The History Walk Route: A Tour Through the History of Yamaha

The history of the Yamaha Group dates back to 1887, when founder Torakusu Yamaha repaired an imported organ for an elementary school. History Walk is an exhibit of over 200 items tracing that history. See some of the earliest organs and pianos, audio and sports equipment and home electronics and appliances from the 1960s, when Yamaha evolved into the world’s largest manufacturer of musical instruments, digital instruments for a digital world, and more. View these authentic objects on grand wall displays and the expansive museum floor as you stroll through Yamaha’s history of innovation.

The tour begins with a reed organ manufactured just after the company’s founding, along with a player piano released in 1913. The foot pedals on the player piano force air through holes in the piano roll causing the corresponding keys to be pressed down. The technology was quite advanced for the time. After World War II, Yamaha turned to manufacturing motorcycles as a way to use its propeller manufacturing equipment left over from the war. On display is the first motorcycle model, the 1955 YA-1, as well as fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP) skis and other sports equipment that went on sale in the 1960s.

The second half of History Walk is dedicated to digital instruments. The desire to improve the sound of the Electone laid the foundation for later efforts in synthesizer development. See Yamaha’s landmark synthesizers, including the DX7, which heralded the digital era with an FM tone generator that made it the synthesizer of choice for popular artists all over the world. Memorably unique digital instruments include the Miburi, a wearable instrument that allows the wearer to use gestures to make music. As History Walk winds into the 1990s, you encounter the Silent Series, which enables people to practice and play without bothering others, and the Venova, a casual wind instrument manufactured in 2017. These are just some of the new ways to enjoy music imagined by Yamaha.