The history of Ikutaro Kakehashi and his brand, Roland Corporation
Roland Corporation is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of musical instruments and equipment. The Japanese company’s history is full of ups and downs worth exploring.
Ikutaro Kakehashi, born in 1930, is the founder of Roland. His health issues prevented him from attending university, so in 1946, he moved from his hometown of Osaka to Takaticho. There, he took up watch repair and opened his workshop. However, his health took a turn for the worse, confining him to a hospital bed for four years. During this time, he recalled his childhood fascination with radio technology and started assembling receivers.
It all started with a home appliance store
After recovering in 1954, Kakehashi returned to Osaka and opened a home appliance store. The business grew rapidly, and in 1960, Kakehashi repurposed the store as a manufacturing facility. The new company, Ace Electronic, focused on producing electronic organs. However, success did not come immediately; sales of the first organ were unsuccessful. Fortunately, the investment firm Sakata Shokai came to the rescue by financing production. Thanks to Sakata Shokai, Ikutaro signed a contract with National, a brand of the Matsushita Corporation. Thus, Ace began mass-producing instruments.
The next stage in the company’s development was merging with the Hammond brand. In 1970, the new company began selling goods in Japan.
A new chapter in the business history
Sakata remained the company’s key shareholder. However, in 1972, the company ran into financial difficulties and was taken over by Sumitomo Chemical. The new management’s vision for Ace’s development differed from Kakehashi’s. Therefore, he decided to leave and start his own company where he could make decisions independently.
The Roland brand began with:
– renting a hangar;
– an initial investment of US$100,000;
– a team of seven employees who left Ace with Ikutaro.
The most popular company’s instruments
A new company’s first product was a rhythm machine, but Roland gained worldwide recognition for its synthesizer. Released in 1973, it was distinguished by its lack of standard sounds. Other popular instruments from the company include:
– the RE-201 series effect pedal;
– the System 700 modular synthesizer for professional musicians;
– a microprocessor-based sequencer, which was one of the first in the world;
– the first guitar synthesizer of its kind;
– the world’s first drum machine.
The 1980s marked a new stage in the company’s development. Ikutaro focused on chips for programming drum machines. These devices became the foundation for creating electronic and hip-hop music.
Kakehashi stepped down as head of Roland in 2001, though he remained an advisor to the company. The business continues to evolve and keep up with the times. The brand is going digital; in addition to hardware, Roland now offers software for musical equipment.
