In Memoriam: Shunsaku Tamiya

[Enzo the Magnificent]

Shunsaku Tamiya  (19 December 1934 - 18 July 2025)

 

This groupbuild is dedicated to the memory of Shunsaku Tamiya.  Although Yoshio Tamiya was the founder of the company, it was originally a sawmill and lumber supply company.  It was Yoshio's son, Shunsaku, who turned it into the plastic model production company that we all know today.  Shunsaku had a huge impact on the modelling hobby, driving standards of detail and buildability that became seen as the benchmark for other companies to aim at.  In a very real sense, Shunsaku Tamiya has made this hobby what it is today and I believe we all owe him a debt of gratitude for that. 

 

 

Here is Shunsaku's biography from Wikipedia.

Quote

Shunsaku Tamiya was born on December 19, 1934, in Shizuoka. He graduated from the Shizuoka Prefectural High School and Waseda University.

 

Tamiya took over what had originally been his father's sawmill business and made it into one of the largest radio-controlled car and scale model kit manufacturers in the world. Tamiya was known for his pursuit of accuracy in his scale models. He personally photographed and collected full-sized subjects to recreate as models.

 

The first Tamiya plastic model kit was based on the Jaguar D-Type. In the 1970s, Tamiya released its first radio-controlled car, a model of the Porsche 934. In the 1980s, Shunsaku Tamiya lead the company through a surge in the popularity of radio-controlled car racing as a competitive motorsport. In 1982, the company developed its first Mini 4WD models, which became very popular in Japan.

 

During the Cold War, he was placed under surveillance by Japan's public security bureau for discussing details of Warsaw Pact tanks at the embassy of the Soviet Union in Tokyo.

 

As the chairman of the Shizuoka Model & Educational Cooperative Association, Tamiya helped turn the city of Shizuoka into a major city in the global model industry through initiatives such as the Shizuoka Hobby Show. He died on July 18, 2025, at the age of 90.

 

 

 

[Mjwomack]

Model Behaviour in Long Melford, Suffolk, is a shop that @Paul821 and no doubt others use, here's a lovely personal reflection from Gary about his dealings with Tamiya-San

 

Mr Shunsaku Tamiya died on 18th July 2025. A truly sad day for modellers. Shunsaku San headed up the development team at Tamiya from 1960 driving through serious innovation and setting the stds that everyone else strived for. Eventually becomes Chairman of the whole Tamiya group. Although he derided the 'Shake the Box and it makes itself' monicker. Tamiya kits were always at the cutting edge in terms of Quality.

I once met Shunsaku back in the early 2000's. As a 'Studioscale Modeller' making models for clients I always pre-ordered at least a carton load of vintage Tamiya reissues for parts. On this one occasion I was badly let down by the UK distributor with a serious short fall in delivery. I challenged them but they said they only had 'X' to go around and that was the end of the matter. I was furious, so I sent a letter directly to Tamiya in Japan asking why this was so, when I had been waiting over a year for the products in question? 9 days later I went to my retailer and had a surprise. The remainder of my order had miraculous appeared with a very conciliatory letter of apology from the distributor and a signed copy of Shunsaku sans Autobiography.

But this wasn't the end of it, at home I had been sent a personal letter from Mr T himself apologising, saying he was happy that I enjoyed his companies products and was coming over to the UK soon and hoped we could meet up..... And he did.

I got an invite a few weeks later to join him for a day. Of course I went and he was Charming, Intelligent, Humble about his own abilities and had a great sense of humour. A day to remember.

Goodbye Shunsaku San. You were a Craftsman, an Inspiration and an all round decent Human Being. Who products changed the lives of millions......

 

Taken from his Facebook page (Hectors House of Models & Minatures @Model Behaviour)