Electronics and machinery
Sharp シャープ
Named after a pencil
Tokuji Hayakawa invented a mechanical pencil called the Ever-Sharp in 1915. After the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake destroyed his Tokyo factory, he started again in Osaka making radios. Sharp went on to pioneer calculators and LCD screens.
- Founded
- 1912
- Meiji 45 / Taishō 1
- Founder
- Tokuji Hayakawa
- Started in
- Osaka
- Status
- Still trading
- Age 114 years
Timeline
-
1912 (Meiji 45 / Taishō 1)
Hayakawa opens a metalworking shop in Tokyo.
-
1915 (Taishō 4)
Invents the Ever-Sharp mechanical pencil.
-
1925 (Taishō 14)
Starts again in Osaka and makes Japan's first crystal radio sets.
-
1964 (Shōwa 39)
Launches one of the first all-transistor desktop calculators.
-
2016 (Heisei 28)
Taiwan's Foxconn buys a controlling stake, the first takeover of a major Japanese electronics maker by a foreign company.
Years in brackets are the Japanese era year. Japanese era converter →
Did you know?
The company was renamed Sharp in 1970 after the pencil that started it all.
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Dates follow the companies' own published histories where available. Trademarks belong to their owners; this page is not affiliated with any company listed.