The Yamaha Corporation ( Yamaha Kabushiki Gaisha?) (TYO: 7951) is a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services, predominantly musical instruments and electronics.
Yamaha was founded in 1887 as a piano and reed organ manufacturer by Torakusu Yamaha as Nippon Gakki Company, Limited (Nippon Gakki Seizō Kabushiki Gaisha?) in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka prefecture, and was incorporated on October 12, 1897. The company's origins as a musical instrument manufacturer is still reflected today in the group's logo — a trio of interlocking tuning forks.
After World War II, company president Gen-ichi Kawakami, repurposed the remains of the company's war-time production machinery and the company's expertise in metallurgical technologies to the manufacture of motorcycles. The YA-1 (aka Akatombo, the "Red Dragonfly"), of which 125 were built in the first year of production (1954), was named in honor of the founder. It was a 125cc, single cylinder, two-stroke, streetbike patterned after the German DKW RT125 (which the British munitions firm, BSA, had also copied in the post-war era and manufactured as the Bantam, and Harley-Davidson as the Hummer). In 1955, the success of the YA-1 resulted in the founding of the Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd.
Yamaha has grown to become the world's largest manufacturer of musical instruments (including "silent" pianos, drums, guitars, violins, violas, celli, and vibraphones), as well as a leading manufacturer of semiconductors, audio/visual, computer related products, sporting goods, home appliances and furniture, specialty metals, machine tools, and industrial robots.
In October 1987, on the 100th anniversary, its name was changed to The Yamaha Corporation.
In 1989, Yamaha shipped the world's first CD recorder. Since then, Yamaha has purchased Sequential Circuits in 1988 and bought a significant share (51%) of competitor Korg in 1989–1993.
It acquired German Audio Software manufacturers Steinberg in 2004, from Pinnacle.
In July, 2007, Yamaha bought out the minority shareholding of the Kemble family in Yamaha-Kemble Music (UK) Ltd, Yamaha's UK import and musical instrument and professional audio equipment sales arm, the company being renamed Yamaha Music U.K. Ltd in Autumn, 2007. Kemble & Co. Ltd, the UK piano sales & manufacturing arm was unaffected.
On December 20, 2007, Yamaha made an agreement with the Austrian Bank BAWAG P.S.K. Group BAWAG to purchase all the shares of Bösendorfer, intended to take place in early 2008. Yamaha intends to continue manufacturing at the Bösendorfer facilities in Austria.
Yamaha Corporation is also widely known for their music program that began in the 1980s.
Other companies in the Yamaha group include:
Yamaha Motor Company
Yamaha Fine Technologies Co., Ltd.
Yamaha Livingtec Corporation
Yamaha Metanix Corporation
Yamaha Pro Audio
125 AS
1100 Bulldog
Chappy
Gamme DT 50 DT 125 DT 125 DTLC 125 DTMX 360 DT
Gamme Fazer 600 750 1000
Gamme FJ 1100 1200 1300 FJR
Yamaha 125 FS1
Gamme FZ 500 600 750
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1000 GTS
Gamme MT 660 MT-03 1700 MT-01
Gamme RD 125 250 350 400
Gamme RDLC 250 350 500
125 RDX
Gamme SR 125 250 400 500
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Gamme Star 125 Dragstar 650 Dragstar 1100 Dragstar 1300 Midnight Star 1300 Royal Star 1600 Wild Star 1670 Road Star Warrior 1900 Midnight Star
660 SZR
Gamme TDM 850 900
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Gamme TZR 50 80 125
Gamme Venture 1200 1300
550 Virago
1200 VMax
Gamme WR 125 250 450
Gamme XJ 400 550 600 650 750 900
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Gamme XT 125 350 400 500 550 600 660 Ténéré 750 Super Ténéré
XZ 550 Vision
125 YA-1
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Gamme YZF 750 R 1000 Thunderace R125 R6 R7 R1
Gamme YZR OW-20 à OW-M1
Voiture OX99-11