Sansui Japan Headquarters. Building has face like speaker grill.

johnny_fever

johnny_fever

Sansui Addict. No Serious. Not Kidding.
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While in Tokyo Japan I tried to find any of the Sansui historical buildings. No such luck. I was really happy to visit many stereo & Record stores. Here is a Sansui link with some sketchy info and pics. I always thought this building was beautiful. Rick

もうひとつの山水電気

もうひとつの山水電気。山水電気株価情報・SANSUI写真館・誰も知らなかった山水電気を始め、山水電気情報満載です。
papagon.main.jp
 

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Yes, that Tokyo HQ building was really cool, and I marvel that Sansui spent the money to have custom masonry made to give it the appearance of their signature speaker grilles (at the time the building was constructed, anyway). Regrettably, it was demolished many years ago. A shipping and logistics company occupies the site now with a large building that appears to date to the 90's or early 2000's.

I'm pretty certain Sansui had moved their headquarters at least once during the downsizing that took place after they were acquired, so the pictured building was probably abandoned by them by the early to mid 90's. I have a picture of it somewhere that shows it was still there around 1985. I assume the site was sold and developed after that.

I don't know what year those 4 posted photos were taken, but I've seen them before. It almost appears as if the building was already vacant when they were shot, unless it was a weekend and they were closed (no vehicles in lot).
 
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I agree with everything you said. I always felt the building was an example of how Sansui rolled. No expense spared. I have seen so much conflicting info on the Sansui history. Makes it more challenging for sure.
 
I've come across that site before, quite a while back. Guess I lost the bookmark somewhere along the way. Pretty cool seeing all the content there. Now I know where the photos of the Saitama office originated, and that there are more photos from that same set.

I note too that one of their primary factories was in Fukushima prefecture, and wonder if that facility would've been wiped out (or left unusable) by the earthquake, flooding and nuclear contamination that took place there in 2011, had Sansui not already been gone by the time that occured. It appears my supposition about the timing of their departure from the Tokyo HQ with the fancy facade was about right, based on the timeline given.

Have to wonder if, had Sansui survived as an independent going concern, they would've remodeled the exterior of that building. Obviously, by the mid 80's, the kumiko wood grill that was a long running signature styling element of their speaker systems was no longer being used, and so the building design has become something of a relic in its own right. I'd prefer for it to have been left as is, since I think it was really neat looking, and was a nod to the company history. Alas, it wasn't to be, since they relocated out of that facility amidst the corporate buyout and reorganization that took place after 1989.
 
All good points @Sansuiman. Yes, I believe that site was discussed in the past. The building in question had me wanting to post again. @bluesky has a hard drive full of Sansui rarities, company history and tons of product info. Maybe @bluesky can describe the Hard drive accessibility problem he is having. He could write a Sansui book
 
Another thing that has emerged from reading that site (but not specifically related to buildings) is how many different divisions Sansui had. I don't know much of anything about Japanese corporate law, so perhaps there are some legal or financial benefits to doing so, but it appears that over time Sansui "spun off" each of it's different factories as a quasi-independent corporate entity.

These all still existed under the umbrella of Sansui Electric Co. Ltd., but had unique names by facility/division. Granted, US corporations tend to have multiple operating subsidiary companies, but not so much to the level of granularity that Sansui appears to have established by particular factory. In any case, reading that history is the first I have been aware of the existence of all these subsidiary operating units. We tend to think of Sansui as a comparatively small company (alongside outfits like Pioneer and Yamaha, who were huge) yet it looks like they were bigger (in terms of facilities and head count) than I'd thought.

This was also the first I learned that they had established a logistics division. Which I guess makes sense, since at their peak they were moving an enormous amount of product. Having an in-house shipping/logistics operation of their own makes some kind of sense, instead of paying an outside firm to handle it all. I wonder how much the establishment of this division was driven by their business in US military exchanges, as I don't know how product was moved from factories to on base exchanges. Obviously, for a significant portion of their best years, US military exchanges were a major component of their sales network.
 
Yes, Sansui's MAJOR purchaser was the Military through the Military PXs. When the Vietnam war ended, no more 'advanced pay' for the GIs, no more Hazardous duty pay also, and that was the beginning of the end for Sansui.

The book I was writing - had it all written in MS Works vice MS Word. MS quit sponsoring MS Works. Anyway, doesn't matter, MURPHY stopped by and my computer AND external hard drive both crashed out at the exact same time - connected - while I was transfereing one external hard drive to another, using it all together, & that was the end of that. The whole project went down the drain. I just regret losing all the digital photos, some early, some Rare and some unpublished. :dunno: And it even does get much heavier than that anyway. So, unfortunately, the 'book was over 20 years ago. Too many internal & external 'issues'.

>> A as far as company history is concerned - Episode 1 through 4 above (Annals of Shanshui Electric) is the best super detailed history I've ever found & read. It takes a while to read & to translate the translation so it can be understood in its entirety, but it's fun and worth the time to do it. Maybe it has a new improved translation program now so it's much easier to understand the first or second time around.
 
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@LBPete, Sansui's US distribution and marketing division also had (at one point) an East Coast office in Lyndhurst, NJ. Also (not sure if prior to or after the NJ location) had an office in Woodside, NY. These, and the CA office, were extant during their heydey, from the 70's to mid 80's.
 
I treasure all the dedication you guys have show towards Sansui equipment and history. Some of AK Sansui greats sure helped paved our way. @Stene is one of the many that influenced me early on. Stene worked for Sansui back in the day. @BeatlrFred informed me of Stens passing. @Morden2004 also comes to mind on his Sansui Data entries.
 
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Sansuiman said:
@LBPete, Sansui's US distribution and marketing division also had (at one point) an East Coast office in Lyndhurst, NJ. Also (not sure if prior to or after the NJ location) had an office in Woodside, NY. These, and the CA office, were extant during their heydey, from the 70's to mid 80's.
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At some point they either moved the LA HQ to 17150 South Margay Ave Carson CA or used it as a second warehouse. This location is about 1/2 mile from the Alondra blvd location.

- Pete
 
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