Kobe Kogyo transistor radio 1959-1960 like new-in-box UNBOXING KT-75 Japan - collectornet.net

Today we're going to unbox one of these!

Kobe Kogyo, one of the earliest players in the transistor radio business in Japan, made several exceptional radios. Here is one of them.

Annnnnndddd.... stuff falls out. There's the radio and the case, and a little bag made of a sort of paper that is, I think, called glassine. Kind of a waxed paper. Inside is what looks like the manual. And here's a "polishings cloth." Great! I love these little details, especially when the English is not quite right.

Let's look at that glassine sleeve and see if we can get what's in it out of it. It's discolored, the way pulp paper discolors. At least that's how it looks to me. And yes, here is the owner's manual. It begins with "Insertion of Battery." Well, naturally. Then we move on to "Switch." Seems logical. Earphone, Replacement of Battery, and Specifications. Kobe Kogyo Corporation in Kobe, with a Tokyo branch office.

And the Polishings Cloth. Many of these early Japanese transistors came with little cloths for cleaning them.

And here's a little red & white example of this model. Just about as cute as you could ever hope a transistor radio to be. Inside and out, this is an impressive little gizmo. By the time this model came out, the transistor radio--even the pocket-size radios--had branched into several sub-groups. There were purse-size radios, and vest-pocket size radios. Within just a couple of years there would be micro radios. But this Kobe Kogyo is in a niche I'd call the "small shirt-pockets." Not a micro, but small enough to conceal in your hand if you wanted to. There were a few little Toshiba models in this same niche.

TEN. All the Kobe Kogyos say "TEN." What does this mean? Well, it doesn't mean a number, and they aren't initials either. What "Ten" is is a translation of the Chinese character which means Heaven in Chinese and Japanese. The company's history dates to 1920 when they started as Kawanishi Machine Works. They eventually morphed into a name some might recognize: Fujitsu Ten. Today, they are known as Denso Ten and they mostly make car audio, video, and navigation systems under the Eclipse brand.

The Kobe Kogyo KT-75.

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