Category Archives: Tamiya Company

“It’s important to make it with your own hands.” Interview with Tamiya Representative Director and Chairman Shunsaku Tamiya


The interview was held by Seiji Nakamura on May 10, 2023 at the 61st Shizuoka Hobby Show

The 61st Shizuoka Hobby Show, Japan’s largest model exhibition sponsored by the Shizuoka Model Teaching Materials Cooperative, opened on May 10th at Twin Messe Shizuoka.

The union’s customary joint press conference was held from 10 a.m. on the first day, and Shunsaku Tamiya, chairman and president of Tamiya, who serves as the chairman, answered questions from the media.

Mr. Tamiya said that the model market has actually grown due to demand from people staying at home during the coronavirus pandemic, but that the market is too small in Japan alone, so it is necessary to go global, and that overseas buyers are becoming more active. It was mentioned that the Southeast Asian market is promising. As a concrete initiative, Tamiya is currently constructing a new factory in the Philippines, which is expected to be completed in October.

In addition, in response to a question from the media about the definition of “Japan’s largest,” the company answered, “It’s not about the number, but the content.” Admission is free, elementary, middle, and high school invitation days have been set, and the Self-Defense Forces have been participating for over 10 years, making it meaningful as a public relations venue. Bushi Tamiya is still alive and well, pointing out things that he approves of and chiding him, saying, “Please study those things.” Shizuoka’s world-class model show was fully promoted. In this article, we will report on an individual interview conducted at the Tamiya booth after the press conference.

–Chairman Tamiya, please tell us about your thoughts on “models.”

Mr. Tamiya: Characters from manga and movies are now popular, but we make the models ourselves. That’s the important part. Professors at Shizuoka University are also supporting us in moving this forward. Making models in school education. I think this is a modest but important initiative.

–How do you plan to grow the model market in the future?

Mr. Tamiya: The model market is modest compared to the rapid growth of manga and movies. However, it is now slowly spreading in Japan, as well as in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. Regardless of whether or not this will become a big business in the future, I think it is important to encourage not only Shizuoka University but all universities with educational departments across the country to participate.

Children these days are increasingly being given finished products, and it is important that they make them with their own hands. There are also refugees from Ukraine in Shizuoka, and when they tried out the mini 4WD, they were thrilled to see that they were able to build it with their own hands and drive it themselves.

–I would like to ask you as the chairman of Tamiya. What are the hottest items this year?

Mr. Tamiya: It’s not a tank or a fighter plane, it’s a radio-controlled car. It’s all fun.

–That was a surprising answer.

Mr. Tamiya: Is that so? The reason train models went out of fashion in the past was because they wouldn’t run unless you pulled the rails. Radio-controlled cars can be driven remotely. This is the charm. Tamiya is the company that made electric radio-controlled cars popular in America. Until then, it had been running on dry batteries, but we sold it with a Sanyo battery that can be recharged 300 times. It sold like hotcakes at the time.

–I thought Chairman Tamiya would definitely mention tanks and fighter planes first.

Mr. Tamiya: No, no. German tanks are not popular in Germany, the home of European models. There is a history of being violated. Speaking of tanks, it’s Dr. Porsche, but Japan currently doesn’t have a leader like Dr. Porsche, so Japanese tanks are not good.

–Looking at this year’s Tamiya lineup, you can clearly sense Chairman Tamiya’s unique commitment, but to what level is Chairman Tamiya involved in the development of new products?

Mr. Tamiya: That hasn’t changed. If it’s a tank, start by going to see the actual tank.

–So you’re going to interview tank museums in places like Bovington and Saumur, right? Is Chairman Tamiya himself doing this?

Mr. Tamiya: Yes. There’s also one in Aberdeen, Maryland. Talk to the curator there and see the tank. This is important. In return, please make a donation. We’re doing that all over the world.

–There was a Tamiya Hall in Bovington.

Mr. Tamiya: I believe we donated about 30 million yen. Something like this happened at the Smithsonian Museum in the United States. The Smithsonian said, “Mr. Tamiya, your company has expanded its business in the United States and achieved success. Therefore, you are eligible to donate to the Smithsonian.” I won’t ask you to donate (lol). Because of this background, you cooperated with the Smithsonian in restoring the surface fighter Seiran, which was carried by a Japanese submarine. This is not an advertisement (lol).

–Tamiya is known for its models, but as Chairman Tamiya, are there any new objects you would like to model in the future? Or do you feel like you’ve already done everything?

Mr. Tamiya: No, no. That’s not true. Not at all yet. Check out Tamiya’s fun craft series. There you have the answer. The fun craft series is also an excellent teaching material for school education. This is not a virtual world like Nintendo. You can assemble it with your own hands and actually move it.

 This initiative has also been praised in Germany. This is because there are no similar teaching materials in Europe. In German educational settings, these kinds of teaching materials are more important than the currently popular virtual ones. This is because the teachers in the field are solid. Germany rejects the 6-3-3 system (6 years of elementary school, 3 years of junior high school, and 3 years of high school) that was imposed on the United States after the war. The history of education in my country is longer than the history of your country, so there is a sense of pride among Germanic peoples.

–What are your future goals as Tamiya chairman?

Mr. Tamiya: It’s about making the company bigger. As I mentioned briefly at the press conference, we are currently building a factory in the Philippines. It will be completed in October of this year, and will allow us to meet even more demand. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, despite the large demand, we were unable to deliver enough products to our customers due to a lack of production capacity. This will be improved. looking forward to it.

–How much will production capacity increase once the new factory in the Philippines is completed?

Mr. Tamiya: About 20%.

–Can we expect the shortage of Tamiya plastic models to be resolved?

Mr. Tamiya: To be honest, I think it’s still not enough. We would like to build a factory in Japan, but the cost will increase. My hourly wage has also increased, which makes it difficult.

–In that sense, do you have any plans to build more new factories in Southeast Asia?

Mr. Tamiya: There is a possibility. Southeast Asia is a powerful market. However, there are some unstable places such as Myanmar, so we are thinking carefully about that.

–You mentioned that you want to strengthen your overseas operations, but which regions do you want to focus on in the future?

Mr. Tamiya: China is receiving strong inquiries. However, there are some things that I don’t know about China. It’s not a democratic country. We don’t have any branch offices in China yet, only distributors. We also had an agency in Russia, but it is no longer active.

–What is the situation in Ukraine?

Mr. Tamiya: Just like in Russia, business is difficult. However, it seems that some enthusiastic model-related people are coming to Shizuoka on a private basis.

–The Ukrainian-spec Leopard 2 was a timely product.

Mr. Tamiya: Well, that was a direct request from the Leopard company. Thanks to you, 6,000 units were sold instantly. There is a shortage of products.

–I’m looking forward to the “Ukrainian specification series” such as Challenger 2 and Abrams in the future.

Mr. Tamiya: I think you can look forward to that. Rather, what I think is that each tank has a different fuel. The engines are different, and the bullets are similar, but there are some differences. The cartridges are also different. I’m worried about whether I can fight with that.

–It’s sad that the Japanese Type 10 tank is not included in that tank alliance.

Mr. Tamiya: No, no. Japan’s Type 10 is completely useless. That is a tank from a country that does not wage war. Not bulletproof enough. You can’t actually fight.

–Please give a message to model fans.

Mr. Tamiya: Tamiya’s models are of the highest quality in the world. Unfortunately, we have not had enough supply capacity so far, but we are currently building a factory, so once it is completed, we will be able to deliver our products to everyone. Please look forward to our supply capacity. Nowadays, there are many distributors coming from overseas, but the ones that have become Tamiya distributors are all developing. Coexistence and co-prosperity; it is no good for us to become big on our own. Some of our agencies have been with us for over 50 years. I turned 88 years old last December, but I’m really enjoying myself now.

–After hearing your story, I realized that you are not thinking about retirement at all (lol).

Mr. Tamiya: Active throughout his life. I’m not retiring. Because if I don’t work, I don’t get paid (lol). There’s nothing wrong with my body. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with my head, and I don’t think I’m stupid either (lol). 88 is still a passing point. I will do my best. Thank you for your continued support of Tamiya.

–thank you very much.
Source of article in Japanese language: Hobby Watch

Tamiya donated 1,500 plastic model kits, etc. to Shizuoka City


A presentation ceremony in which 1,500 plastic model kits and other items will be donated to Shizuoka City by member companies of the Shizuoka Model Educational Materials Cooperative Association and the Shizuoka Branch of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone West will be held on February 16, 2024 in the lobby of Tamiya Co., Ltd.’s headquarters in Shizuoka City. I got it. Last year, NTT West Shizuoka Branch took the lead in a fundraising campaign to support town development using plastic models.This time, with the cooperation of Shizuoka Model and Teaching Materials Cooperative Association member companies, the donations were turned into plastic model kits and sent to Shizuoka City. It was donated. The gifts will be used for things such as manufacturing education experience kits for elementary school students in the city and Hobby Show downtown tour programs.

[Donator]
Chairman of Shizuoka Model Teaching Materials Cooperative Association
Tamiya Co., Ltd. Representative Director and President Shunsaku Tamiya Director Aoshima
Bunka Kyozai Co., Ltd. Representative Director and Chairman Norio Aoshima Director
Hasegawa Co., Ltd. President and Representative Director Katsuto Hasegawa
Director Aoshima Bunka Co., Ltd. Daisuke Aoshima, Representative Director and President, Kyokuisha Toshiyuki Bansho,
Branch Manager, Shizuoka Branch, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone West Co., Ltd.

[Recipient]
Hikaru Inaba, Director of Economic Affairs Bureau, Shizuoka City

Tamiya’s scale model and RC car won the annual model award from a German model magazine. Tamiya models receive awards from prestigious German magazines!


The results of the 2024 “Model des Jahres (Model of the Year)” selected by the German scale model magazine “Modell Fan” have been announced. For this award, the best model in each genre will be selected from among the new models announced in Germany in 2023 by a selection committee made up of “Modell Fan” magazine readers’ votes and editorial staff. This time, the winners were the 1/24 GMA T.50 and 1/72 Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II. In addition, the German miniature model magazine “Modell-Fahrzeug”, which deals with a wide range of scale models of cars and motorcycles, RC, die-cast, slot cars, etc., won the “1/10 RC Porsche 911 GT3 ( 992)” was selected, and was also awarded “Premium Brand 2023 (Best Brand of the Year)” in the model category and RC car category.

Prestigious Awards for Tamiya
The results of the latest Modell des Jahres (Model of the Year) awards were recently announced by German magazine ModellFan! Tamiya is delighted to report that two of our models – 1/24 GMA T.50 and 1/72 Lockheed Martin® F-35®A Lightning II® – were honored in the awards, which are chosen by the magazine’s staff and readership.

This news follows German scale and R/C auto model magazine Modellfahrzeug honoring our 1/10 R/C Porsche 911 GT3 (992) (TT-02) model with a Modellfahrzeug des Jahres award, and naming Tamiya a 2023 Premium Brand in both the R/C and static model genres.

Original drawings by illustrator Shigeru Komatsuzaki have been digitized and an online “museum” is now open


Original article by Itsuhiro Suzuki

The Shigeru Komatsuzaki Online Museum has opened , which digitizes the original drawings of Shigeru Komatsuzaki (1915-2001), an illustrator who lived in Kashiwa City , Chiba Prefecture , and makes them available online. Approximately 150 works are available for viewing for free, and if you become a paid support member, you can also view works that change every month.

Komatsuzaki’s works total approximately 20,000 pieces, including magazine illustrations. In addition to her representative works, such as paintings on plastic model boxes and frontispieces for boys’ magazines , she also includes landscape paintings , drawings, and oil paintings. In addition to “ Battleship Yamato ,” which was published in Weekly Shonen Sunday and became a masterpiece, “ Space Colony II” , which became a masterpiece of fantasy painting , and “ Sensoji Niomon ” , which has strong realistic elements, are available for free (some charges apply). It has been published.

After Shigeru’s death, his grandson Noriko Komatsuzaki (43) took over many of his works and later became the official copyright heir. Exhibitions were held all over the country, but opportunities to show to the public have drastically decreased due to the coronavirus pandemic. Noriko felt a sense of crisis, saying, “If we don’t do something, Komatsuzaki’s works will be forgotten along with her era,” and so she and her husband, Minoru (44), have been making preparations to open an online art museum. Ta.

Minoru said, “Based on the support we received through the online art museum, we will collect and maintain the original paintings that have been lost, and hold exhibitions, so that a wide range of people can see Shigeru Komatsuzaki’s works.”

Link of the Shigeru Komatsuzaki Online Museum https://shigerukomatsuzaki.com

Source of the article in Japanese language: Asahi Shimbun

Exhibition with boxes of Tamiya plastic models from 1965 to 1975 piled up high like a toy store of that period

Half a century of Showa model collection from Inami

Yasumasa Matsui says, “I want people to go back in time to the Showa era and feel nostalgic,” in front of plastic models he has collected over half a century, at the Inami Sculpture Museum in Inami, Nanto City.


Exhibition of free TV announcer Matsui
Yasumasa Matsui, a 60-year-old freelance announcer who retired from TV Asahi in March, is from Nanto City. Monozukuri~” will open on the 12th at the Inami Sculpture Museum in Inami, the same city. Until September 17th.
Mr. Matsui is known as a global collector of plastic models made by Tamiya (Shizuoka City), a major model maker, and is called “Japan’s number one Tamiya fan” by the company’s chairman, Shunsaku Tamiya. He fell in love with models when he was in the third grade of elementary school, and even after joining TV Asahi, he continued to collect them at model stores and auctions nationwide.
This is the first time for Mr. Matsui to exhibit his collection. We exhibited more than 700 items, including some of the models that we have collected so far and dioramas that we assembled ourselves.
Boxes of Tamiya plastic models from 1965 to 1975 are piled up high like a toy store at that time and displayed. In addition to the elaborately reproduced Tamiya classic tank series, there are also valuable wooden kits that even Tamiya does not own. There is also a 1/144-scale diorama of the 2015 Kinugawa levee breach that Matsui covered.
Mr. Matsui said, “I think you’ll be surprised if you just come here. I want you to slip back in time to the Showa era and feel nostalgic.”
The admission fee is 500 yen for high school students and older, and 250 yen for elementary and junior high school students. Second and fourth Wednesdays off every month. (Kazuya Hirota)
Source of article in Japanese language: Chunichi Shimbun Web

“If there is no Shizuoka model, overseas will be in trouble” – World capital of models “is not just words”- Chairman Shunsaku Tamiya talking about the hobby industry


The 61st Shizuoka Hobby Show opened on May 10th. On the morning of the 10th, the first day of the invitation day for domestic and foreign buyers, the “living legend” who has long been a leader in the hobby industry, Shunsaku Tamiya, chairman of the Shizuoka Model Teaching Materials Cooperative Association (Chairman and President of Tamiya) will be the annual reporter. A press conference was held, and we talked about this hobby show that will be held while the effects of the new corona are settling down.

Q. What did you think when you saw the venue for this year’s hobby show?

(* 2023 will be the third time for “Elementary, Junior High and High School Students Invitation Day”).
This is a very good idea of ​​the prefectural governor (Governor Heita Kawakatsu). I thought that children in Shizuoka would come to the hobby show, but that is not the case.

Q.Is it important for the industry to have children come to hobby shows?

“Yes. It would be strange if they didn’t come. It’s more fun to come to a hobby show than to be at school.”

Q. Corona is converging, how about foreigners?

“Foreigners couldn’t come here because of Corona. We couldn’t use this venue even during Corona, but we were holding events in some way. Orders have increased since before Corona. This year, we will be able to use the (Twin Messe Shizuoka) South Building, and even after we sell, there will be exhibitions where customers will come (*The last two days of the Shizuoka Hobby Show are open to the public free of charge. That’s one of the features of the Shizuoka Hobby Show.Another feature is that the Self-Defense Forces are participating.It’s a great time to be very grateful.Only the Shizuoka Hobby Show is doing this kind of thing.”

Q. How are foreigners responding?

“Plastic model business cannot be done without Japanese products.In the past, the United Kingdom and the United States were the leading countries for plastic models, but the Japanese plastic model industry has grown larger, and many new products are being released. Everyone is happy to come to Shizuoka.”

Q. How was the industry looking back during the corona crisis?

“Corona was a tailwind for this industry. Starting in March, we (built) a new factory in Cebu, Philippines.”

Q. Was Corona a tailwind for the industry?

“It’s a tailwind.”

Q.Will this tailwind continue?

“Now, the world is in trouble without Japanese plastic models. Southeast Asia is no longer a developing country. All the Southeast Asian people are going to concentrate on Japan.”

Q. What about domestic demand?

“Of course, it’s local, so it’s the cheapest, but now in Tamiya’s market, domestic and export are half and half.”

Q. What are your ideas and directions for the industry?

“The Japanese market alone is not enough. Foreign distributors come to us and give us various ideas, so we follow them. For 50 years, we have continued to participate in hobby shows in Nuremberg (Germany). I learned a lot from hobby shows in the US, hobby shows in Europe, and hobby shows in Kensington, England.”

Q. I think, what kind of requirements are there from foreign agents?

“We also sell female figures separately. If Tamiya doesn’t do figures, it doesn’t matter. If we do that, other figure makers will get in the way.”

Q. When considering overseas demand, what are the strengths? Airplanes, tanks, cars?

“That’s not all. The ‘fun craft series’ is a modest series, but I’m doing it with the help of a professor at Shizuoka University’s Faculty of Education. Craft classes, making things with your own hands, that’s the model.”

Q. Do you want to make content with your own hands that can be used overseas?

“In Germany, when you put out a hand-made model, the Germans will say, ‘This is a real scientific model.”

Q. What do you see as the organizer?

“If there is no model of Shizuoka, it will be difficult to go abroad. The ‘world capital of models’ is not just a word. They must come. They are enjoying themselves in Shizuoka.”

Q. Look at how you are, how do you see it?

“I’m very happy about that. We’re having fun, too.”

Source in Japanese language: SBS Shizuoka Broadcasting