[vlc] Yahama

[Dotan Cohen]

An overview and history of Yamaha Corporation including details of
it's motorcycle industry.

yamaha, motorcycle, musical, instruments, research, acoustics

Yamaha Corporation is a diverse Japanese technology company. Yamaha
currently produces musical instruments, consumer [electronics], heavy
industrial equipment, [microprocessors|microprocessor], and motor
vehicles. The company is recognized as a leader in fields as
diversified as audio research and development, to small [engine] and
motorcycle design, to [robotics]. Yamaha currently has official
distribution channels in almost every country in the world, and
operates laboratories and research facilities on almost every
continent.

Torakusu Yamaha first began selling reed organs in 1887, and
incorporated his company ten years later as The Nippon Gakki Co, Ltd.
Within five years of incorporation the company diversified into
furniture making, as the wood finishing expertise learning in organ
and piano making was well suited to fine furniture. This
diversification would become a hallmark of the company, as Yamaha
would diversify and expand it's operations at almost every
opportunity. By the second world war, Yamaha was a world leader in
acoustics research, and was manufacturing [phonographic|phonograph]
equipment in addition to furniture and musical instruments. In 1955
the company introduced Yamaha Motor Corporation, selling a
re-engineered German motorcycle of WWII design. Today, the Yamaha logo
consists of three tuning forks against the silhouette of a cymbal,
homage to the company's roots as a musical instrument manufacturer.

Yamaha owes it's success to it's management's continuous willingness
to take business risks and diversify. In the 1930s, Yamaha pioneered
acoustics research and helped develop some of the world's leading
concert halls of the time. Yamaha introduced the world's first
3-wheeled ATV, was the first company to fit single shock absorption
systems to production motocross bikes, and the first company to market
a 5-valve cylinder head. Recent Yamaha motorcycle innovations include
electronically-controlled variable intake stacks, quick-release
touring windshield and passenger backrest with touring bags, and even
a small [airbag] system. Recent Yamaha musical innovations include
singing synthesis [software], concert-quality carbon-bodied bows, and
electric "silent" string instruments such as violins, bass, and
cellos. Ground-breaking and risky [technologies|technology] are
marketed in all Yamaha products, from high-sales motorcycle markets to
specialty niche markets such as electric violins.