Takara
 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification.(August 2016) |
 | |
 Former headquarters in Tokyo | |
Native name | Kabushiki gaisha タカラ |
|---|---|
Romanizedname | Kabushiki gaisha Takara |
| Founded | 1955 |
| Defunct | March 1, 2006 |
| Fate | Merged toTomy |
| Successor | Takara Tomy |
| Headquarters | Tokyo,Japan |
| Products | BowLingual,Choro-Q,Microman,Transformers |
Takara Co., Ltd.(Kabushiki gaisha タカラ,Kabushiki gaisha Takara)was a Japanesetoycompanyfounded in 1955. In March 2006, the company merged withTomy Company, Ltd.to formTakara Tomy.The Takara motto was“Du びは văn hóa”( "playing is culture" ).
Products[edit]
Toys[edit]
In 1967, Takara produced the first generation of theLicca-chandoll, which was 21 centimeters tall and had the last name of Kayama, inspired by the musician Yuzo Kayama and actress Yoshiko Kayama.[1]
In 1975, Takara produced theDiacloneandMicromanMicro Changetoys. In 1984, the toy line was rebranded byHasbroas "Transformers",which made Takara waste no time joining in. Takara continued to sell Microman and used it as the basis for theMicronautstoy line. Micronauts were sold internationally by theMego Corporation.Other transforming toys made by Takara includeBrave,Dennō Bōkenki Webdiver,andDaigunder.Both Webdiver and Daigunder toys could interact with TV screens, which proved only but a fad in the early 2000s.
Takara also inventedBattle Beasts,the E-kara karaoke microphone,B-DamanandBeyblade.These toys were sold or distributed internationally by Hasbro.
In 1978, Takara developed theChoro-Q,mini pullback cars. Internationally, they have been sold as "Penny Racers".
Software[edit]
Takara developed and publishedvideo games.In the 1990s, Takara published theChibi Maruko-chanvideo games. The company ported (adapted) some of theSNKNeo Geobased arcade games for 8 and 16-bit consoles. These included theFatal Furyand theSamurai Shodownseries. They were sold for use with theSega Genesis,theSuper Nintendo Entertainment System,theGame Boy,or theFamicom.
In 2003, Takara contributed to the production of the game, Seek-and-Destroy. Takara published the3D computer graphicsfighting game seriesBattle Arena Toshinden,developed byTamsoft.Small games developers such as Tamsoft, BHE, E-game andKID corp,were sometimes omitted from the credits on a game's Takara packaging or title screens. Also that year, Takara purchased a controlling stake in the publicly traded software publisherAtlus.Some Takara properties were licensed to and published by Atlus.
In 2006, after the merger with Tomy, the controlling stake in Atlus was sold to Index Holdings, Takara Tomy's major shareholder. Takara-branded product licenses such asLicca-chan,Jinsei Game,The Game of Life and Choro-Q were returned to Takara Tomy's consumer software division. The merged company also produced theZoidsand theNarutoseries.
Life entertainment products[edit]
Takara has manufactured several unusualgadgetsmarketed as "life entertainment products". An example isBowLingualwhich aimed to translate the sounds of dogs to human language. The BowLingual was named as one of the best inventions of 2002 byTimemagazine.[2]See alsoYumemi Kobo(dream generator).
Robots[edit]
In 2005, Takara produced Walkie bits, a colorful, multi-function miniature robotic turtle. it was namedTimemagazine's best invention in a robot category.[3]
Company mascot[edit]
In the 1980s, the company was criticized for using a mascot that was agolliwog-like character. The mascot was named "Dakko-Chan" (ダッコちゃん).[4]Takara replaced the mascot with "21st Century Colorful Dakko-Chan", which had enough features to connote the original mascot but divested the traits which brought criticism. For example, the new mascot was not always coloured black.
Merger[edit]
On 13 May 2005, Takara andTomyannounced their merger. It became effective on 1 March 2006. In English, the official name of the merged company is "TOMY Co. Ltd." while in Japan the legal company name is "K. K. Takara-Tomy" (Kabushiki gaisha タカラトミー;TYO:7867).
In deciding upon the merged company's new name, "Takara" was used for its internationalbrand recognitionand "Tomy" was used because it was a trusted brand of infant and preschool products in Japan.
While Japanese commercial law allows wide latitude in translating Japanese corporate names into official English names, the merged company took the unusual step of adopting "TOMY Company, Ltd." as its official English, while using "K.K. Takara-Tomy" in Japan.
Both Takara and Tomy held licenses to localise and distributeHasbroproducts in Japan. The products includeThe Game of Life,Blythe dolls,Magic: The Gathering,Duel Masterstrading card games by Takara andMonopoly,Furby,Super SoakerandPlay-Dohby Tomy.
References[edit]
- ^Okazaki, Manami (2017-07-08)."Living doll: Licca-chan's legacy lives on".The Japan Times Online.ISSN0447-5763.Retrieved2019-09-11.
- ^"Best Inventions of 2002".TIME. Archived fromthe originalon November 12, 2002.Retrieved2015-08-22.
- ^Department (2005-11-13)."Best Inventions 2005: Bot Crazy - TIME".Content.time.Retrieved2015-08-22.
- ^"Japan: Dakkochan Delirium".TIME. 1960-08-29. Archived fromthe originalon October 15, 2009.Retrieved2015-08-22.
