishin shashinki (最新写真機, Latest cameras). Ōsaka: Ueda Shashinki-ten (上田写真機店), April 1907. Available in electronic form at the National Diet Library.
• Ueda Teijirō (上田貞治郎). Shashinki to kyōgyoku (写真機と鏡玉, Cameras and lenses). Ōsaka: Ueda Shashinki-ten (上田写真機店), September 1909. Available in electronic form at the National Diet Library.
• Ueda Toranosuke (上田寅之助). Jicchi shashin-jutsu (実地写真術, Field photography). Ōsaka: Ueda Shashinki-ten (上田写真機店), July 1906. Available in electronic form at the National Diet Library.

Recent sources

• Asahi Camera (アサヒカメラ) editorial staff. Shōwa 10–40nen kōkoku ni miru kokusan kamera no rekishi (昭和10–40年広告にみる国産カメラの歴史, Japanese camera history as seen in advertisements, 1935–1965). Tokyo: Asahi Shinbunsha, 1994. ISBN 4-02-330312-7.
• Lewis, Gordon, ed. The History of the Japanese Camera. Rochester, N.Y.: George Eastman House, International Museum of Photography & Film, 1991. ISBN 0-935398-17-1 (paper), ISBN 0-935398-16-3 (hard).
• McKeown, James M. and Joan C. McKeown's Price Guide to Antique and Classic Cameras, 12th Edition, 2005-2006. USA, Centennial Photo Service, 2004. ISBN 0-931838-40-1 (hardcover). ISBN 0-931838-41-X (softcover).

Links

• Cherry, Star and Nipper in the R. Konishi Rokuoh-sha website
• Two documents available for download (.pdf format) in the website of the Urban Culture Research Centre of the University of Osaka:
  • 「上田貞治郎写真コレクション」の伝来経緯と都市記述の方法論
  • 戦前期の入江泰吉と光藝社