takahashi visit

     Visit to Takahashi Factory
     Yorii, Japan
     Summer of 2006

Takahashi Visit

On my return from Thailand this year, I stopped in Japan to visit with Barry Gooley, the SBIG Distributor, and some retailers of SBIG products in Tokyo. My trip was delayed for personal reasons but the delay turned out to be a very fortunate one. I was told by Barry that I had been invited to visit the Takahashi factory outside of Tokyo, and since my visit happened to coincide with the great Tainai Star Party at Kurokawa Village, he made plans for us to go there the following day. So it turned out to be a very action packed week.

Mr. Takahashi

Our visit to Takahashi entailed two stops, first to meet Mr. Eishiro Takahashi, President of Takahashi Seisakusho, Ltd., at the administrative offices in the Itabashi area of Tokyo. This area is historically known for its many optical companies, but as factories move out of Tokyo proper, areas like this become quiet bedroom communities. The second part of our visit would be to the factory outside Tokyo in Yorii, Saitama prefecture. Yorii, Saitama, is becoming the place for factories like Takahashi's. Fujinon have offices here and while I was there I heard an announcement that Honda plans to open a new factory in the same area.

The first leg of the trip to the administrative office was about a 45 minute train ride from the section of Tokyo where we were staying. We were met at the train station and driven the short distance to the administrative offices where we met Mr. Eishiro Takahashi and Mr. Iwao Henmi, General Manager. We were very warmly received and had an interesting conversation about the history and evolution of the Takahashi company (The company began as a maker of highly specialized valves for submarines). After talking for a while we left for lunch and then headed back to the train station to make our way to Saitama prefecture.

Tokyo to Yorii

The train ride to Yorii, Saitama, required a couple of train changes, so I'm glad Barry was there to read the route and fare signs. An hour or so later we made it to the station near Yorii where Mr. Tokio Takahashi. Executive General Manager and brother of Eishiro Takahashi, was waiting to drive us the rest of the way to the factory. The area is very nice with some rolling hills covered with small pines and open rice fields. The factory is located on top of a hill with a long driveway leading up to it through the small woods.

The factory

Once we arrived at the factory we met two of the Takahashi engineers, Masaru Arai and and Masaaki Kawai, who took us on a tour of the operation. During the tour, among others, we met Yuyama-san, the designer of the FSQ telescope that is so popular with many imagers. One of the more interesting things to see was the foundry where many of the cast aluminum parts are made. There was no machinery, no automation of any kind in the foundry. The work was being done by hand. We must have looked so interested because they demonstrated the making of a large tube ring for us from start to finish: Making the mold in fine sand with a sample, stacking the two halves of the mold, and pouring the molten aluminum. A few minutes later they crumbled the sandy mole and pulled out the shinny tube ring destined for someone's scope.

After seeing the factory, we sat down to some tea and discussed a number of things about the needs of imagers, types of telescopes, mount performance and the like. At the day's end, it was time to get back to Tokyo and prepare for the next day's travel to Tainai. Mr. Tokio Takahashi kindly offered to drive us part of the way back, past the first two train stations so we only needed to catch one direct train back into Tokyo.

Acknowledgement

I want to thank everyone at Takahashi Seisakusho, Ltd., especially Mr. Eishiro Takahashi and Mr. Tokio Takahashi for the kind hospitality during our visit. I hope to visit again soon and I extend the same invitation to them to visit us at SBIG any time they are in this area. It was a a great pleasure to see the factory and meet the people behind these renown telescopes.

Takahashi Visit Photos