The Yamaha Story

1897 Nippon Gakki Co., Ltd. established. Torakusu Yamaha took office as first president.

1900 Production of upright pianos began.

1904 Yamaha piano and organ received honorary prize at St. Louis World’s Fair

1932 Production of pipe organs launched.

1954 Hi-Fi player developed. Production of “125” motorcycles began. Yamaha Music School system inaugurated.

1959 Electronic organ, “Electone” developed. Archery equipment unveiled.

1961 FRP skis developed and marketed.

1964 Production of bathtubs began.

1965 Production of wind instruments began.

1966 Guitars and drums marketed.

1968 Production of stereos began

1971 Integrated Circuit plant commences production.

1974 NS1000M Speaker developed. Professional Audio (PA) Equipment launched.

1982 Carbon composite golf club developed and marketed. Compact disk player “CD-1” marketed. Disklavier developed and marketed.

1983 Digital Synthesizer “DX-7” marketed. Marketing of custom-made LSI chips began.

1984 Production of industrial robots began.

1986 Digital Sound Field Processor “DSP-1” marketed.

1987 Company name changed to Yamaha. Corporation marked 100th anniversary.

1989 Wind MIDI Controller WX7 collected by Museum of Modern Art, New York.

1991 Production of thin-film magnetic heads began. Five millionth wind instrument produced. Piano production passed five million mark. Active Servo Processing Speaker YST-SD 90 collected by Museum of Modern Art, New York

1992 Fin Christian Jagge (Norway) won a gold medal in the Albertville Winter Olympics with “PROTO-SL” skis. Yamaha received a letter of citation from the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. Kemble & Company received the Queen's Award for Export Achievement.

1993 Forged titanium golf wood club developed and marketed. Silent Piano series marketed. VL1 and VP1 Virtual Acoustic Synthesizers marketed.

1994 Grand Piano Silent Series marketed. “Proto Twin-Tube” skis marketed.

1995 Silent Brass system marketed.Digital piano GranTouch marketed.

1996 DTX Silent Session Drum marketed.