The publication of the Physics and Chemistry Instrument Catalog

Series: MOMENTUM

In a rapidly-changing environment, Genzo Shimadzu Sr. worked steadily to establish his work with physics and chemistry instruments. Six years later, he renovated and expanded the factory. The following year, he published the Science Equipment Catalog List, a catalog of physics and chemistry equipment. This catalog was organized into five sections — physical properties and solids, water and gases, sound, heat and light, and magnetism and electricity. It also indicates that approximately 110 physics instruments, and also models, chemistry instruments, medical instruments, various pumps, and cast products were available for manufacture. At the end of the catalog, it also states that Shimadzu would manufacture anything the customer desires, as is still expressed by our motto “Best for Our Customers.”

This catalog, which is currently on display at the Shimadzu Foundation Memorial Hall, shows the types of physics and chemistry instruments that were being used in the physics departments at the University of Tokyo, and elsewhere, in the early Meiji Period (around 1870). It also shows how Shimadzu offered almost all the laboratory instruments and equipment necessary for teaching physics or chemistry in early Meiji Japan. Therefore, this catalog is of great historical and academic importance.