Tougodo Meisupii

I wrote about Tougodo in two previous articles: one on the entire family and another on the Toyoca 35 S and Strato 35 models. The camera on my bench now is an early Meisupii, dated to before the war, to 1937.

A word about the Tougodo naming convention: model names could be grouped into three categories.

• Japanese-sounding names: Meisupii, Meikai, Toyoca, etc.
• Pre-war meaningless western-sounding names: Tone, Nice Go, Lead Go, etc.
• Post-war western-sounding names: Traveller, Baby Lux, Regent, etc.

My Japanese vocabulary is limited to entrée names, so I cannot verify whether the Japanese-sounding names have a meaning; so I’ll leave it as such.

The prewar English-sounding names have no sensible meaning and remind me of the nail salons at every street corner, such as Nice One Nails, Pink Snow Nails, Own Nails – all correct English but with little meaning.

The post-war camera names catered to the GI contingent stationed there, so there was an attempt to lend them some sense.

As with the Toyoca name legacy, my database shows the Meisupii name on 22 cameras from 1930 to 1962; I would assume some are duplicates. As shown in the table below, the early models were Tougodo’s own-style side-by-side cameras. Then came common, say, basic, viewfinder cameras, and it ended with an attempt to meet market needs with higher-end models, just before the company shut down.

Identifying and sorting the models is a Sisyphean task. Spelling differs between print and online descriptions. Some are Meisupii, others are Meisupi or Meispee. To compound that, under the same model name, different images are shown in McKeown, Sugiyama and online. Any time I was about to close the list, another variant had appeared. See the table below, where I attempt to harmonize it. The list is based on numerous sources that sometimes contradict each other, so I can only guess which is correct.

The camera on my bench is an example of that. I got it a decade ago as a mere Meisupii, and it was resting on the shelf ever since. While reviewing the Tougodo cameras, I identified it as a Meisupi (sic) I, as is written on the front of the lens assembly. Only in print, the Meisupii I have a double viewer; so one of the two could be an earlier model. As such, I christened my camera as Meisupii B.

The camera came in very poor condition. The body is made of punched steel, which was left raw under the leatherette, unlike a ‘normal ’ process where the steel sheets are plated to avoid rust. Little was left of the original skin, and the exposed sections were rusting. Further, the lens assembly was covered with grime. I felt this little camera deserves better, so it is presented here after being healed.

The camera is odd, and there is little information about it. To begin with, it uses No-need-darkroom film format/technology that was fashionable in pre-war Japan. As with the camera, little online information about the format is available; see Harrisson Photographica and a Camera-Wiki page that seem to be penned by the same keyboard. The single-image film was served on a tray, fed into the camera body, and then processed through a complex procedure. It was popular with the tiny Yen box cameras, but all the same, little is written about it.

The film tray is fed through a large side hatch door, almost the full camera thickness. There are no light seals, so I assume it was built into the tray. I looked high and low for an example, but other than images, there is none.

Further, on the top there is a round hippodrome-like enclosure; I have no idea what purpose it served. This feature could be a forefather of the elusive Meisupii Compass, which was made some twenty years later. Suggestions are welcome.

The shutter and aperture are set at the front end of the lens assembly. The shutter is spring loaded self cocking, which is triggered by a lens barrel side-mounted lever. The lens assembly is retractable; there is no lock-in-place mechanism, just pull out or push in. The viewer is typically tiny, and the rear lens is blue, which I don’t know whether it’s from birth or an improvement by a previous owner. There are no wind or rewind knobs.

For the collector, it is a nice addition to the early Japanese shelf, as it belongs to a very short era in which no features were carried forward. All that if one is offered for sale. Some Meisupii late-model units are currently offered on eBay and Buyee, but neither is from this generation.

Tougodo Meisupii camera list

Image link	Model link	Year	Type	Format
	Meisupii Special	1962	Viewfinder	35mm half
	Meisupii Half EL	1960	Viewfinder	35mm half
	Meisupii	1937	TLR	Cut sheet
	Meisupii A	1930	Viewfinder	Cut sheet
	Meisupii Meisuecho	1959	Viewfinder	Bolta
	Meisupii B	1937	Viewfinder	Cut sheet
	Meisupii II	1937	TLR	Cut sheet
	Meisupii IV	1937	TLR	Cut sheet
	Meisupii Rollfilm	1953	Viewfinder	35mm half
	Meisupii Echo	1957	Viewfinder	Bolta
	Meisupii IA	1950	Viewfinder	Bolta
	Meisupii IB	1938	Viewfinder	Bolta
	Meisupii IID	1955	Viewfinder	Bolta
	Meisupii J	1954	Viewfinder	Bolta
	Meisupii S3	1953	Viewfinder	Bolta
	Meisupii Seven	1957	Viewfinder	Bolta
	Meisupii Sun	1958	Viewfinder	Bolta
	Meisupii Half	1959	Viewfinder	35mm half
	Meisupii III	1937	TLR	Cut sheet
	Meisupii Five Delux	1957	Viewfinder	Bolta
	Meisupii Compass	1954	Viewfinder	Bolta
	Meisupii I	1938	Viewfinder	Cut sheet