16 Facts About Torakusu Yamaha

Torakusu Yamaha was a Japanese businessman and entrepreneur known as the founder of the Yamaha Corporation.

Torakusu Yamaha was born on 20 April 1851 in Wakayama, Kii Province, the third son of Konosuke Yamaha, a low-ranking samurai of the Kishu-Tokugawa family, the ruling family of the Kishu Domain.

Torakusu Yamaha's father was an astronomer for the Kishu clan, who gave Torakusu Yamaha access to books about astronomy.

In 1871, Torakusu Yamaha went to Nagasaki and started studying watchmaking under the guidance of an English engineer.

Torakusu Yamaha then moved to Osaka to study medical equipment, where he lived behind a medical equipment store.

In 1886, at the age of 35, Torakusu Yamaha moved to Hamamatsu to repair medical equipment as a career.

Torakusu Yamaha received financial help from Toyasaku Fukushima, the director of Hamamatsu Hospital.

Torakusu Yamaha then started the project in a one-room workshop with the help of a colleague from the medical equipment work.

Torakusu Yamaha was then allowed to attend lectures about different theories of music at the university for a month.

Back in Hamamatsu, Torakusu Yamaha built the second organ in the remaining two months of the year.

In March 1888, Torakusu Yamaha used an abandoned Hamamatsu Temple to make organs with the help of carpenters and cabinet makers.

In March 1902, Torakusu Yamaha received the Medal of Honor with Green Ribbon.

Torakusu Yamaha served as a director of Hamamatsu Railway, the local railway in the Hamamatsu area.

In 1911, Torakusu Yamaha was elected to the Hamamatsu City Council and appointed as the Vice Chairman of the council.

Torakusu Yamaha taught instrument making to an apprentice named Koichi Kawai, who was 11 years old at the time, during his early career as the founder of the company Nippon Gakki.

Torakusu Yamaha died of an illness in Tokyo on 8 August 1916 at the age of 65 years.