Oki Reel to Reel Tape Recorders

In 1881 Kibataro Oki (1848–1906) founded Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd which produced the first telephone made in Japan, five years after it had been invented. They continued to be almost exclusively in telephone communications until the US entered World War II and at that time began to diversify into field telephones, aeronautical radios and hydrophones. Wartime production drove rapid expansion for the company. At the end of the war, with 23,000 employees working in 20 different plants, it was time for OKI to scale back. They closed 15 factories and 18,000 people became unemployed. These were challenging times with material shortages and a very high demand to rebuild the telephone system which was severely damaged, not to mention the telephones themselves, that were in short supply.

Shibaura, the only factory that was destroyed during the war was rebuilt in 1953 to manufacture telephones and radios.
Raytheon, a leading American defense electronics contractor, curiously, decided to enter into a joint venture with OKI in 1954 in an effort to help them rebuild and they began diversify into radar equipment.
by the end of the 1950s, OKI morphed again, building early semiconductors and computers. By 1960, OKI was big again and one of the top 6, dominating business in Japan. The other companies included Mitsubishi , Toshiba NEC, Hitachi and Fujitsu.
Tape recorders were introduced in 1963 but they would only continue in this market until 1967. Around this time, a decision was made to exit consumer electronics and focus on telecommunications infrastructure, banking technology and later on in printers.

The tape recorders were branded as OKI and OkiCorder which were the portable models.