Pentax is a brand name used by Pentax Ricoh Imaging Company for cameras, sport optics , etc., Hoya Corporation for its medical-related products & services, TI Asahi for its surveying instruments, and Seiko Optical Products for some of its optical lenses. The company was founded as Asahi Kogaku Goshi Kaisha in November 1919 by Kumao Kajiwara, at a shop in the Toshima suburb of Tokyo, and began producing spectacle lenses . In 1938 it changed its name to Asahi Optical Co., Ltd. , and by this time it was also manufacturing camera/cine lenses. In the lead-up to World War II, Asahi Optical... devoted much of its time to fulfilling military contracts for optical instruments. At the end of the war Asahi Optical was disbanded by the occupying powers, being allowed to re-form in 1948. The company resumed its pre-war activities, manufacturing binoculars and consumer camera lenses for Konishiroku and Chiyoda Kōgaku Seikō .
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| Founded: | 1919 |
| Founders: | Kumao Kajiwara |
| Headquarters: | Tokyo, Japan |