Ichisuke Fujioka Meets Thomas Edison,

Develops Japan’s first light bulb, establishes Hakunetsu-sha, a predecessor of Toshiba

Ichisuke Fujioka^*1 had a dream: the electrification of Japan, In 1884, while still an associate professor at the Imperial College of Engineering (later the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Tokyo) he visited the United States for the World Fair, and while there met Thomas Edison. The meeting inspired him to establish a Japanese electronics industry, starting with the electric light bulb.

The manufacture of light bulbs involves fabricating glass bulbs and filaments, and creating a vacuum inside the bulb. When Ichisuke started his work such processes demanded the most advanced technology and production know-how then available. Undaunted, Fujioka persisted, and succeeded in manufacturing Japan's first incandescent bulb.

*1 The founder of Hakunetsu-sha, one of this company's predecessors.

Ichisuke started to manufacture prototypes of incandescent light bulbs, and, he set up his own firm, Hakunetsu-sha, in 1890.
By 1911, Fujioka's company was marketing tungsten light bulbs, known as Mazda lamps. But that was just the beginning, History records six major advances in light bulb technology. Two of them, the double-coil electric bulb (1921) and the interior frosted electric bulb (1925), came from Toshiba engineers who inherited Fujioka's passion.

Development of a Fluorescent Light

and Its Debut at Horyuji Temple

In 1935, GE invented fluorescent lighting. The first president of Tokyo Shibaura Electric Co. (which became Toshiba Corporation in 1984) saw it during a visit, and determined to develop the technology for Japan. The resulting fluorescent lights were known for staying cool and for being bright, qualities that earned their selection as lighting for a project to photograph the famous murals at Horyuji Temple. The results were a revelation, as this typical comment shows: "Unlike the murals I had grown used to seeing over so many years, colors that had appeared as sooty and brown were clear and brilliant, with beautiful whites, and the murals were endlessly magnificent." The lights quickly achieved fame.

In 1941, Japan's first fluorescent lights officially went on sale as Mazda fluorescent lights. They were soon in use nationwide.

The Oil Shock

and the Pursuit of Energy Conservation

The oil shock swept the world in 1973. Japan was also severely affected, and urgent calls for energy conservation and resource conservation began to be heard among the responses were moves to develop power-saving lighting with no loss of brightness.

In 1980, efforts to replace high-power-consuming incandescent light bulbs with fluorescent lights resulted in the Neo Ball, the world's first light-bulb shaped fluorescent lamp.

Up to the Present

By the turn of the century, environmental concerns had grown to unprecedented levels. In 2007, Toshiba Group, long a leader in environmental protection, published Environmental Vision 2050, which defined hard targets to achieve toward addressing environmental problems. The lighting division supported these efforts by working for widespread adoption of energy-saving fluorescent and LED lights, and with the decision to halt production of ordinary incandescent bulbs by fiscal year 2010.

Active measures to fight global warming are underway throughout the world community. In Japan, public education and promotion of energy-saving, light-bulb-type fluorescent lights is being carried out as part of government's Team Minus 6% initiative. As a result, domestic demand for light-bulb-type fluorescent lights is expected to grow in the future.

LED lights also provide highly efficient illumination while cutting energy consumption, achieving a balance between preventing global warming and economic realities. Use of these lights is gradually becoming ever more widespread.