The story of Canon begins in Tokyo in 1933. Over a beer with three friends a young doctor, Takeshi Mitarai, fell into discussion about Japan’s place in the industrialised world. While Japan had world-class industries in shipbuilding and textiles, it lacked a strong presence in precision engineering. They agreed there was a gap in the market for quality camera design and manufacturing. The four men: Takeshi Mitarai, Goro Yoshida, Saburo Uchida and Takeo Maeda proceeded to set up the Precision Optical Instruments Laboratory. .). In 1934 it produced the Kwanon, a prototype for Japan’s first-ever 35 mm camera with a focal plane based shutter. In 1947 the company name was changed to Canon Camera Co., Inc., shortened to Canon Inc. in 1969.
