Yamaha History

With roots tracing back to the late 19th century, Yamaha has become one of the world’s leading manufacturers in a wide range of industries. Torakusu Yamaha, the eponymic entrepreneur, began his career as a watchmaker before taking over as the president of Nippon Gakki Co., which eventually become the Yamaha Corporation. The name has become so entrenched in society that many people forget that the company has only had the Yamaha name since the 100th anniversary in 1987.

Originally, Yamaha started out selling piano and reed organs. Although the company has since branched out into a variety of other industries—from motorcycles to Yamalube 2M—musical instrument manufacturing continues to be the foundation of the company. Currently, Yamaha is the world’s leading manufacturer of instruments and had recognized over $4.5 billion in revenue as of March 2009.