ARCHIVE MACHINESFamous machines
In the history of Japanese machine tools, each machine that marked a turning point gets a card of its own. We chose machines designated Mechanical Engineering Heritage by the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers (JSME) or Essential Historical Materials for Science and Technology by the National Museum of Nature and Science, machines whose originals or records are registered in the museum's Industrial Technology History Database, machines from the events marked ★ in this archive's chapter timelines, and machines that won industrial design and other awards. The badges on each card show why it was chosen, and we checked every Mechanical Engineering Heritage and Essential Historical Materials number one by one against the official lists. There are no photos, so instead we tell you where you can go and see each machine.
Go meet
the real
machines!
64 machines (1875–2016)
Mechanical Engineering Heritage: 8 machines (Nos. 3, 34, 53, 59, 67, 106, 114, 126); Essential Historical Materials for Science and Technology: 5 machines (Nos. 373, 374, 375, 376, 395); registered in the National Museum of Nature and Science's Industrial Technology History Database: 36 machines. A machine can carry two or more badges. Those designated Mechanical Engineering Heritage as a "group" at a factory or museum are collected below under Machine tool groups designated Mechanical Engineering Heritage.
64 machines shown
- c. 1875Meiji 8Lathe
Treadle lathe (made by Ito Kaheiji)
Ito Kaheiji (Yamagata)
Mechanical Engineering Heritage No. 3(2007)
A treadle lathe built of forged iron by Ito Kaheiji of Yamagata. One of the oldest lathes made by a private individual.[1][2, frame 25]
Museum Meiji-mura, Machinery Hall (Inuyama, Aichi Prefecture)Open to the public
- 1879Meiji 12Planer
Double-column planer
Ministry of Public Works, Akabane Engineering Works
Mechanical Engineering Heritage No. 67(2014)
A double-column planer built by a Meiji-era government factory. One of the earliest surviving Japanese-made machine tools.[3]
Museum Meiji-mura (Inuyama, Aichi Prefecture)Open to the public
- 1889Meiji 22Lathe
Ikegai Works Lathe No. 1 (English-type 9-foot lathe)
Ikegai Works
Mechanical Engineering Heritage No. 53(2012)Chapter ★
An English-type lathe for the shop's own use, built by Ikegai Shotaro with his younger brother Kishiro at the end of the year he founded the company. The oldest surviving Japanese-made powered lathe. Speeds are changed with a cone pulley and back gear.[4][2, frame 45][5]
National Museum of Nature and Science (Taito-ku, Tokyo)Open to the public
- 1912Taisho 1Drilling machine
Rokuroku drilling machine No. 1 (branch-type drilling machine)
Rokuroku Sangyo
National Museum DBChapter ★
A branch-type drilling machine built in Japan with skills learned in the US. This form became the standard for drilling machines and was made until recent years.[6]
Rokuroku Sangyo (Shizuoka Prefecture)Open to the public
- 1917Taisho 6Hobbing machine
40-inch hobbing machine
Sonoike Seisakusho
Chapter ★
A 40-inch hobbing machine with a differential. At a time when most imported machines had no differential, it was well received as better than them.[7, frame 105]
- 1918Taisho 7Lathe
Type OS engine lathe
Okuma Iron Works
National Museum DB
An engine lathe put on sale when Okuma Iron Works, Ltd. was formed. An improved version of a lathe by Sebastian of the US.[8, frame 22][9]
Okuma (Oguchi, Niwa District, Aichi Prefecture)Open to the public
- 1920Taisho 9Hobbing machine
40-inch hobbing machine
Kashifuji Iron Works
A 40-inch hobbing machine modeled on a hobbing machine by Pfauter of Germany. The company history says the first unit was built as a prototype in 1918.[7, frame 105][10]
- 1930Showa 5Gear grinding machine
Type ASG-2 spur gear grinder
Okamoto Senyo Kosaku Kikai Seisakusho
Mechanical Engineering Heritage No. 106(2021)Chapter ★
Japan's first spur gear grinder, built on an order from the Kure Naval Arsenal. Max. pitch diameter 500 mm, module 8. With it, the company went on to become a full-line grinder maker.[11][12]
Nippon Institute of Technology Museum of Industrial Technology (Miyashiro, Minamisaitama District, Saitama Prefecture)Open to the public
- 1938Showa 13Jig borer
Jig borer Type 4
Toyo Seiki (today's Mitsui Seiki Kogyo)
Chapter ★
A jig borer modeled on a machine by SIP of Switzerland. The company calls it "Japan's first jig borer" and built about 220 by the end of the war.[13][14]
A 1943 jig borer by the same company is at the Nippon Institute of Technology Museum of Industrial Technology
- 1939Showa 14Lathe
Kohan Type 400 lathe
Toyo Kikai
National Museum DB
Said to be the most widely used precision lathe in prewar Japan.[15]
Kudamatsu, Yamaguchi PrefectureNot open to the public
- 1941Showa 16Milling machine
Type MH knee-type milling machine MH-3V
Osaka Kiko (OKK)
National Museum DB
Developed as a commissioned machine under the Research and Testing Ordinance, based on the No. 3 milling machine of Cincinnati (US). The prototype of the company's later knee-type machines.[16]
Itami, Hyogo PrefectureNot open to the public
- 1941Showa 16Grinding machine
Type GHU-300 hydraulic universal grinder
Okuma Iron Works
National Museum DBChapter ★
A hydraulic grinder modeled on a grinder by Landis (US). It could do cylindrical, internal and surface grinding; 500 were built by 1945, laying the foundation for postwar grinder production.[2, frame 61][17]
Okuma (Oguchi, Niwa District, Aichi Prefecture)Open to the public
- 1941Showa 16Boring machine
Type EJ/ES precision boring machine
Toyoda Machine Works
National Museum DB
One of the machine types the company applied to make at its founding, which the existing machine tool companies were not building. Used to mass-produce aircraft parts in wartime and automobile parts after the war.[18, frame 77][19]
JTEKT (Kariya, Aichi Prefecture)Open to the public
- 1943Showa 18Lathe
Wheel lathe: Type T 1500 tire boring machine
OM Ltd.
National Museum DB
A lathe for railway vehicle wheels, completed on government orders.[20]
Nippon Institute of Technology Museum of Industrial Technology (Miyashiro, Minamisaitama District, Saitama Prefecture)Open to the public
- 1953Showa 28Hobbing machine
Master worm wheel of the HRS-500 master-gear hobbing machine
Shibaura Kikai Seisakusho
Mechanical Engineering Heritage No. 34(2009)
The master gear of a large hobbing machine for cutting gears 5,000 mm in diameter. Through repeated corrective cutting and automatic pitch comparison, the seventh-generation master worm wheel reached a maximum cumulative pitch error of 4 μm. Twenty-three large hobbing machines carrying this master gear were built, and they cut reduction gears for ship turbines.[21]
Shibaura Machine Numazu Plant (Numazu, Shizuoka Prefecture)Open (advance booking required)
- 1953Showa 28Grinding machine
Surface grinder PSG-6B
Okamoto Machine Tool Works
Mechanical Engineering Heritage No. 114(2022)Chapter ★
A surface grinder whose table was driven by the company's own hydraulic pump and cylinder, and which became the basis of today's surface grinders. The wheel-spindle feed is in 0.001 mm steps. The company regards the Type PSG-6 as Japan's first surface grinder.[22][12]
Annaka, Gunma PrefectureOpen (by reservation)
- 1954Showa 29EDM
Die-sinking EDM Japaxtron D3
Nihon Hoden Kako Kenkyusho
Essential Historical Materials No. 373(2024)National Museum DBChapter ★
Japan's first practical EDM, delivered to the Tokyo Institute of Technology. An original design unlike Western machines, it was also called a spark-discharge hole-piercing machine.[23][24][25]
Nippon Institute of Technology (Miyashiro, Minamisaitama District, Saitama Prefecture)Open to the public
- 1956Showa 31Grinding machine
Type GPB cyclic cylindrical grinder and Okuma non-circular plain bearing
Okuma Iron Works
Mechanical Engineering Heritage No. 59(2013)National Museum DBChapter ★
A cylindrical grinder that performs roughing, finishing and sizing in one continuous cycle. It used the non-circular plain bearing developed by Nagaoka Shinkichi, which forms wedge-shaped oil films around the spindle, and about 700 were built by 1969.[26][8, frame 72][27]
Okuma Memorial Gallery (Oguchi, Niwa District, Aichi Prefecture)Generally not open to the public
- 1956Showa 31Grinding machine
Toyoda-Gendron cylindrical grinder RA25-100
Toyoda Machine Works
National Museum DB
The company's first grinder, built through a tie-up with Gendron of France. Its hydrostatic bearings drew attention, and it supported the auto industry in jobs such as grinding crankshaft journals.[28][29, frame 37]
JTEKT (Kariya, Aichi Prefecture)Open to the public
- 1956Showa 31NC control
FANUC's first NC unit
Fuji Tsushinki (today's FANUC)
National Museum DB
Japan's first NC unit developed by a private company. It first controlled a turret punch press, and in 1958 the first commercial unit went to an NC milling machine of Makino Milling Machine.[30][31][32]
FANUC (Minamitsuru District, Yamanashi Prefecture)Not open to the public
- 1958Showa 33Lathe
Type LS practical high-speed lathe
Okuma Iron Works
National Museum DBChapter ★
A high-speed lathe unveiled at the Osaka International Trade Fair and put into production at 30 a month. An assembly conveyor was completed in 1962, and cumulative output passed 30,000.[33][8, frame 65]
Okuma (Oguchi, Niwa District, Aichi Prefecture)Open to the public
- 1958Showa 33Lathe
Engine lathe MS-850
Mori Seiki
National Museum DB
The lathe that set off the growth of the company, which had switched from textile machinery to high-speed precision lathes. Exports began in 1960.[34][35]
Yamatokoriyama, Nara PrefectureNot open to the public
- 1958Showa 33Drilling machine
Type DRA-J high-speed heavy-duty radial drilling machine
Okuma Iron Works
National Museum DBChapter ★
With higher rigidity, it handled precise hole making on a par with jig borers as well as high-speed machining, and the next cutting conditions could be preset during machining. More than 3,000 were sold.[36]
Okuma (Oguchi, Niwa District, Aichi Prefecture)Open to the public
- 1958Showa 33Boring and milling machine
RB-Ⅱ precision vertical boring and milling machine
Shin Nippon Koki
Museum of Industrial Technology recognitionChapter ★
The first unit, which the company regards as the prototype of its double-column machines. In 2005 it received the Best Technical Award in the Nippon Institute of Technology Museum of Industrial Technology's "Recognition of Machine Tools of Historical Value".[37][38, frame 22]
- 1959Showa 34Jig borer
Numerically controlled jig borer JIDIC
MITI Agency of Industrial Science and Technology, Mechanical Engineering Laboratory
National Museum DBChapter ★
An NC prototype built after thoroughly studying the 1939 SIP jig borer. At the Tokyo International Trade Fair it demonstrated a stopping-position scatter of ±0.5 μm.[39][40]
AIST Tsukuba Center (Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture)Open to the public
- 1959Showa 34Milling machine
Type VF vertical milling machine
Enshu Seisaku
National Museum DB
A model that brought industrial design to machine tools. Powerful, accurate and easy to operate, and priced for small and medium-sized firms, it supported factories in the high-growth era.[41]
Enshu (Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture)Open to the public
- 1960Showa 35Machining center
NC universal machine tool (NC unit HIDAM-43)
Hitachi, Ltd.
Chapter ★
An NC machine tool with a two-arm ATC (8 tools), Japan's first machining center. It ran on the company's own NC unit and magnetic tape, and used what is thought to be the first ball screw on a Japanese NC machine.[2, frame 92]
- 1960Showa 35Milling machine
Microman Type SB-1
Matsuura Machinery
National Museum DB
An automatic vertical milling machine whose spindle speed and feed changes were program-controlled, and which stopped within 0.02 mm in three directions.[42][43]
Fukui, Fukui PrefectureNot open to the public
- 1960Showa 35Boring and milling machine
Mitsubishi Innocenti CWB milling and boring machine
Mitsubishi (Hiroshima Seiki Seisakusho)
Chapter ★
A machine for cutting large parts for turbines, diesel engines and rolling stock, called "a revolutionary among large machine tools". 122 had been built by October 1968.[44, frame 546][45]
- 1962Showa 37Lathe
NC vertical lathe VT5-14
OM Ltd.
National Museum DBChapter ★
Shown at the 1st Japan International Machine Tool Fair as "Japan's first NC vertical lathe". It mounted the first unit of Fuji Tsushinki's NC unit 207A on a vertical turret lathe, with electro-hydraulic pulse motors turning ball screws.[46][47, frame 4]
OM Ltd. Nagaoka Plant (Nagaoka, Niigata Prefecture)Open to the public
- 1964Showa 39Grinding machine
Type GCS-N numerically controlled cylindrical grinder
Okuma Iron Works
Chapter ★
Fitted with the company's own NC unit OSP200 and exhibited at the 2nd Japan International Machine Tool Fair. It drew attention as an NC unit developed by a machine tool maker itself.[8, frame 81][8, frame 84]
- 1965Showa 40Drilling machine
Tape-controlled NC automatic drilling machine 501-HANC
Rokuroku Sangyo
National Museum DBChapter ★
The company's first NC machine, built jointly with Fujitsu (whose NC division later became FANUC) and delivered to the University of Yamanashi.[48]
Rokuroku Sangyo (Shizuoka Prefecture)Open to the public
- 1966Showa 41NC milling machine
Turret Miller TM-3NC
Osaka Kiko (OKK)
National Museum DB
An NC milling machine that changes tools automatically with a six-spindle turret head.[49][50]
Itami, Hyogo PrefectureNot open to the public
- 1966Showa 41Grinding machine
Type GCA cam grinder
Toyoda Machine Works
National Museum DB
The company developed its own fully automatic cam grinder, a field that foreign makers had monopolized. High-rigidity fluid bearings gave equal or better accuracy, and many went to automakers.[51]
JTEKT (Kariya, Aichi Prefecture)Open to the public
- 1967Showa 42Boring and milling machine
MAF machine (Mitsubishi milling and boring machine)
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
National Museum DBJapan Society for the Promotion of Machine Industry AwardChapter ★
The first unit developed in-house as the successor to the MIB machine, meeting the move to larger ships and nuclear equipment. The company calls it Japan's first NC boring and milling machine. Japan Society for the Promotion of Machine Industry Award in 1972.[52][44, frame 546][45]
Ritto, Shiga PrefectureOpen to the public
- 1968Showa 43Drilling machine
General-purpose numerically controlled drilling machine RND-1003
Rokuroku Sangyo
National Museum DB
A production-model NC drilling machine. Its box-type bed, column and spindle head became the basic form of later vertical machining centers.[53]
Rokuroku Sangyo (Shizuoka Prefecture)Open to the public
- 1970Showa 45NC lathe
NC lathe MTC-2500R (serial no. 200)
Yamazaki Iron Works
Mechanical Engineering Heritage No. 126(2024)Chapter ★
The first Japanese NC lathe exported to the United States. With a FANUC 240, paper tape and electro-hydraulic pulse motors, it could perform contouring control with a least command increment of 0.01 mm. Brought back to Japan in 2008.[54][55]
Yamazaki Mazak Museum of Machine Tools (Minokamo, Gifu Prefecture)Open (working display)
- 1970Showa 45Machining center
7-axis machining center with simultaneous 5-axis control (FM-720)
Technical Research Institute of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Machine Industry, Shin Nippon Koki
Chapter ★
A prototype with an ATC and both a high-speed drilling spindle and a milling spindle, able to machine five faces of workpieces up to 500 mm square in succession.[56, frame 31][57, frame 64]
- 1971Showa 46Milling machine
Electronic copy milling machine MH-5TCV
Osaka Kiko (OKK)
National Museum DB
Japan's first electronic copy milling machine. Meeting demand for plastic molds, it remained the mainstay of mold making until the era of cutting directly from data.[58]
Itami, Hyogo PrefectureNot open to the public
- 1972Showa 47EDM
Wire EDM DWC-50
Mitsubishi Electric
Essential Historical Materials No. 374(2024)National Museum DBChapter ★
Japan's first wire EDM. Instead of expensive NC, it followed the lines of a drawing with an optical drawing tracer developed in the US. The surviving unit is the second one shipped, in 1973.[59][60][25]
Mitsubishi Electric FA Communication Center (Higashi-ku, Nagoya)Open to the public
- 1972Showa 47EDM
Type EW-20 wire EDM
Seibu Denki Kogyo
Essential Historical Materials No. 395(2025)National Museum DBChapter ★
Japan's first NC wire EDM, run by a minicomputer-based NC. Exhibited at the 6th Japan International Machine Tool Fair. The surviving machine body is a 1974 production model, while the NC unit, power supply and other parts date from 1972.[61][62][25]
Seibu Electric & Machinery (Koga, Fukuoka Prefecture)Open to the public
- 1972Showa 47Multitasking machine
Turning center FT500NA
Ikegai Tekko
Chapter ★
A turning center featured in the new-product column of Kikai Shinko. The 1981 Senban manyuaru (Lathe manual) says Ikegai Tekko announced a turning center in 1973 and completed the series.[63, frame 47][64, frame 73]
- 1974Showa 49Machining center
Vertical machining center MC-750V
Matsuura Machinery
National Museum DBChapter ★
A vertical machining center that brought the price down at a time when horizontal machines dominated. Exports to the US began in 1975.[65][43]
Fukui, Fukui PrefectureNot open to the public
- 1977Showa 52Grinding machine
CBN production cam grinder
Toyoda Machine Works
Japan Society for the Promotion of Machine Industry AwardChapter ★
A production cam grinder using CBN wheels. It received the 12th Japan Society for the Promotion of Machine Industry Award in October 1977 (the year shown is the year of the award).[29, frame 78]
- 1978Showa 53NC lathe
NC lathe SL-2
Mori Seiki
National Museum DBChapter ★
An integrated design with the NC unit built into the machine. It sold about 2,500 units in nine years and became the basis of the SL series.[66]
Yamatokoriyama, Nara PrefectureNot open to the public
- 1979Showa 54Multitasking machine
Turning center 5LC
Hitachi Seiki
Chapter ★
A full-fledged turning center with driven tools that consolidated processes. With 4-axis control (X, Y, Z, C) and a 20-tool ATC, it was built into various systems.[67, frame 17]
- 1980Showa 55Hobbing machine
NC hobbing machine GH400NC
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
National Museum DBChapter ★
Said to be Japan's first NC hobbing machine. Up to module 12, with five axes under NC control.[68][45]
Ritto, Shiga Prefecture (drawings, documents and photos)Open to the public
- 1980Showa 55EDM
Die-sinking EDM 22-NC 8000
Sodick
Essential Historical Materials No. 375(2024)National Museum DB
It could simultaneously control X, Y, Z and a C axis rotating the electrode, and was suited to complex dies. The oldest surviving die-sinking EDM with microcomputer NC that is open to the public.[69][70]
Nippon Institute of Technology (Miyashiro, Minamisaitama District, Saitama Prefecture)Open to the public
- 1980Showa 55EDM
Die-sinking EDM EDNC64
Makino Milling Machine
National Museum DB
One of the first in Japan to adopt a work tank whose three sides drop down, making loading and setup easier. This design later became the industry standard.[71][25]
Makino Milling Machine, Atsugi Works (Aikawa, Aiko District, Kanagawa Prefecture)Open to the public
- 1983Showa 58Multitasking machine
SLANT TURN 40N ATC Mill Center
Yamazaki Iron Works
Chapter ★
A multitasking machine with an in-house 30-tool ATC, shown at EMO (Paris). One study calls it the world's first fully commercialized multitasking machine.[72][55]
- 1983Showa 58Machining center
Line-type machining center HMC-S
Enshu Seisaku
National Museum DB
A horizontal machining center for mass-production lines, replacing special-purpose machines and transfer machines. It more than doubled rapid traverse, ATC and indexing speeds over earlier machines, and became the prototype of today's line-type MCs.[73]
Enshu (Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture)Open to the public
- 1984Showa 59Machining center
Vertical machining center MV junior
Mori Seiki
National Museum DBChapter ★
A small vertical MC that sold 4,700 units in eight years. Small, affordable vertical MCs became the industry standard.[74]
Yamatokoriyama, Nara PrefectureNot open to the public
- 1988Showa 63Machining center
Vertical machining center FX-5
Matsuura Machinery
National Museum DB
A built-in-motor spindle running at 20,000 rpm (30,000 and 40,000 rpm optional). A pioneer of ultra-high-speed machines.[75]
Fukui, Fukui PrefectureOpen to the public
- 1988Showa 63Multitasking machine
INTEGREX 40ATC Mill Center
Yamazaki Mazak
Chapter ★
A multitasking machine that added the Y axis users had asked for, making it 4-axis so the sides of workpieces could also be machined. Shown at IMTS (Chicago).[72]
- 1988Showa 63Multitasking machine
Two-spindle, two-turret machine TW-20
Nakamura-Tome Precision Industry
Chapter ★
Two spindles and two turrets facing each other made simultaneous machining and complete machining on one machine possible. The prototype of the later WT and Super NT series.[76]
- 1993Heisei 5EDM
Wire EDM UPH-1
Makino Milling Machine
Essential Historical Materials No. 376(2024)National Museum DBChapter ★
A machine for dies for tiny parts such as semiconductor lead frames. With a horizontal wire-travel design, it was the first in the industry to thread a φ0.03 mm wire automatically.[77][78][25]
Makino Milling Machine (the registration lists Meguro-ku, Tokyo; the museum database lists the Atsugi Works)Open to the public
- 1994Heisei 6Machining center
Horizontal machining center H-400 Super Cell
Kitamura Machinery
Automation Machinery Development Award for Small and Medium-sized EnterprisesChapter ★
A machine that added A and B axes so that the five faces other than the mounting face can be machined on five axes in a single setup. It won the 24th Automation Machinery Development Award for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises.[79, frame 18][79, frame 19]
- 1997Heisei 9Multitasking machine
INTEGREX 200SY
Yamazaki Mazak
Chapter ★
A 5-axis multitasking machine that adds tool-spindle swivel (B axis) to the X, Y, Z and C axes. It can cut three-dimensional shapes such as turbine blades, and hand the work over to a second spindle to machine the back side without a break.[72]
- 1998Heisei 10EDM
Die-sinking EDM AM series (AM35L)
Sodick
National Museum DBChapter ★
A die-sinking EDM whose spindle (Z axis) is driven by a linear motor (a world first). The Z axis reached 36 m/min, and moving the electrode up and down quickly to flush out debris made machining faster.[80][25]
Sodick Kaga Plant (Kaga, Ishikawa Prefecture)Open to the public
- 1999Heisei 11Machining center
5-axis vertical machining center MAM72-3VS
Matsuura Machinery
Machine Industry Design Award
A 5-axis vertical machining center that won the Machine Industry Design Award.[81]
- 2002Heisei 14Multitasking machine
Metal laser sintering hybrid milling machine
Matsuura Machinery
Japan Industrial Technology Grand PrizeChapter ★
A machine combining metal laser sintering, which solidifies metal powder with a laser, and machining-center cutting in one unit. Production and sales began in 2003, and the M-PHOTON25C won the Japan Industrial Technology Grand Prize in 2004.[43]
- 2003Heisei 15Machining center
5-axis vertical machining center Mytrunnion
Kitamura Machinery
Machine Industry Design Award
A trunnion-type 5-axis vertical machining center that tilts the table; it won the Machine Industry Design Award.[81]
- 2009Heisei 21Machining center
HYPER VARIAXIS 630
Yamazaki Mazak
Machine Industry Design Award
A 5-axis vertical machining center with an industrial designer involved from the start of design; it won the Machine Industry Design Award.[81]
- 2016Heisei 28Gear cutting machine
Super Skiving Machine MSS300
MHI Machine Tool
JSME Medal
A dedicated machine for cutting gears by skiving. It received the JSME Medal for New Technology in 2017.[45]
No machines match this filter.
Machine tool groups designated Mechanical Engineering Heritage
Not single machines but "groups" of machine tools at factories and museums designated Mechanical Engineering Heritage. You can see dozens of machines in chronological order.
- Kumamoto University's former Machine Laboratory Workshop and its machine tools listed as cultural propertiesMechanical Engineering Heritage No. 2(2007)Kumamoto University Kurokami Campus (Chuo-ku, Kumamoto)[82]
- Historic machine tools held by the Nippon Institute of TechnologyMechanical Engineering Heritage No. 91Nippon Institute of Technology Museum of Industrial Technology (Miyashiro, Minamisaitama District, Saitama Prefecture)[83]
- Historic machine tools of the Sankyo Machine Tool MuseumMechanical Engineering Heritage No. 120Sankyo Machine Tool Museum (Kikugawa, Shizuoka Prefecture)[84]
What the badges mean and how we checked them
- Mechanical Engineering Heritage
- JSME "Mechanical Engineering Heritage". The number is the serial designation number, and the year in parentheses is the year of designation. Checked against the JSME list and the page for each item.
- Essential Historical Materials
- National Museum of Nature and Science "Essential Historical Materials for Science and Technology (Future Technology Heritage)". The number is the registration number, and the year in parentheses is the fiscal year of registration. Checked against the museum's list of Essential Historical Materials for Science and Technology. Among machine tools, five EDMs are registered.
- National Museum DB
- Registered in the National Museum of Nature and Science's Industrial Technology History Database. Where the machine is and whether it is open to the public follow the database entry.
- Chapter ★
- Machines from the events marked ★ in this archive's chapter timelines
- Awards
- Machine Industry Design Award, Japan Society for the Promotion of Machine Industry Award, JSME Medal, Museum of Industrial Technology recognition and others
- Contact them before you go. Even machines listed as "open" may, if they are inside a company, be viewable only by reservation or on customer tours.
- The year is the year the machine was completed or announced. It may differ from the year the surviving unit was built; in that case we say so in the text (e.g. the DWC-50 was launched in 1972, and the surviving unit is the second one shipped, in 1973).
- The chapter timelines also list, with sources, machines not included here.
Chapters and other cross-cutting pages
Sources
Numbers are sequential on this page (they differ from the numbers in each chapter). Mechanical Engineering Heritage and Essential Historical Materials numbers and designation years were checked against the official lists on October 16, 2026. National Diet Library materials were checked in October 2026 via the Digitized Material Transmission Service for individuals.
- JSME Mechanical Engineering Heritage No. 3: Treadle lathe
- Nihon no gijutsu 100-nen, bijuaru-ban, dai 7-kan (100 years of Japanese technology, visual edition, vol. 7), Chikuma Shobo (1989)Frames 25, 45, 61, 92
- JSME Mechanical Engineering Heritage No. 67: Japanese-made double-column planer
- JSME Mechanical Engineering Heritage No. 53: Ikegai Works' No. 1 Lathe
- Ikegai: Company information (history)
- National Museum of Nature and Science, Industrial Technology History Database: Rokuroku drilling machine No. 1 (branch-type drilling machine)
- Aida Toshio, Haguruma no gijutsu-shi (A technical history of gears), Kaihatsusha (1970)Frames 105
- Okuma Iron Works, Seihin enkaku shashinshu: Sogyo 70-shunen kinen (Product history photo book: 70th anniversary) (1968)Frames 22, 65, 72, 81, 84
- National Museum of Nature and Science, Industrial Technology History Database: Engine lathe Type OS
- Kashifuji: History
- JSME Mechanical Engineering Heritage No. 106: Type ASG-2 spur gear grinder
- Okamoto Machine Tool Works: Company history
- Mitsui Seiki Kogyo: History
- National Museum of Nature and Science, HITNET Common Database of Industrial Technology History Materials: Jig borer (2 items held by the Nippon Institute of Technology Museum of Industrial Technology)
- National Museum of Nature and Science, Industrial Technology History Database: Lathe, Kohan Type 400
- National Museum of Nature and Science, Industrial Technology History Database: Type MH knee-type milling machine MH-3V
- National Museum of Nature and Science, Industrial Technology History Database: Hydraulic universal grinder Type GHU-300
- Chokki Toshiaki, Nihon no kosaku kikai kogyo no hatten katei no bunseki (An analysis of the development of Japan's machine tool industry) (1963)Frames 77
- National Museum of Nature and Science, Industrial Technology History Database: Precision boring machine Type EJ/ES
- National Museum of Nature and Science, Industrial Technology History Database: Wheel lathe, Type T 1500 tire boring machine
- JSME Mechanical Engineering Heritage No. 34: Master worm wheel of the HRS-500 master-gear hobbing machine
- JSME Mechanical Engineering Heritage No. 114: Surface grinder PSG-6B
- National Museum of Nature and Science, Essential Historical Materials for Science and Technology No. 00373: registration sheet for "Die-sinking EDM Japaxtron D3"
- National Museum of Nature and Science, Industrial Technology History Database: Die-sinking EDM Japaxtron D3
- Iwasaki Takeshi, "Survey on the Systematization of EDM Technology", National Museum of Nature and Science, Survey Reports on the Systematization of Technologies Vol. 32 (2023)
- JSME Mechanical Engineering Heritage No. 59: Okuma non-circular plain bearing and GPB cylindrical grinder
- National Museum of Nature and Science, Industrial Technology History Database: Okuma non-circular plain bearing
- National Museum of Nature and Science, Industrial Technology History Database: Toyoda-Gendron cylindrical grinder RA25-100
- Toyoda Machine Works, Waza ni yume o motomete: Toyoda Koki 50-nen-shi (Seeking dreams in craftsmanship: a 50-year history of Toyoda Machine Works) (1991)Frames 37, 78
- National Museum of Nature and Science, Industrial Technology History Database: FANUC's first NC unit
- FANUC: History of FANUC
- IEEJ Milestones (Denki no Ishizue): NC unit (numerical control unit) (recognized 2013)
- National Museum of Nature and Science, Industrial Technology History Database: Practical high-speed lathe LS540×800
- National Museum of Nature and Science, Industrial Technology History Database: Engine lathe MS-850
- DMG MORI: History
- National Museum of Nature and Science, Industrial Technology History Database: High-speed heavy-duty radial drilling machine Type DRA-J
- Shin Nippon Koki: History (in its company profile)
- Kogyo no shinpo (Industrial progress), January 1960 issue (supervised by the Osaka Prefectural Industrial Research Institute)Frames 22
- National Museum of Nature and Science, Industrial Technology History Database: Numerically controlled jig borer JIDIC
- National Museum of Nature and Science, Industrial Technology History Database: Jig borer SIP Type MP-4G No.420
- National Museum of Nature and Science, Industrial Technology History Database: Type VF vertical milling machine
- National Museum of Nature and Science, Industrial Technology History Database: Automatic sizing, program-controlled multi-cycle automatic vertical milling machine Microman Type SB-1
- Matsuura Machinery: About our history
- Umi ni riku ni soshite uchu e: Zoku Mitsubishi Jukogyo shashi 1964-1989 (On sea, on land and into space: A further history of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, 1964-1989), Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (1990)Frames 546
- Nidec Machine Tool: Product history
- National Museum of Nature and Science, Industrial Technology History Database: Vertical lathe VT5-14 with NC
- Fujitsu (technical journal) 13(6) (April 1963)Frames 4
- National Museum of Nature and Science, Industrial Technology History Database: Numerically controlled tape-control automatic drilling machine 501-HANC
- National Museum of Nature and Science, Industrial Technology History Database: Type TM NC milling machine (Turret Miller) TM-3NC
- Nidec OKK (formerly Osaka Kiko): History
- National Museum of Nature and Science, Industrial Technology History Database: Type GCA cam grinder
- National Museum of Nature and Science, Industrial Technology History Database: Horizontal boring combination machine MAF
- National Museum of Nature and Science, Industrial Technology History Database: General-purpose numerically controlled drilling machine RND-1003
- JSME Mechanical Engineering Heritage No. 126: MTC-2500R, the NC lathe exported to the United States
- Yamazaki Mazak: History
- Kikai Shinko Kyokai junen-shi (Ten-year history of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Machine Industry), Japan Society for the Promotion of Machine Industry (1976)Frames 31
- JSME, Kikai kogaku nenkan Showa 46-nen (Mechanical engineering yearbook, 1971) (1971)Frames 64
- National Museum of Nature and Science, Industrial Technology History Database: Type MH-TC electronic copy milling machine MH-5TCV
- National Museum of Nature and Science, Essential Historical Materials for Science and Technology No. 00374: registration sheet for "Wire EDM DWC-50"
- National Museum of Nature and Science, Industrial Technology History Database: Wire EDM DWC-50
- National Museum of Nature and Science, Essential Historical Materials for Science and Technology No. 00395: registration sheet for "Wire EDM EW-20"
- National Museum of Nature and Science, Industrial Technology History Database: Wire-cut EDM Type EW-20 and others
- Kikai Shinko 5(12) (whole no. 55), Japan Society for the Promotion of Machine Industry (December 1972): "New product series"Frames 47
- Senban manyuaru: Kozo, seido-hen (Lathe manual: Structure and accuracy), Taiga Shuppan (1981)Frames 73
- National Museum of Nature and Science, Industrial Technology History Database: Numerically controlled vertical machining center MC-750V
- National Museum of Nature and Science, Industrial Technology History Database: NC lathe SL-2
- Hitachi Seiki, Hito ni yasashii senshin gijutsu: Chie to soi no 55-nen (Advanced technology that is kind to people: 55 years of wisdom and ingenuity) (1991)Frames 17
- National Museum of Nature and Science, Industrial Technology History Database: NC hobbing machine GH400NC
- National Museum of Nature and Science, Essential Historical Materials for Science and Technology No. 00375: registration sheet for "Die-sinking EDM 22-NC 8000"
- National Museum of Nature and Science, Industrial Technology History Database: Die-sinking EDM 22-NC
- National Museum of Nature and Science, Industrial Technology History Database: Die-sinking EDM EDNC64
- Suzuki Nobutaka, "Acquiring integrity in a modular industry: The case of the Japanese machine tool industry", Akamon Management Review 9(9), pp.635-662 (2010)
- National Museum of Nature and Science, Industrial Technology History Database: Line-type machining center HMC-S
- National Museum of Nature and Science, Industrial Technology History Database: Vertical machining center MV junior
- National Museum of Nature and Science, Industrial Technology History Database: Numerically controlled vertical machining center FX-5
- Nakamura-Tome Precision Industry: History
- National Museum of Nature and Science, Essential Historical Materials for Science and Technology No. 00376: registration sheet for "Wire EDM UPH-1"
- National Museum of Nature and Science, Industrial Technology History Database: Wire EDM UPH-1
- Kikai Shinko 27(3) (whole no. 310), Japan Society for the Promotion of Machine Industry (March 1994): "The 24th Automation Machinery Development Award for Small and Medium Enterprises"Frames 18, 19
- National Museum of Nature and Science, Industrial Technology History Database: Die-sinking EDM AM35L
- Umemoto Ryosaku and Ishimura Shinichi, "Changes in the design of NC machine tools in Japan: Focusing on machining centers (2)", Gijutsu to bunmei (Technology and civilization) 19(2), pp.43-58 (2015)
- JSME Mechanical Engineering Heritage No. 2: Kumamoto University's former machine laboratory workshop and its cultural-property machine tools
- JSME Mechanical Engineering Heritage No. 91: Historical machine tools at the Nippon Institute of Technology
- JSME Mechanical Engineering Heritage No. 120: Historical machine tools at the Sankyo Machine Tool Museum
- JSME Mechanical Engineering Heritage: List
- National Museum of Nature and Science, Center of the History of Japanese Industrial Technology: List of Essential Historical Materials for Science and Technology