Marusan
| Incorporated | |
| Industry | Model and toy |
| Founded | 1947 |
| Founder | Haruyasu Ishida, Minoru Ishida, Yasuo Arai |
| Headquarters | Taitō, Tokyo, Japan |
| Products | Plastic toys |
Marusan (マルサン) is a Japanese model and toy company. It is known as the first Japanese plastic model manufacturer and also famous for selling PVC kaiju (monster) character toys during the 1960s. Its headquarters were located in Taitō, Tokyo.
Marusan was founded in 1947 by three relatives, Haruyasu Ishida, his brother Minoru Ishida and brother-in-law Yasuo Arai. Its business was mainly selling tin toys and optical toys. In 1950, the company was formally incorporated as "Marusan Shoten Ltd." (株式会社マルサン商店 Kabusikigaisha Marusan Shōten?). Its logo was "SAN" in a circle since "maru" means circle, in Japanese.
Initially, their business was a wholesale, but they eventually began to design and produce their own toys such as celluloid dolls and tin toys. In 1953, They released the elaborate tin toy "1951 Cadillac ". It was a huge success also in the US market. In 1954 they launched the tin toy SSN submarine series and a vinyl "Mammy doll". Submarine toy could run underwater over 10m by friction motor.
In 1958, Marusan released their first plastic model kit, based on the submarine USS Nautilus. This model was recognized as the first Japanese domestic plastic model kit, though it was actually a copy of Revell's product. The following year, they started to sponsor Japanese TV program Land and Sea and Sky (陸と海と空 Riku to Umi to Sora?) focused on promoting plastic model kits into the Japanese market. They called their plastic model kits "Plamodel" (プラモデル puramoderu?) and registered it as a trademark in 1959. Marusan also tied up with Revell in 1960 and sold many Revell plastic models in Japan.
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