Farewell tour to soon-to-be-dismantled historical facility of Nikon

[Akira]

Nikon facility in Ohi-machi, Tokyo is the first facility of Nikon whose construction was completed in 1933.  Many historical cameras like Nikon I (no, not the Nikon 1!), F, F2, etc.  There was production lines up to the F3 era.  Nikon decided to demolish this historical facility because of its age.

Prior to the dismantlement of the facility, Nikon invited some selected people for the last factory tour.  The tour guide was Mr. Tetsuro Goto who had been involved with the development of Nikon flagship models from F3 to D3.

Here's a report of the tour posted on Impress-Watch.  Sorry that all texts are in Japanese.  The penthouse is the testing room for the weatherability where the sample models are exposed to the direct sun.  There are some pictures of the testing rooms for the rainfall and underwater respectively.

The building that is not aligned with the other ones is the testing facility for large-scale telescopes.  The facility is built to align with all four points of the compass and has a pair of roofs that can be slid apart to open.

Here is the link.  If you have any questions about the article, please feel free to ask.

http://dc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/20160318_747284.html

[Erik Lund]

That is a bit of a sad story that they will remove it,,,

[richardHaw]

shoganai. it cant be helped i think. building laws are strict. even in my country we have a 50 years max that is enforced 

[Hugh_3170]

Goodness - that seems severe.  Where is this?

Does this rule apply to all buildings or just certain types such as factories or industrial buildings? 

If applied here in Australia, we would have lost all of our historic buildings by now.  That said, Australian developers and bull dozer drivers are extremely adapt at knocking buildings down between the hours of midnight and 6am!  All over by the sunrise and since the developers more often than not are also the city fathers, a blind eye gets turned to such behaviours.   

Back on topic:  Do you know if Nikon are planning to rebuild on this historic site?

shoganai. it cant be helped i think. building laws are strict. even in my country we have a 50 years max that is enforced 

[Gary]

My heart is sad. For three decades I shot Nikon, F's, FTn's, F2's and F3's. For me, there was no better camera that did so much, so well, from the Arctic to rainforests to deserts my Nikons took a beating, never complained and never broke. Since the 1960's until today, a Nikon was there to captured every significant, newsworthy, historic event ... across the world.  To me, that is a pretty high bar.  I am sad ... but I also celebrate the death of that factory and what it did for me and other photojournalists. 

[Akira]

Thanks, guys for the comments.

The location is here:

https://www.google.co.jp/maps/place/35%C2%B036'11.3%22N+139%C2%B043'31.8%22E/@35.6031289,139.7245261,18z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x0

The problem is that the facility is located right in the business/residential zone.  I think there were virtually no buildings around the facility when it was built in 1933, because Nishi-Ohi (sorry, Ohi-machi is the name of the town next to it) is fairly far from the central part of Tokyo.  The business, commercial and residential areas have expanded so much since then.  So, unless they dismantle the current facility, there is no way to build a new facility.  Unlike in the States or Australia where there are abundance of lands, it is not easy or cheap just to leave the old facility as it is and build new one next to it or in another place.  The situation of Taiwan should be the same.

Another reason would be that we have centuries old constructions.  Compared to them, a decades old facility would look nothing but a well used one, regardless of its historical value, unless it is designed in a certain unique architectural style.

[Gary]

I understand the demand of business and the need for change ... it was just good/comforting to know that the factory which crafted the F was still around and ticking.