From LEGO® Denmark To LEGO® Japan Corporation
LEGO® has indeed been a household name. And I’m in no doubt that for most people out there; LEGO® has been a childhood toy. But a few years ago, LEGO® has entered and stayed, in the hearts of both children and adults. For years, LEGO® has enticed people both young and old to challenge their creativity. LEGO® bricks have become part of the norm for children and are now taking the adult world by storm. Lots of LEGO® enthusiasts would agree that the feeling of completing an exceptionally hard LEGO® sculpture or creation is very satisfying as well as enjoyable.
The roots of the LEGO® Japan Corporation started in Denmark, where Ole Kirk Christiansen first made the LEGO® toys in 1932. Back then the LEGO® toys were made of wood and didn’t look like the plastic bricks that we use today. It was not until 1949 when automatic binding bricks were created by the company. These were the precursor of the LEGO® bricks that we know today.
Today LEGO® Japan Corporation as well as other branches makes millions and millions of LEGO® bricks, people, landscapes, kits, Mindstorms, Duplo, everyday. It’s not a surprise at how LEGO® Japan Corporation has come so far in the Japanese community. It wasn’t really until 1962 that LEGO® Japan Corporation started in the country, back then it wasn’t a corporation, but this year was a milestone for the LEGO® Japan Corporation because this was the year that LEGO® started to distribute in Japan.
In 1978, a sturdier foundation for the LEGO® Japan Corporation has been established in the form of LEGO Japan (Nihon LEGO K.K.), when LEGO® branched out into Japan. This paved the way for new LEGO® products, especially with the robot gravitation of Japanese, which made LEGO® Technic and LEGO® Mindstorms an instant hit in the country.
Later in 1992, the LEGO® Japan Corporation was firmly established, factories and warehouses were built in Japan and the market increased more rapidly than before.
In 1994 there was another milestone when e-mail was used to communicate between the home branch in Billund and the LEGO® Japan corporation, this made distribution and cooperation easier, which had good effects on sales, and in turn popularity of LEGO® in Japan.
And because of good turnout, LEGO® Japan Corporation is now supporting LEGO® communities in Japan and is even hosting several activities involving LEGO®.
Another sign of LEGO® Japan Corporation’s support for the country was the use of Warp 5500, which uses LEGO® Mindstorm Technology for education. LEGO® Japan Corporation has teamed up with Eiwa System management to create this system that contains a curriculum (Ministry approved) for the enhanced learning of junior high school students and teaches them how to build robots. This was a late development considering Japans robot gravitation, but was still a welcome development.
In early January of 2005, LEGO® Japan Corporation also declared the Year 2005, “The Year of LEGO®”. Because since its introduction in 1962, LEGO® has not only been confined to the snap on bricks, but is also now breaking through to Japanese Fashion. LEGO® Japan Corporation is now planning to sell T-shirts printed with the LEGO® toys and figures. The shirts cost about 3,000 yen and a notable example is a shirt that has a LEGO® camping team showing animals of the forest and recreational vehicles.
