Columbia Disc Graphophones In Japan

In the early 1900s, Hattori Watch Shop in Ginza and Tenshodo started selling imported Graphophones. Most models appear to have been regular Columbia models such as the BI, although cases not sold in the United States have also appeared. Many machines carried a scroll decal indicating an origin of a "Standard Phonograph Company" or "Standard Graphophone Company." Nothing is known about the Standard Phonograph Company, although the best guess is that it would have been an export arm of Columbia for the Japanese market.