Japanese television industry greatly lagged behind the U.S. and the U.K. in technological development in the early 1950s. But the saturation rate of TV in Japan increased in the latter half of the 1950s at a higher rate than those of these two countries in their corresponding expansion periods. The aim of this paper is to make clear the supply side factors which promoted the rapid spread of TV in Japan.
The view that standardizing a cheap model would make the spread of TV faster prevailed among those in the TV industry in the early 1950s. Denpa Gijutsu Kyôkai (Radio Engineering & Electronics Association) made a research study to establish what was the standard model and recommended from 10 in. to 14 in. models as popular ones. This affected the assessment of the Commodity Tax on TV, so that the rate on a set with under 14 in. screen was lowered. The proposal of the standard model, the lowered tax rate and market selection made TV production in the late 1950s concentrate on almost one type, namely the 14 in. model. Set makers vied in establishing mass production based on the U.S. technology so as to lower the set price. This concentration made more effective the mass production of, not only the set itself, but also various TV parts, especially picture tubes and glass bulbs which contributed much to reduce the TV cost. As a result, the TV market expanded rapidly in the latter half of the 1950s, so that the Japanese TV industry could develop its competitive power in a relatively short span of time.
