Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
that specialize in
radio-controlled car
'Radio-controlled cars'' (or RC cars for short) are miniature model cars, vans, buses, trucks or buggy (automobile), buggies that can be controlled from a distance using a specialized transmitter or remote. The term "RC" has been used to mean bo ...
s, it was one of the first manufacturers in Japan to build RC cars and it also invented the RTR (Ready To Run) cars, but most notable of all is their long-running "Dog Fighter" series of radio controlled buggies, mainly through its successes in racing.
History
, as a child, was interested in building model warships and aircraft but became interested in radio-control models when he witnessed people playing with
radio-controlled aircraft
A radio-controlled aircraft (often called RC aircraft or RC plane) is a small flying machine that is controlled remotely by an operator on the ground using a hand-held radio transmitter. The transmitter continuously communicates with a receiver ( ...
across the
Arakawa River
or Ara River may refer to:
* Arakawa River (Kanto)
or Ara River may refer to:
* Arakawa River (Kanto), which flows from Saitama Prefecture and through Tokyo to Tokyo Bay
* Arakawa River (Uetsu), which flows from Yamagata Prefecture and throu ...
, thus he used monthly tuition money intended for
cram school
A cram school, informally called crammer and colloquially also referred to as test-prep or exam factory, is a specialized school that trains its students to achieve particular goals, most commonly to pass the entrance examinations of high schoo ...
to buy himself an aircraft to participate in the hobby.
As his father was an enthusiast of education, Yokobori Jr. regularly attended the home of a
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
officer to practice his English conversation skills. After graduation from high school, he resisted his father's persuasion to enter college education in favor of starting his mail order scale model retail business, which thrived as model stores was solely available at metropolitan areas. His sister, who had good command of English, helped him with logistics of goods overseas when business grew. His parents, who ran a confectionery material business, later agreed to help out with the business. Yokobori branched out into his own store, , in 1974 at a
Mitsuboshi
is the debut studio album of the character Kirari Tsukishima from the Japanese anime ''Kirarin Revolution''. The album was released on February 28, 2007 with songs performed by Koharu Kusumi from Morning Musume, credited as .
Background and r ...
store in
Nihonbashi
is a business district of Chūō, Tokyo, Japan which grew up around the bridge of the same name which has linked two sides of the Nihonbashi River at this site since the 17th century. The first wooden bridge was completed in 1603. The current ...
, the first radio-controlled specialty store incorporated in a
department store
A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...
. As a result, business increased twofold and then opened another in
Ginza
Ginza ( ; ja, 銀座 ) is a district of Chūō, Tokyo, located south of Yaesu and Kyōbashi, west of Tsukiji, east of Yūrakuchō and Uchisaiwaichō, and north of Shinbashi. It is a popular upscale shopping area of Tokyo, with numerous intern ...
.Yokobori branched out into R/C car production in 1977 when the shop built a ready to run version of
Cox
Cox may refer to:
* Cox (surname), including people with the name
Companies
* Cox Enterprises, a media and communications company
** Cox Communications, cable provider
** Cox Media Group, a company that owns television and radio stations
** ...
's .49ci Dune Buggy, which was sold as a kit. The car became a success and helped to introduced radio controlled cars into Japan.
In 1970, the company would become involved with another US RC car manufacturer, when they imported the RC-1, produced by
Associated Electrics
Associated Electrics, Incorporated of Lake Forest, California is one of the world's leading manufacturers of radio controlled car, radio controlled cars, trucks and accessories. Associated Electrics is now owned by Thunder Tiger Corporation from T ...
, into Japan. As a result, they became involved in the production side of the market, when they manufactured option parts for the car. This was the start of its partnership with Associated which continued to this day.
The company, who became Yokomo, a
portmanteau
A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsMini Racer RC-12''. The
Porsche 917
The Porsche 917 is a sports prototype race car developed by German manufacturer Porsche to exploit the regulations regarding the construction of 5-litre sports cars. Powered by a Type 912 flat-12 engine which was progressively enlarged from ...
/30 that was bodyshell of the kit later formed the basis of the company's
Can-Am
The Canadian-American Challenge Cup, or Can-Am, was an Sports Car Club of America, SCCA/Canadian Auto Sport Clubs, CASC sports car racing series from 1966 to 1987.
History
Can-Am started out as a race series for group 7 sports racers with two r ...
car styled logo.
Its biggest break was in 1983, when it introduced the YZ-834B, the first of the long-running "Dog Fighter" series of 1:10 off-road buggies.
The car was imported into
West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
by Graupner and was marketed as a Graupner Dog Fighter. Although criticized for having ground clearance that was considered to be too low for a typical
off-road
Off-roading is the activity of driving or riding in a vehicle on unpaved surfaces such as sand, gravel, riverbeds, mud, snow, rocks, and other natural terrain. Types of off-roading range in intensity, from leisure drives with unmodified vehicl ...
course, it wasn't until 1985, when Gil Losi, Jr. used the car to score his and the company's first
IFMAR
The International Federation of Model Auto Racing (IFMAR) is the world governing body of professional radio controlled car racing.
The organization was created in 1979 by professional racer and RC model entrepreneur Ted Longshaw. At that time, ...
title for the inaugural 1:10 Off-Road World Championship 4WD title.
The car was replaced by the YZ-870C, known as the "Super Dog Fighter", jointly developed by
Masami Hirosaka
is a Japanese radio controlled car driver who is considered to be the world's most successful with a record fourteen International Federation of Model Auto Racing, IFMAR World Championships in 1/12 scale electric, 1/10 scale Pan, 1/10 scale 2WD o ...
, who was brought into the company following his victory at the following IFMAR 1:10 Off-Road 4WD event. His involvement was rewarded, when he successfully defended his crown in 1989. To this date, with the exception of his first title, won driving a
Schumacher
Schumacher or Schuhmacher is an occupational surname (German, "shoemaker", pronounced , both variants can be used as surnames, with Schumacher being the more popular one, however, only the variant with three "h"s can also be used as a job descript ...
CAT, all other IFMAR titles he won have been either for Yokomo (six) and its partner for the Japanese market, Team Associated (eight) and still win national titles for the company. Masami's father, Masaaki was an employee for the company.
Yokomo are also known for the infamous and very rare YR-F2 chassis line. Despite being a full-time front-wheel drive RC, the YR-F2 is banned from certain racetracks as it was too fast for other RC's.
In 2003, Yokomo broke the R/C car mould further, when they introduced radio-controlled drifting with a series of cars that was built especially for drifting. Yokomo recently partnered with
Tomy
is a Japanese entertainment company that makes children's toys and merchandise. It was created from a merger on March 1st 2006 of two companies: Tomy (founded in 1924 as Tomiyama, changing the name to Tomy in 1963) and long-time rival Tak ...
in 2008, releasing a series of miniature R/C cars based on its licensed D1GP and drifting cars similar to its R/C line.
Following the decision of Yokobori to retire, Shigeki Suzuki was appointed to replace him as the CEO, effective from October 1, 2019.