The Japan Camera Museum will hold a special exhibition, “Showa 100th Anniversary Showa Era Camera Story Part 2: 1955-1989” from February 10th (Tuesday) to June 21st (Sunday), 2026.
The year 2026 marks 100 years since the first year of Showa (December 25, 1926). This exhibition is the second part of the exhibition, following the special exhibition “Showa Camera Story Part 1: 1926-1954” held in 2025 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Showa era.
This book introduces the history of camera development, mainly in Japan, from 1955 to the end of the Showa era, looking at it from a modern perspective.
The “Showa” era was a time when the photographic and camera industries in Japan and around the world expanded significantly. The previous year, in 1954, the Japan Photographic Machine Inspection Association (currently the Japan Camera Foundation) and the Japan Photographic Machine Industry Association (currently the Camera and Imaging Equipment Industry Association) were established.In the 1950s, Japanese-made cameras made great progress in terms of technology and quality, and manufacturing rapidly expanded as a major export industry representing Japanese industrial products.
By the end of the Showa era, film camera technology had reached a stage of development and maturity, and cameras that took electronic images, which were the origin of digital cameras, were also released, and “Made in Japan” cameras began to take the world by storm with their advanced technology. The 30-plus years from the middle of the Showa era until the end of the Showa era was a time when Japan’s camera industry transitioned from a period of high growth to a period of prosperity.
The camera industry developed along with Japan’s post-war reconstruction and greatly contributed to its economic growth. Thanks to its extremely high technological capabilities and brand power, it occupies a major position in the global camera market, and continues to have a large presence even today, when smartphones have become widespread.
This special exhibition focuses on Japanese-made cameras manufactured from the mid-to-late Showa period, but also introduces some foreign-made cameras, and is designed to reflect on and interpret the Showa era from the perspective of cameras.
Additionally, during the exhibition period, a catalog containing the materials on display will be produced and sold at the reception desk of the Japan Camera Museum. Mail order is also available.
Main items scheduled to be exhibited (some)
- Miranda T:1955 Orion Camera (Japan). The first domestically produced 35mm single-lens reflex camera equipped with a pentaprism.
- Fujipet:1957 Fuji Photo Film (currently Fujifilm Japan). A camera for beginners that shoots a 60 x 60 mm screen on 120 film. It gained popularity due to its 〇△□-based design and easy-to-understand operation system.
- Yashica 44:1958 Yasu Optical Industry (currently Kyocera Japan). A twin-lens reflex camera released in response to the super slide (40 x 40 mm format) trend. The gray finish of the exterior resembled that of the Rolleiflex 4×4, which caused a problem.
- Nikon F:1959 Nippon Kogaku Kogyo (currently Nikon Japan). Nikon’s first SLR camera. A wide variety of interchangeable lenses and peripheral equipment were available, and news photographers switched from this camera to single-lens reflex cameras.
- Petriflex 7:1964 Petri Camera (Japan). Built-in CdS exposure meter linked to aperture and shutter. A single-lens reflex camera characterized by a large light-receiving area on the lens.
- Asahi Pentax 6×7:1969: Asahi Optical Industries (currently Ricoh Imaging Japan). A 60x70mm single-lens reflex camera with interchangeable lenses. It gained popularity over a long period of time due to its operability that was similar to that of a 35mm single-lens reflex camera and increased maneuverability.
- Zenza Bronica EC:1972 Zenza Bronica Industries (Japan). A single-lens reflex camera equipped with a quick return mirror mechanism that splits the mirror into upper and lower parts.
- Canon AE-1:1976 Canon (Japan). A single-lens reflex camera that achieves high performance and low cost through computerization, unitization of parts, and automated assembly.
- Olympus XA:1979 Olympus Optical Industry (currently OM Digital Solutions Japan). A “capsule camera” with a sliding lens barrier that eliminates the need for a lens cap. Its successor, the XA2 (1980), was the first camera to win the Good Design Award.
- Minolta X-7:1980 Minolta Camera (currently Konica Minolta Japan). A single-lens reflex camera that uses an aperture-priority AE mechanism and electronic camera shake warning. A TV commercial featuring actor Yoshiko Miyazaki became a big hit.
- Contax T:1984 Kyocera (Japan). A high-class compact camera with a Porsche Design body, a 38mm F2.8 single focus lens, and a shutter button made from Kyocera’s artificial sapphire.
- Sony still video camera recorder Mavica MVC-C1:1988 Sony (Japan). A still video camera that uses MOS as an image sensor and was released for general users. Images are magnetically recorded on a 2-inch FD, but in analog rather than digital format.
Event overview
| Event period | February 10, 2026 (Fire) ~ June 21 (Sun) |
| Exhibits | Cameras released from 1955 to 1989 are on display. Introducing cameras and their technology by era, with a focus on Japanese-made cameras, but also some foreign-made cameras. (Approximately 200 items will be exhibited) |
| Permanent exhibition etc. | Permanent exhibits include “Japan’s Historical Cameras”, the world’s first commercially available camera “Giroux Daguerreotype Camera”, “Leica Corner”, “Camera Toy Corner”, and the camera of Pulitzer Prize-winning news photographer Kyoichi Sawada. |
| Opening hours | 10:00～17:00 |
| Closed days | Every Monday (if Monday is a holiday, the following Tuesday) *Open without holidays from April 26th (Saturday) to May 11th (Sunday) during Golden Week. |
| Admission fee | General 300 yen, free for junior high school students and under Group discount (10 people or more) General 200 yen |
