Bikōdō

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Contents 1 Prewar and wartime Bikōdō 2 Postwar Bikōdō 3 Notes 4 Bibliography

Prewar and wartime Bikōdō

Bikōdō (美光堂) was a Japanese company, mentioned in 1937 as the distributor or maker of the Reex 6×9 folder.^[1] During the war, Bikōdō made some shutters called Compur, copies of the corresponding German models.^[2] Its address in 1943 was Shitaya-ku Sakamoto 1–3–2 (下谷区坂本1–3–2) in Tokyo.^[3]

The known Bikōdō shutters are the following:

• Tokyo Compur or New Compur (T, B, 1–300): on the Rollekonter, Semi Konter and Semi Miss
• Rapid Compur (T, B, 1–500): on the Rollekonter

Postwar Bikōdō

After the war, Bikōdō Seisakusho (美光堂製作所) made the Superflex TLR and announced the Tenar Six folder. It is not known if it was related with the previous Bikōdō company. Its address from 1951 to 1953 was Taitō-ku Kami-negishi 60 (台東区上根岸60) in Tokyo.^[4]

Camera list:

• Superflex (6×6 TLR)
• Tenar Six (6×6 folder)

Notes

1. ↑ Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p. 343 (item 320).
2. ↑ "Inquiry into Japanese cameras" ("Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa"), shutter items 18-Q-4 and 18-R-9.
3. ↑ "Inquiry into Japanese cameras" ("Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa").
4. ↑ Advertisements reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, pp. 141–2 and 149.

Bibliography

• 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.
• "Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa" (国産写真機ノ現状調査, Inquiry into Japanese cameras), listing Japanese camera production as of April 1943. Reproduced in Supuringu kamera de ikou: Zen 69 kishu no shōkai to tsukaikata (スプリングカメラでいこう: 全69機種の紹介と使い方, Let's try spring cameras: Presentation and use of 69 machines). Tokyo: Shashinkogyo Syuppan-sha, 2004. ISBN 4-87956-072-3. Pp.180–7.