Tadao Kashio Biography: History of Casio Computer Company

Tadao Kashio

In this success story, we are going to share Tadao Kashio biography, a Japanese engineer, inventor, and entrepreneur. He was the President of Casio Computer Co., Ltd. The company headed by Tadao Kashio became one of the major competitors in the industry of electronic calculators, electronic watches, and personal computers, and it remains one of the global leaders in the market.

Early Life

Tadao Kashio (樫尾忠雄) was born on November 26, 1917, in Kureta-mura (now Nankoku City) in Kōchi Prefecture, Japan as the second son of father, Shigeru Kashio, and, mother, Kiyono Kashio. Tadao Kashio had three brothers Kazuo, Toshio, and Yukio. The house where the future inventor lived was growing up was nothing but ordinary and did not stand out from other houses in the neighborhood. The only notable distinction lied in the fact that one of its windows faced a medieval castle where several centuries before one of the most prominent Japanese poets, Kobayashi Issa, had stayed.

Until 1923, Tadao’s parents lived in the village cultivating rice fields. In September 1923, after the Great Kanto Earthquake, which devastated Tokyo and killed more than 100,000 people, they moved to the city at the invitation of an uncle to rebuild it from ruins. The Kashios had packed their humble belongings and started their way in pursuit of easier life and kinder fate, with the hope that their children would manage to get an education.

However, life was not easy by any means. The salary of a construction worker was tiny and in order to save some extra money for the eldest son’s education the father, Shigeru Kashio, cut down the expenses on public transport. Every day he walked on foot to and from work and spent around five hours for this commute. Taking into account such sacrifices, Tadao could not let his father down. In 1929, he graduated from the lower level of elementary in school. In 1931, he graduated from the upper level. Tadao was the best student in the class. Right after school graduation he got a job at a company that recycled oil cans. Soon he got a job at a company that produced military medals for soldiers. His manager was impressed with the Tadao’s performance, and soon he was taken as an apprentice to a lathe operator at the machine-tools factory Enomoto. Here too Tadao showed all his firmness and will to succeed in spite of everything – he came first to the factory in the morning and was the last one out. His diligence and intelligence had drawn the attention of the factory’s owner, Hiroshi Enomoto, and soon he encouraged Tadao Kashio to enter Waseda’s Worker’s School (now Waseda University) to deepen his professional knowledge while continue working at the factory.

Waseda’s Worker’s School (now Waseda University), a place where Tadao Kashio enriched his professional knowledge.

First Steps in Career and Marriage

Having finished Waseda’s Worker’s School, Tadao worked at a radio valve plant where he also showed himself as a skillful manager and inventor. He literally worked his fingers to the bones and was so exhausted and depleted, and also, ill with tuberculosis, that he was even found unsuitable for the army, which was a deep shame for a Japanese man of his time. For a long time Tadao crossed the street at the sight of a person in a uniform – he was too embarrassed to look them in the eyes.

Nevertheless, giving up was not in Tadao Kashio’s nature. He was determined to help his country as much as he could on the homefront so that Japanese soldiers had everything they needed to win the war. He immediately started to put his idea into action. The shells production workshop where Kashio worked at a plant had the highest indices not only in the amount but also in the quality of produce. However, it was not enough for the ambitious young man. Tadao dreamt about a more technologically equipped production not limited by any instructions. He could only achieve that at his own enterprise.

In summer 1942, amidst World War II, the Kashios had their first feast for many years. They had twice as much rice as usual. It was not cheap Chinese rice, but real Japanese one, with every grain full of a great nurturing power of a peasant who had grown it. Such an extraordinary squander was explained by the fact that at the beginning of the year Tadao Kashio started his small private production of components for aircraft. Having enough professional technical skills he bought a cheap lathe at the plant where he had worked, and established relations with potential clients. The lathe was set in the yard of their house in the shed built specifically for this purpose with the minimum of necessary equipment. Combined with determination and firmness of the close-knit family it was more than enough to begin with.

Producing details for military aircraft Tadao soon paid back the loan to the bank and earned enough money for the wedding. His mother, Kiyono Kashio, had chosen him a fine bride several years earlier, but they had to wait – it was uncommon to get married penniless in Japan. Finally, in 1943, Tadao Kashio and Shige Noguchi wedded and lived happily ever after.

Casio Computer Company

The end of World War II brought drastic changes to family’s life of Kashios. American bombers destroyed their house, well-operating production crashed down, and military goods stopped being ordered. Tadao’s brothers who had returned from the army could not find jobs. All of a sudden, Tadao was offered an extremely cheap milling machine. With the help of such equipment, lots of useful household things could be produced, such as frying pans, primus stoves, heaters, and they were in extreme demand during those poor after-war times. The problem was that the milling machine was at a warehouse 186 miles (300 km) away from Tokyo, and it was impossible to find any means of transportation back then. The head of the family, Tadao’s father, was the one to come up with the solution to a problem having demonstrated a heroic self-sacrifice again. He managed to borrow a two-wheel cart somewhere and having attached it to a bicycle he transported that milling machine that weighed around 1100 lbs (500 kg) up the road. The whole process took him several weeks, but in the end all efforts were well-remunerated.

In April 1946, Tadao Kashio established a company Kashio Seisakujo (“Casio Computer Company”) which produced various simple mechanisms. Tadao Kashio offered his brother, Toshio Kashio, to join his company and he agreed. Toshio gained some electrical knowledge at the Ministry of Communications (now NTT), and he decided to leave the place in order to pursue innovations. A mini-plant was located in the yard of their house, and Tadao and Toshio got to work. They produced very simple things such as yubiwa pipe, a finger ring that would hold a cigarette, and also devices for baking corn biscuits.

The Yubiwa Pipe by Casio, a finger ringer used to hold a cigarette.

The market of Japan ruined by war was first and foremost oriented at cheap goods since none of the potential consumers had any money. The yubiwa pipe soldered onto the cigarette holder gave a smoker double saving: it allowed to smoke while working, and besides it gave the opportunity to smoke the cigarette, which did not yet have a filter, to the end without burning the fingers. However, the main advantage of the Kashio brothers’ cigarette holder was that it made it possible to smoke in a traditional Japanese bath-house, sentō. The cigarette smoked through the holder did not soak in wet fingers of a Japanese worker exhausted by a 10-hour working day, which was exactly the pleasure they needed. Thus, the cigarette holders with rings were extremely popular and sold well.

The money earned with the help of the milling machine allowed the Kashio family not only to survive in post-war years but also to start planning the future. By that time, Tadao Kashio had already seen how the calculator worked, and all his thoughts were closely linked to it.

Pioneering an All-Electric Calculator

In 1949, Tadao attended a Business Show held in Ginza, Tokyo, which was organized in one of Tokyo theaters. On stage, there was a speed counting competition between an American soldier who was equipped with a huge electric calculator and a Japanese accountant who had the classical bone abacus at his disposal. The audience was watching the show with sinking hearts openly supporting the soldier; the desire to become a nation famous not only for its Samurai feats but also for the achievements in the field of technical and scientific progress prevailed in Japan at that time.

After the show, Tadao Kashio was inflamed by the idea of mass production of calculators. In January 1950, he offered his brother, Toshio Kashio to start developing the original model of an all-electric compact calculator. It was not enough for the Kashio brothers to have their own manufacture. They wanted to pursue an innovative idea.

The Kashio family was working hard during a day to earn some money for this project realization, and at night, the family worked on the improvement of their electric calculator. The task was complicated by the fact that not having any financial opportunity to hire external specialists for some works Tadao Kashio delegated all the technical part of the project to his brother Toshio Kashio.

In 1954, after testing dozens of prototypes, they finally developed Japan’s first electric calculator. They made a presentation of their device to Bunshodo Corporation, the company that was selling office supplies, including calculators. However, Bunshodo Corporation was not satisfied with their product and told them it was outdated during the development stage. It lacked the so-called multiplication function: having done one calculation the result had to be reset to be multiplied by another number. However, such nuisances did not put Tadao Kashio off. He took a loan from a bank and continued his work.

During the development of a new model, the Kashio brothers discovered that not only the basic capabilities of their device became out of date but also the principle of work. Thus, they had to change the project and switch to a more modern relay system. Soon, both younger brothers, Kazuo and Yukio, joined the team of Kashio Seisakujo. Each of them had their own area of responsibility: Tadao and Kazuo were responsible for the production, Toshio generated new ideas, and Yukio, who had studied mechanical engineering at university, drew the drafts.

The four Kashio brothers: (from left to right) Toshio, Kazuo, Tadao, and Yukio.

In 1956, the Kashio family were close to designing a calculator that would allow to apply multiplication function. The majority of calculating machines were devices, which used electricity to make internal pinions move. In order to create a smaller electric calculator and mass produce it, the Tashio Kashio decided to redesign completely it. The Kashio brothers had to apply relay schemes used at the telephone stations switchgear, eliminate the solenoid elements, and reduce number of relays from several thousands to 341. They also designed their own relay that could not be affected by dust. As a result, a new calculator did not rely on such mechanical elements as gears and had 10 number keys, just like modern pocket devices.

At the end of 1956, Tadao Kashio and his brothers decided to make a presentation of the invention in Sapporo. But when loading the calculator on a plane at the Haneda Airport, calculator exceed the allowable pickup size. Airport officials asked the Kashio brothers to detach the top part of the calculator. They tried to explain that it could damage it, but they still had to take off the top part. Upon arrival in Sapporo, they put the calculator back together, but it stopped working. After futile attempts to repair it, they realized that it would be impossible. Therefore, they had to make a presentation of their product on the slides.

Upon arrival back home, a representative from Uchida Yoko Co., Ltd contacted them. He asked Tadao Kashio to come to their office and demonstrate the work of their innovative device. They learned about it from the branch manager who had seen the presentation in Sapporo. Uchida Yoko was already familiar with Kashio Seisakujo, so they were confident in its reputation. After the presentation, Uchida Yoko offered to sign a contract of the exclusive dealership.

In June 1957, the first model 14-A was launched into production, and this marked the establishment of Casio Computer Co., Ltd (the name “Casio” is an Englishized pronunciation of the Kashio’s family name).

A new calculator weighed 140 kg (308 lbs) and was 1080mm wide, 780mm high and 445mm deep, which was a huge breakthrough for that time. Its name, Casio 14-A, meant that the calculator operated with fourteen-digit numbers and was the first in its generation. The selling price of the calculator was ¥485,000 (US$11,318.59 in today’s money, exchange rate was fixed at ¥360 per US$1 between 1949 and 1971). Better technical characteristics of the Casio relay calculator in comparison with the foreign ones made it possible to sell it for higher prices. Success was inevitable – the Japanese always preferred domestic products over the imported ones, whether it was rice or machinery.

Casio 14-A, the first Casio relay calculator.

The creation of a universal and super-accurate for its time relay calculator coincided with the general economic surge of the Land of the Rising Sun, and new orders flooded onto Casio Computer Co., Ltd.

Ups, Downs and Casio Philosophy

In 1960, Tadao Kashio became the President of the company. The production was extended, a new plant was built in Yamato-machi, Kitatama-gun (now Higashi Yamato City), and the employees were educated at a technical college specially opened for these purposes. Soon, Casio Computer released TUC Compuwriter, an automatic form output device that connected to an electric typewriter, and the AL-1 calculator designed for scientific purposes. The productive work of the company could not be stopped even by the exacerbation of its President’s old tuberculosis.

TUC Compuwriter, an automatic document generating device, which allowed programming of spreadsheets in connection with a typewriter and relay computer.

Tadao Kashio did all his best to fill his enterprise with a genuine Japanese spirit. At that time, it meant no less than working for the benefit of Japan. The dream of creating a Great Japanese Empire had collapsed, and the only way for the Japanese to realize their patriotism was to expand peacefully their economics to the markets of the countries, which had defeated them during World War II. Whatever the size or the status of the company where a Japanese worked, he ought to have been proud of it, regarding its success as his own, and its failure as a personal tragedy.

Tadao’s company was no exclusion from such a philosophy. The employees worked their fingers to the bones considering the company’s success their primary life purpose. The people who worked in the engineering department were just as zealous, and the head of the company was no different. For instance, Tadao’s brother and restless inventor, Tashio Kashio, contrived to use multi-colored wires, so that his workers could recognize them easier while assembling nodes. For Tadao, it was the first manifestation of concern for his employees, not just the know-how adopted throughout the world.

Mr. Kashio’s care for his workers went far beyond those multi-colored wires. He ordered to bring clean water from mountain sources for the employees to drink; they were provided with free lunches with accurately measured optimal amounts of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. Wonderful sports grounds were built right next to the plant.

Ironically, sports activities had almost ruined the company. The Kashio brothers got so involved in golf that basically neglected their work that led to the stagnation of new technologies development. Their competitors, Sharp Corporation most of all, immediately used the situation and launched production of new generation all-electronic calculators, which did not base on relay technology, but on newly invented transistors. Consequently, the demand for Casio Computer‘s relay calculators dropped heavily.

Era of Electronic Calculators

The company went into recession. Many workers wore mourning clothes as a symbol of difficult times. Nevertheless, in technical labs the development of fundamentally new kind of calculating machines went in full swings.

The company’s engineers tested transistor model prototype model and in September 1965, Casio Computer unveiled a product named 001, a desktop electronic calculator with on-board memory. It marked the beginning of a new era when calculators became compact enough to fit the tabletop. At the same time, the term “electronic calculator” became commonly used. With flow of time, the calculators got smaller and could be seen in more and more offices all around the world. In two years in the USA, there appeared the first Casio electronic programmable calculator, which was produced in America under the Commodore brand. Tadao’s plan turned out to be right: by the beginning of 70-s the reputation of Casio Computers had been completely reestablished.

001, the first desktop electronic calculator by Casio.

Notwithstanding, creating goods did not mean selling them. The competitors occupied domestic market, and that is why Tadao Kashio decided to start promotion of innovations abroad, in the largest cities of America and Europe. For that purpose, Casio Computer opened brand-shops in various countries with employees chosen and educated in accordance with the specifics of each location.

In 1970, Casio Computer entered the IPO market and was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. In the first day of trades, the share price jumped up ¥150 from the offering price to ¥630, Casio Computer‘s shares were trading as high as ¥640, before closing at ¥630. In total 810,000 shares were traded. In 1973, Casio Computer got listed on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, and in 1979, on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

Nevertheless, at that time calculators were so expensive that common people simply could not afford them. That is why the Casio Computer Co’s President set a task to his employees to create such a device, which would be affordable for individual consumers and could be used as the personal pocket calculator. In August 1972, the company achieved the results and released the Casio Mini – the world’s first personal calculator with a price tag of ¥12,800 ($231.60 in today’s money). In order to sell it, Casio Computer launched powerful TV commercial campaign. That helped to attract the attention of potential buyers. Soon, the Casio Mini took over the world market, and calculators became a part of everyday life. After ten months after the product release, Casio Computer sold one million devices.

Casio Mini, the world’s first personal pocket calculator.

Kashio’s attitude to his company’s management was that of a true Japanese: the company must be managed by a clan, but each member of the family must be more suitable for the position than any other employee of the company. For that, everyone must be educated and brought up accordingly. The main thing for prosperity is the ability to analyze one’s own experience and avoid making the same mistakes repeatedly. Constant hard work is the basis for commercial success; accomplishments do not interest the consumer; present day achievements is the only thing that matters.

For all those reasons, there were created several design departments at Casio Computer, each responsible for developing products that were expected to be in demand at various times – within 1 year, 3 years, 5 years etc. For the very same reasons, Kashio had considerably broadened the assortment of produced goods.

Casio Watches

Digital technology developed during calculators creation was used by Casio Computer Co., LTD to master then-fashionable direction of electronic components miniaturization. This allowed Casio to break through to a new market segment and master the watches industry.

Due to a very reliable reputation of their goods Switzerland had for centuries remained a leading manufacturer of the watches. However, at the end of 1960-s the leading European watch-making companies made a fatal error of declaring that producing electronic watches was beneath their dignity.

At first, digital watches were an expensive and fashionable brand-new type of accessory. However, soon it became apparent that they could be mass-produced at an extremely low cost, which was a considerable advantage over traditional mechanical watches. European manufacturers, who initially were naive enough to believe that people would still be choosing elegance and reliability of traditional chronometers, quickly gave the pas to the rapidly growing Chinese and Japanese companies, which produced affordable digital watches.

By 1970, Asian companies had greatly expanded their affordable watches production and started aggressively developing goods of higher quality. European manufacturers produced 97% of expensive watches (costing $400 or more), however, they had completely lost the cheap watches market (priced $70 and less) and half of the medium price watches market.

Tadao Kashio was one of the “invaders” who had ruined the watch monopoly of conservative and self-assured Europeans having created a wide variety of innovative wristwatches, which gained enormous popularity with people all around the world. Having tons of commercial experience in the field, famous brand name and the opportunity for capital attraction, Tadao Kashio decisively intruded into the new market. He took the risk, but he had prepared for it. The release of Casio watches available in the full price range from cheap disposable ones to luxurious status ones consolidated the company’s success. Casio Computer Co., Ltd was one of the first companies to have produced quartz watches. It was also one of the first manufacturers of watches that could display the time in many different time zones and of watches with temperature, atmospheric pressure, altitude, and even Positioning System displays. Global Casio watches became the symbol of the company as recognizable as a calculator.

In November 1974, Tadao Kashio unveiled to the public the CASIOTRON, the first electronic wristwatch that not only displayed accurate time but also featured an entirely automatic calendar, including month lengths and leap years. The watch model was based on Casio‘s motto: “Time is a continuous process of addition.”

CASIOTRON, the first model of electronic wristwatch by Casio.

From 1980, Casio Computer Co., Ltd started to apply digital technologies in fundamentally new concepts. In January 1980, the company released Casiotone-201, an electronic musical keyboard that played sounds generated electronically. Besides, the company produced a wide range of electronic devices such as pocket LCD TV sets, Japanese word processors, home videophones, car navigation systems, radios, printing machines, pagers, electronic notebooks and many other pioneer devices which have literally improved people’s lives.

Secret of Success

Tadao Kashio was not only the founder of a successful enterprise but also its longstanding head for 28 years. After his retirement in 1988, his brother Toshio Kashio took over the reins of power. Two other brothers, Kazuo and Yukio, were therefore promoted to higher positions. As of May 13, 2015, Kazuo Kashio holds the position President and CEO at Casio Group; Yukio Kashio serves as the Chairman of Casio Micronics Co., Ltd and as Representative Director of Casio America, Inc. Tadao Kashio continued to work at his company as a consultant until his very death. He died at the age of 75 on March 5, 1993, in Tokyo central hospital. The cause of death was respiratory failure.

Tadao Kashio success story is a genuinely Japanese phenomenon based not on reckless luck and fate trying but on thorough work and personal austerity. These two personal qualities of Tadao Kashio turned his company into one of the world’s leaders in the area of high technology praised by business analysts for innovative management and aggressive but efficient marketing and pricing. Tadao Kashio himself, as a true Japanese man, explained his success by the life-long service to the society. At the end of his life, he liked to repeat, “If you want to be happy give all your strength to the other people’s happiness, as my father did”.

Casio’s Headquarters in Shibuya, Tokyo.

Nowadays Casio Computer Co., Ltd continues to keep up with scientific and technological progress. The company, which employs around eleven thousand people worldwide, produces various unique goods such as compact organizers, powerful pocket computers with a complete set of office applications, digital cameras, high-speed printing systems, watches  G-Shock and Wave Ceptor ranges), miniature digital cameras and temperature and depth indicators, and many other devices. As of 2014, Casio Computer Co., Ltd consolidated net sales reached ¥321.7 ($2.699) billion. Casio’s world headquarters is located in Shibuya, Tokyo.

As Tadao Kashio would always say, if it is not completely original it is not Casio. This idea remains the fundamental basis for the company’s new developments. Casio has always been an ardent follower of the strategy of implementing fresh ideas and innovative technologies into new devices that fill our everyday life with new possibilities. Tadao Kashio life story shows that all his accomplishments he achieved thanks to his hard work, perseverance, and a well-organized team of professionals. We hope you have enjoyed exploring Tadao Kashio biography and history of Casio Computer Co., Ltd and it has inspired you to innovative discoveries.

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