.png)
We continue with the Fuji Enterprise group, this time for the year 1975. Here is what we will discuss:
- The composition of the group and its official resellers
- The games published in 1975
- Some reflections and questions to conclude
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The group
An advertisement for Fuji Enterprise in the April 10, 1975 issue of Game Machine gives us an overview of the official resellers of the Fuji Enterprise group.
.png)
The group consists of:
- A main branch, based in Tôkyô
- A secondary branch based in Sapporo (Hokkaidō). The foundation of this branch was announced on March 20, 1975, in Game Machine. Its president is Masaaki Yamada (山田正昌).
- A secondary branch based in Sapporo (Hokkaidō). The foundation of this branch was announced on March 20, 1975, in Game Machine. Its president is Masaaki Yamada (山田正昌).
In addition to these, there are official resellers.
One of them has a name that brings back memories...
The Jônan Blondie Enigma
Jônan Blondie (城南ブロンディ): Based on its name and its address in Ôta-ku (大田区) (Tokyo), Jônan Blondie could be a remnant of the former Blondie group. This company would then be older than the Fuji Enterprise group.
Jônan Blondie cannot legally be part of the Fuji Enterprise group because it is not incorporated, meaning it does not have a "Kabushiki Kaisha" (株式会社) or "Yûgen Kaisha" (有限会社) legal status. A sole proprietorship (個人事業) cannot be part of an incorporated group. However, there is no doubt that a close connection exists with the Fuji Enterprise group.
The other offical resellers
Regarding the other companies on the list, they are not seen anywhere else except in the lists of official resellers of Fuji Enterprise products (with one exception).
This could indicate that, although legally independent, they are economically dependent on Fuji Enterprise. Alternatively, it could mean that arcade game trading is only a part of their activities.
- Ace Kôki (エース工機): Based in Higashi-Ôsaka. It is the only company on the list based in the Kansai region. Ace Kôki appears for the last time in an advertisement on November 11, 1975.
- Dôsan Jitsugyô (動産実業): Based in Morioka (Iwate Prefecture). Its name literally means "Movable Property Business," implying that it may have sold more than just arcade games. Dôsan Jitsugyô is not an incorporated company.
- Sanshin (山信): Based in Shibuya (Tokyo).
- Dai Ichi Leisure Seiki (第一レジャー精機): Based in Setagaya (Tokyo). The company quickly disappeared from the network as it last appeared in advertisements on April 30, 1975.
- Vital Shôji (バイタル商事): Based in Furukawa (Miyagi Prefecture).
...and then there is the company Gulf, which is quite a special case on this list.
Gulf
Gulf (ガルフ) is based in Jôetsu (Niigata Prefecture). It differs from the companies above as it is very active and works with other major companies in the arcade game industry, such as Kawakusu (カワクス) or Universal (ユニバーサル). It is an essential player on the coast of Japan's Inland Sea. The company operates several game centers, engages in leasing, and, of course, sells machines. Gulf went bankrupt in December 1977. It was the second company of Haruo Inoue (井上治雄)1 2. Haruo Inoue would later become the president of the infamous company Falcon (ファルコン), which produced the video game Crazy Kong and numerous bootlegs.
Of course, other companies like Tsumura also sell Fuji Enterprise games. However, they are distributors, not official resellers.
An official reseller is contractually bound to the manufacturer. They must apply the sales conditions set by the manufacturer and provide after-sales service according to the manufacturer's terms.
A distributor buys large quantities of machines for resale. They can offer better prices but do not provide the same guarantees.
Fuji Lease
Fuji Lease (フジ・リース) is revealed in an article in the June 1, 1975 issue of Game Machine (page 2), though it probably existed earlier.
We first learn that the president (社長) of Fuji Enterprise is a certain Takeo Ueyama (上山武夫).
In a much later issue (page 2), it is mentioned that Tokuzô Uragami (浦上徳三), former president of Blondie, is the chairman (会長) of the group.
Here is what we learn about Fuji Lease :
"The Fuji Group is steadily progressing with the establishment of medal game centers through Fuji Lease.
According to Takeo Ueyama, President of Fuji Enterprise, which is the core company of the group, as of the end of May, they had already opened 25 locations.
Recently, new locations have been established under the unified name "Casino Plaza" in cities such as Sapporo (札幌), Chitose (千歳), Shizunai (静内), and Hakodate (函館) in Hokkaidô, Yokogawa-machi (横川町) in Hiroshima, and Akabane (赤羽) and Ueno (上野) in the Kantô region.
The total number of locations is expected to increase to around 40 by the end of this year.
These locations are not large-scale medal game centers but rather mid-sized venues of about 20 tsubo (approximately 66 square meters).
The policy is to cover as many surrounding cities as possible.
Of course, no exchange of medals for cash is conducted, ensuring a clean and legally compliant operation.
The Fuji Group is highly motivated to directly establish locations as a way to assess the future of the medal game industry, and their upcoming achievements will be closely watched."
Fuji Lease is responsible for opening and operating game centers across Japan. Judging by the company's name, one can also assume that Fuji Lease handles or previously handled leasing within the group.
The president of Fuji Lease is not known until much later, in the December 1, 1976 issue of Game Machine (page 2). His name is then Takeshi Miyaoka (宮岡武司).
Now that we have a better understanding of the Fuji Enterprise group, let's take a look at the games published in 1975.
The Games
Continuing with a formula that works, Fuji Enterprise exclusively publishes lottery/derby-type games (with one exception).
Some games are clearly updates of previous ones. Therefore, I will prioritize presenting the games by similarity (when possible) rather than in chronological order.
Derby Four (ダービー・フォー)
Derby Four was released in early 1975.
As with the derby-type games from the previous year, players choose a combination of two numbers from 1 to 7. Two lights move from slot to slot until they come to a complete stop. The two numbers where the lights stop indicate the winning combination.
In Derby Four, 4 players can participate simultaneously. In other words, Derby Four seems to be Sounder Boy for 4 players.
It is also sold under the name Sander Four (サンダーフォー) according to a picture on the Nazox website .
Sounder Stop (サンダーストップ)
Sounder Stop was released in September 1975.
Apparently, it is an update of Sounder Boy.
It is the "first game of the 'Stop' series," according to the advertisement.
Two 'Stop' buttons were added for each circle, allowing players to stop the light by pressing a button.
A 'coin meter' indicator was also added, supposedly to measure the token level in the machine and thus indicate the jackpot amount.
Additionally, players can play Sounder Stop using 100-yen coins instead of tokens.
Ultra Boy (ウルトラ・ボーイ)
Ultra Boy is known from the 1976 Amusement Machines Yearbook ('76 遊戯機械名鉱) published in November 1975, with excerpts available on Nazox's website.
The only available information is the photo above.
The button layout has changed slightly, making it unclear whether a 'Stop' function still exists.
A row of slots has been added, which, when compared to other machines, I suspect is used for a second-chance draw.
Derby Boy (ダービーボーイ)
Derby Boy is known from the same source.
Due to the lack of information, comparing the photos of Ultra Boy and Derby Boy makes it difficult to determine the difference between these two games.
Wonderful 6 (ワンダフル・シクス)
I couldn't find an image of Wonderful 6.
Fortunately, there was one in the database of the site "A Foreigner's Guide to Eremeka Arcades".
The resemblance between Wonderful 6 (or rather, Wonderful Race 6?) and Grand National Mark III - Jumbo Derby (released the previous year) is striking, suggesting it is an update.
It is a derby game for 6 players.
In its AM Show '75 presentation, it was stated that the game follows the 'Renshô Fukushiki' (連勝複式) rule, meaning that to win, one must find the first two horses, but not necessarily in the correct order.
International Dreifach (インターナショナル・ドライファッハ)
International Dreifach is another lottery/derby game.
The game can be played by up to four players. There may be additional rules compared to a standard derby game, but I am not certain.
Harness Darby (ハーネスダービー)
Harness Darby appears to be a new version of International Dreifach.
It is difficult to say if anything has changed beyond the visual design.
International Dreifach appeared in a Game Machine advertisement in April 1975, whereas Harness Derby was introduced later at the AM Show '75 in October.
The image is from the site A Foreigner’s Guide to Eremeka Arcades.
Harness Deluxe (ハーネスデラックス)
Released in early 1975, Harness Deluxe is another lottery/derby game.
While the core mechanics remain the same as other derby games, the random result is not determined by lights but by jockeys on horses racing around a track.
This game can be played by up to 10 players simultaneously.
Harness Deluxe is clearly heavily inspired by Harness Race, which was published by Sega the previous year.
The machine’s name was later changed to Harness Deluxe 10 when additional versions of different sizes were released.
Harness Deluxe 20 (ハーネスデラックス20)
Released around late 1975.
Harness Deluxe 20 follows the same principles as Harness Deluxe, but the machine is longer, allowing up to 20 players to participate.
Harness Deluxe 5 (ハーネスデラックス5)
Also released around late 1975.
This is a five-player version of Harness Deluxe.
Derby Grand Prix Coin (ダービーグランプリコイン)
.png) |
| Wipe |
 |
| Fuji Enterprise |
Another lottery/derby-style game.
This one looks so similar to Derby Grand Prix from the company Wipe (ワイプ) that the same photo was used in the 1976 Amusement Machine Yearbook.
It is unclear whether this is Wipe’s machine being resold by Fuji Enterprise or simply a copy.
Metal Fighter (メタル・ファイター)
Metal Fighter is NOT a lottery/derby game.
It is described as a mix between a medal gun and Penny Falls (i.e., a money-pusher game). The name of the game is somewhat confusing because, in Game Machine, it is referred to as Medal Fighter (メダル・ファイター), which seems more logical.
I could not find a photo of Medal Fighter, but once again, the database from A Foreigner’s Guide to Eremeka Arcades comes to the rescue.
Tsumura released the same machine under a different name—Jaguar Shooter (ジャガーシューター)—with a different visual design.
Both machines debuted at the AM Show at the same time.
These were all the games published by Fuji Enterprise in 1975, but a few remarks and questions remain.
Some mysteries
Fuji Sepuro
In the advertisement for Sounder Stop, a small note mentions 'Type Approval Number' (TAN) 91-10800, corresponding to the company Fuji Sepuro (フジセプロ).
This indicates that this company manufactured Sounder Stop.
This is the second time we encounter this company, as it also produced Sounder Boy in 1974.
If Fuji Sepuro manufactured two small derby medal games for Fuji Enterprise, it could have potentially produced all of them, including larger ones like Harness Deluxe. Who knows?
Unfortunately, little is known about Fuji Sepuro.
The TAN was issued on October 3, 1974.
Considering that a TAN is typically valid for five years and that no further TANs were issued, we can conclude that Fuji Sepuro no longer existed by 1980. Fuji Sepuro's address is 東京都新宿区下落合4-15-7 (Tokyo-to, Shinjuku-ku, Shimoochiai 4-15-7), but this does not provide further insight.
The real question is: Was Fuji Sepuro part of the Fuji Enterprise group? This could determine whether Fuji Enterprise was a full-fledged game manufacturer or merely a publisher.
It's from a later period, but in the '78 Amusement Machines Yearbook ('78遊戯機械総合年鑑) (page 138), Fuji Enterprise describes its activities as follows: "Manufacturing, sales, and leasing of gaming machines, operation of game centers."
Perhaps it is true that Fuji Enterprise was indeed manufacturing its own games after all.
Tsumura
Once again this year, Fuji Enterprise and Tsumura shared the same booth at the AM Show.
Tsumura primarily sells Fuji Enterprise machines, sometimes with different visual graphics and names.
One might wonder about the nature of the relationship between Tsumura and Fuji Enterprise.
These two companies are undoubtedly very closely connected. But why?
Here are a few hypotheses. They do not contradict each other:
- Tokuzô Uragami, president of Fuji Enterprise, stated in the past (in the article about Blondie) that he had helped various people establish their own arcade machine sales businesses. Mimoji Tsumura could be one of those people.
- As seen in previous articles, part of Tokuzô Uragami’s business involved handling debt-related matters. Could it be that Tsumura is indebted to Fuji Enterprise and has to work to repay this debt?
- Tokuzô Uragami and Mimoji Tsumura might simply be friends. Business relationships often start as personal relationships.
- Fuji Enterprise is based in the Kantō region, while Tsumura is in Kansai. The only official Fuji Enterprise seller in Kansai was Ace Kōki, which seemed to be a small-scale operation and disappeared at the end of 1975. Fuji Enterprise may be dependent on Tsumura in Kansai and provides favorable business terms in exchange.
Conclusion
Of course, some mysteries remain unsolved, but we now have a clearer understanding of the economic ecosystem in which Fuji Enterprise operated.
We also comprehend its strategy, centered around lottery/derby-type medal games.
In the next article, this strategy will change completely.
In 1976, Fuji Enterprise will become one of the first Japanese companies to enter the era of video games.
We will also witness the sudden emergence and equally sudden disappearance of a new company.
1 https://search.kanpoo.jp/r/19751226h14695p25-5a/ ↩
2 https://onitama.tv/gamemachine/pdf/19780115p.pdf (page 3) ↩
.png)
