History of Topcon

Sept. 1932

TOPCON was established based on the surveying instruments division of K.Hattori & Co.,Ltd. (currently SEIKO HOLDINGS CORPORATION) in order to manufacture the optical instruments for Japanese Army, which are surveying instruments, binoculars and cameras.
Corporate Name: Tokyo Kogaku Kikai Kabushikikaisha (Tokyo Optical Co., Ltd.)
Head Office: 2, Ginza 4-chome, Kyobashi-ku, Tokyo
Factories: Toshima-ku and Takinogawa-ku, Tokyo

Apr. 1933

Built head office and main factory at 180, Shimura-motohasunuma-cho, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo (current address) and moved head office functions there.

Aug. 1945

Temporarily closed factories after the end of World War II. Received authorization from Tokyo governor to convert the factory for production of civil products and reopened factory to manufacture binoculars and surveying instruments.

Dec. 1946

Established Yamagata kikai kogyo kabushikikaisha. (currently Topcon Yamagata Co., Ltd.) in Yamagata-shi, Yamagata Prefecture.

Dec. 1947

Started selling lens meters. Started Ophthalmic and Medical Instruments business.

May 1949

Listed its stock on Tokyo and Osaka Stock Exchanges.

Mar. 1960

Became an affiliate of Tokyo Shibaura Electric Co.,Ltd. (currently TOSHIBA CORPORATION).

May 1963

Started selling a single-lens reflex camera “TOPCON RE Super” adopting TTL.

Oct. 1969

Established Tokyo Kogaku Seiki Kabushikikaisha (currently OPTONEXUS Co., Ltd.) in Tamura-gun, Fukushima Prefecture.

Apr. 1970

Established Topcon Europe N.V.(currently Topcon Europe B.V.) in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

Sept. 1970

Established Topcon Instrument Corporation of America (currently Topcon Medical Systems, Inc.) in New York, U.S.A. (currently New Jersey State).

Jan. 1975

Established Topcon Sokki Co., Ltd. (currently Topcon Sales corporation), a surveying instrument sales company.

Dec. 1976

Established Topcon Medical Japan Co., Ltd., an medical instrument sales company.

Apr. 1978

Started selling a electric distance meter DM-C1 adopting a near-infrared.

Oct. 1978

Started selling a refractometer RM-100 incorporating near-infrared beam and a television system.

Mar. 1979

Established Topcon Singapore Pte. Ltd. in Singapore.

Apr. 1986

Established Topcon Optical (H.K.) Ltd. in Hong Kong.

Sept. 1986

Listed on First Sections of Tokyo and Osaka Stock Exchanges.

Apr. 1989

Changed its corporate name to TOPCON CORPORATION.

Apr. 1991

Entry into electron beam business.

Dec. 1991

Built an engineering center in corporate premises.

Mar. 1994

Surveying Instrument Division obtained ISO 9001, certification. (Ophthalmic and Medical Instruments, Industrial Instruments and Optical Devices Divisions also obtained ISO 9001 certification subsequently)

Sept. 1994

Established Topcon Laser Systems, Inc. (currently Topcon Positioning Systems, Inc.) in California, U.S.A., acquired Advanced Grade Technology, advanced into machine control business.

Oct. 1994

Delivered a nationwide GPS continuous observation system to Geographical Survey Institute, Ministry of Construction, Japanese Government.

Sept. 1997

Obtained ISO 14001 certification, an international standard for environment management systems.

July 2000

Acquired Javad Positioning Systems Inc. in the United States and started selling precision GPS receivers and related system products.

July 2001

Established Topcon America Corporation in New Jersey, U.S.A., as a holding company. Reorganized the subsidiaries in the United States dividing them into the ophthalmic and medical instrument business and the positioning business.

Apr. 2002

Established Topcon Finance Corporation.

July 2002

Liquidated Topcon Singapore Pte. Ltd. and established Topcon South Asia Pte. Ltd. in Singapore.

Feb. 2004

Established Topcon (Beijing) Opto-Electoronics Corporation in Beijing, China.

July 2005

Reorganized sales subsidiaries in Europe and newly established two firms in the European market — one overseeing eye care business and the other overseeing positioning business — with Topcon Europe B.V. as the holding company.

July 2005

Transferred from part of the HOYA CORPORATION Vision Care Company's ophthalmic instruments segment in Japan.

Apr. 2006

Implemented two-for-one stock split.

Aug. 2006

Acquired ANKA Systems, Inc., in the United States for full-fledged entry into the ophthalmic network business in the United States.

Oct. 2006

Acquired KEE Technologies Pty Ltd., in Australia for entry into field of agriculture.

Apr. 2007

In order to build a global group and quick business expansion, Topcon adopted three business structure, Positioning Business Unit, Eye Care Business Unit and Finetech Business Unit.

May 2007

Business rights for mobile control (navigation systems, ITS and others) transferred to U.S. subsidiary from Javad Navigation Systems, Inc.

Feb. 2008

Conducted a takeover bid for shares of SOKKIA Co., LTD. and made it a subsidiary to enhance competitiveness of the Positioning Business in the global market.

△pagetop