Canon S (1946)

Records show that only about 100 Canon S 1 cameras were made. It is likely that the parts stocked before and during the war were used to make these cameras. When Japan's wartime devastation got worse, military supplier Seiki-Kogaku was evacuated to Yamanashi Prefecture. Peace came only when Japan lost the war. After the war ended, Seiki-Kogaku had no means to transport its factory machinery from Yamanashi to Tokyo. A camera-loving U.S. commanding officer of a communications unit stationed in Yokohama heard about this and had military trucks transport the factory equipment to the company's main factory in Meguro, Tokyo. In appreciation, the company made and presented a Canon S I to that officer.