The first purpose of this paper is to analyze the historical factors of the Japanese magnetic recorder (tape recorder and video tape recorder [=VTR]) industry, which developed in the 1950s, and identify the characteristics of the industry. The second purpose is to examine the point at issue, that “the development of the tape recorder industry contributed to the VTR industry.” I first pay attention to the beginning of the development of magnetic recorders in Japan and next analyze the activities of Japanese companies (i.e, Sony, Matsushita, JVC, and Toshiba) from this time.
The television industry, the most famous in the Japanese electronic industry, has a pattern of growth of catching up with and surpassing Western countries, but the magnetic recorder industry is different. This industry expanded to meet the demands of Japanese broadcasters who required tape recorders to record their programs. Sony was the only company that first took up the challenge to develop tape recorders. There was no objection from other companies because there was only a small consumer market and only a professional market for tape recorders in the world in the 1950s. As for VTRs, Japanese companies were the only ones to develop helical scan (a technique later adopted by Beta and VHS) VTRs in the world. This means that there were not only products for them to market like tape recorders, but also to develop. These are the characteristics of the Japanese magnetic recorder industry that differ from the television industry.
This paper analyzes the point at issue that “the development of the tape recorder industry contributed to the VTR industry” from the viewpoint of technology, staff, and experience in the development of products. It was found that the contribution of the tape recorder industry was of little consequence because of the time lag between the common use of the tape re-corder and VTRs. But in actuality, Japanese companies developed magnetic recorders at almost the same time. Therefore, it is difficult to generalize the point at issue.

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