Showa GK
The Showa GK biological microscope was launched in 1927. In the 1920s, the company was already marketing a biological microscope equipped with an oil immersion objective lens (a microscope requiring a drop of oil between the specimen and the objective lens for observations) that allowed total magnification of over 1000x. However, in terms of performance, this microscope failed to achieve the standard of microscopes made by German and other manufacturers. The foreign-made microscopes, while offering superior quality, were too expensive for ordinary researchers and doctors.
Requests for an affordable, high quality, practical oil immersion type microscope came from Seikichi Iwasaki, the first president of Iwasaki Microscopes Co., Ltd. (currently Iwaken Co., Ltd.). Takachiho Seisakusho thus undertook development of a new microscope with the cooperation of Iwasaki Microscopes Co., Ltd. With the enthusiasm and unwavering efforts of marketer and manufacturer working together closely to support the development, the new model was named after Showa, Japan's new chronological era.
The Showa GK microscope was, at that time, at the pinnacle of domestically produced microscopes. For Olympus, it was one of its milestone products, driving the future evolution of its microscope business.