is the brandname of the Japanese eyewear manufacturer located in

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

, Japan. Founded in 1911, the company produces and sells

optical lens A lens is a transmissive optical device which focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a #Compound lenses, compound lens consists of several simple lense ...

es,

sunglasses Sunglasses or sun glasses (informally called shades or sunnies; more names below) are a form of protective eyewear designed primarily to prevent bright sunlight and high-energy visible light from damaging or discomforting the eyes. They can s ...

goggles Goggles, or safety glasses, are forms of protective eyewear that usually enclose or protect the area surrounding the eye in order to prevent particulates, water or chemicals from striking the eyes. They are used in chemistry laboratories and ...

, as well as

safety glasses Glasses, also known as eyeglasses or spectacles, are vision eyewear, with lenses (clear or tinted) mounted in a frame that holds them in front of a person's eyes, typically utilizing a bridge over the nose and hinged arms (known as temples or t ...

. The sports eyewear brand Swans includes sunglasses,

ski A ski is a narrow strip of semi-rigid material worn underfoot to glide over snow. Substantially longer than wide and characteristically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, with either a free, lockable, or partial ...

and

snowboard Snowboards are boards where the user places both feet, usually secured, to the same board. The board itself is wider than most skis, with the ability to glide on snow."snowboarding." Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 17 Mar ...

goggles, swimming goggles, as well as helmets. The company was founded by Haruji Yamamoto, as Yamamoto Optical Lens Factory, in

. The factory moved to Higashiōsaka in 1935, where the company's current headquarters are. In that same year started the production of lenses and eyewear for protection against dust. Twenty years later the company name changed to Yamamoto Bojin Megane and started the production of eyewear frames by plastic molding, a first in Japan. In 1977 the company became as an official ski equipment supplier to the

United States Ski Team The U.S. Ski Team, operating under the auspices of U.S. Ski & Snowboard, develops and supports men's and women's athletes in the sports of alpine skiing, freestyle skiing, cross-country, ski jumping, and Nordic combined. Since 1974 the team and a ...

and in 1980 the company's took its current name. In October 2014, the Toshiba Glass, a pair of optical head-mounted display-like glasses, which was jointly created by Yamamoto Kogaku and

Toshiba , commonly known as Toshiba and stylized as TOSHIBA, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Its diversified products and services include power, industrial and social infrastructure system ...

, was unveiled at CEATEC 2014. Swans was the official supplier of the

World Para Swimming Championships The World Para Swimming Championships, known before 30 November 2016 as the IPC Swimming World Championships, are the world championships for swimming where athletes with a disability compete. They are organised by the International Paralympic C ...

from 2017 to 2019. In 2021, the table tennis player

Jun Mizutani is a retired Japanese table tennis player. He became the youngest Japanese national champion at the age of 17. His consecutive singles titles at the national championships from 2007 to 2011 made him the first man to win the event five times in ...

wore indoor competition glasses during the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

, a first in this competition, with glasses that were custom-designed by Swans for the table tennis player.

References

External links

Official WebsiteMagnetic SunglassesOfficial Yamamoto Kogaku Co., Ltd. Website"Swans Way", Highlighting Japan, May 2010Swans South East Asia Distributor official website
{{Authority control Sporting goods manufacturers of Japan Eyewear brands of Japan Manufacturing companies established in 1911 Japanese companies established in 1911 Companies based in Osaka Prefecture Swimming equipment Sunglasses Skiing equipment Sportswear brands Japanese brands Eyewear companies of Japan