Size 28 mm.
Obverse
皇太子殿下御成婚記念 - Crown Prince's Wedding Commemorative
reverse
セキネの自転車 - Sekine Bicycle
Obverse
皇太子殿下御成婚記念 - Crown Prince's Wedding Commemorative
reverse
セキネの自転車 - Sekine Bicycle
Chuzo Sekine from Tokyo began manufacturing bicycles in Arakawa in 1912. It was a small enterprise in Japan’s domestic market for some time and little detail is available about its operations. We do know that in 1950 the Sekine Company received a Japanese Trade Industry Award and that in 1962 they passed an industrial standards examination.
The city of Arakawa was a working class, industrial community and the original Sekine’s were designed for practical transportation. Cars were not common and bikes were used for getting to work and running errands. The early Sekine’s often had very large baskets or bins attached. This was long before biking became primarily a recreational activity.
Winnipeg filmmaker Derek Eidse interviewed Michio Kimura, who used to be the head engineer for Sekine Canada, as well as the assistant to the President of Sekine Canada. He knew the original Mr. Sekine from Arakawa, Japan.
He was known as a very humble man, and it was said of him that, “The lower he bowed, the more money he made.” As a businessman he had an eye for detail and quality, and would regularly send raw materials back to suppliers if it didn’t meet his approval.
The product evolved with the times. Bikes made in the 50’s were far from glamorous. They were heavy dependable vehicles, built to last. But they also had distinctive detailing that carried over into the modern era when bikes became more about recreation than about mere transportation.
In 1968, Sekine’s new factory in Saitama Prefecture was the most modern bicycle production facility in Japan. In 1969, the product was selected as, “the best designed bicycle by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry in Japan.
The city of Arakawa was a working class, industrial community and the original Sekine’s were designed for practical transportation. Cars were not common and bikes were used for getting to work and running errands. The early Sekine’s often had very large baskets or bins attached. This was long before biking became primarily a recreational activity.
Winnipeg filmmaker Derek Eidse interviewed Michio Kimura, who used to be the head engineer for Sekine Canada, as well as the assistant to the President of Sekine Canada. He knew the original Mr. Sekine from Arakawa, Japan.
He was known as a very humble man, and it was said of him that, “The lower he bowed, the more money he made.” As a businessman he had an eye for detail and quality, and would regularly send raw materials back to suppliers if it didn’t meet his approval.
The product evolved with the times. Bikes made in the 50’s were far from glamorous. They were heavy dependable vehicles, built to last. But they also had distinctive detailing that carried over into the modern era when bikes became more about recreation than about mere transportation.
In 1968, Sekine’s new factory in Saitama Prefecture was the most modern bicycle production facility in Japan. In 1969, the product was selected as, “the best designed bicycle by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry in Japan.