was a brand used by

Panasonic Corporation formerly between 1935 and 2008 and the first incarnation of between 2008 and 2022, is a major Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation, headquartered in Kadoma, Osaka. It was founded by Kōnosuke Matsushita in 1918 as a lightbulb ...

(formerly Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.) to sell home appliances, personal appliances, and industrial appliances. Neither

National Semiconductor National Semiconductor was an American semiconductor manufacturer which specialized in analog devices and subsystems, formerly with headquarters in Santa Clara, California. The company produced power management integrated circuits, display dr ...

nor

National Car Rental National Car Rental is a private American rental car agency based in Clayton, Missouri, United States. National is owned by Enterprise Holdings, along with other agencies including Enterprise Rent-A-Car, and Alamo Rent a Car. National typically ...

are related to Panasonic or the "National" brand.

History

Before present-day

Panasonic formerly between 1935 and 2008 and the first incarnation of between 2008 and 2022, is a major Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation, headquartered in Kadoma, Osaka. It was founded by Kōnosuke Matsushita in 1918 as a lightbulb ...

produced appliances under the name, the National

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...

was first used by Konosuke Matsushita's electric firm to sell his battery-powered bicycle lamps, hoping that they would be a product used by all of

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

, hence the name "National". It was arguably the first well-known brand of Japanese electronics. National was formerly the premier brand on most Matsushita products, including audio and video and was combined in 1988 as National Panasonic after the worldwide success of the

name. After 1980 in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, and 1988 in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

, Matsushita ceased the usage of the "National" brand, and sold audiovisual products exclusively under the

and Technics brands. Matsushita never officially used the National name in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, due to the trademark being already in used by National Electronics. The brand made a brief appearance in 2003 on Rice Cookers, Meat grinders and a handful of small kitchen appliances. In addition, National rice cookers were imported for sale in many

Asian-American Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for all the indigenous peopl ...

markets. National was well known throughout

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

as a reputable manufacturer of domestic appliances such as

rice cooker A rice cooker or rice steamer is an automated kitchen appliance designed to boil or steam rice. It consists of a heat source, a cooking bowl, and a thermostat. The thermostat measures the temperature of the cooking bowl and controls the hea ...

s. In 2004, the "National" brand was gradually phased out in

, the penultimate market it was used in, with most products being rebranded under the

brand after the company decided to unify all their businesses under the

brand for greater recognition. Due to its historical significance and recognition in Matsushita's native

, non-audiovisual Matsushita products (mostly home appliances or

white goods A major appliance, also known as a large domestic appliance or large electric appliance or simply a large appliance, large domestic, or large electric, is a non-portable or semi-portable machine used for routine housekeeping tasks such as cookin ...

) were branded "National" until October 1, 2008. As of October 1, 2008, Matsushita changed its company name to Panasonic Corporation. Non-audiovisual products that were branded "National" in Japan are currently marketed under the "Panasonic" brand.

Bicycle Manufacturing

National

bicycles A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. Bi ...

were imported into the

under the

label. The brand was known for producing high quality cycles at a relatively low price, as the result of a very high degree of factory

automation Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, namely by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machines ...

and a resultingly low labor force with attendant savings in salaries and benefits. One of their models featured the unusual

Shimano , originally and later , is a Japanese multinational manufacturing company for cycling components, fishing tackles and rowing equipment, who also produced golf supplies until 2005 and snowboarding gear until 2008. Named after founder Shozabu ...

front freewheel system.

Advertising campaigns

* In 1960, National launched a

tokusatsu is a Japanese term for live action film or television drama that makes heavy use of practical special effects. ''Tokusatsu'' entertainment mainly refers to science fiction, war, fantasy, or horror media featuring such technology but is som ...

series, co-produced by Toei, called ''

National Kid is a Japanese TV series produced by Toei Company in 1960. Broadcast on Asahi TV, NET, it was sponsored by Panasonic, then known as Matsushita Electric, to promote the National (brand), National brand. Although not very famous in Japan, the series ...

'', in a clear merchandising effort. The series wasn't popular in its home market, but attained cult status in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. * In 1976, the Swedish band

ABBA ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The grou ...

shot some ads promoting National. They were broadcast in

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

and

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

. * In 1978,

J-pop J-pop ( ja, ジェイポップ, ''jeipoppu''; often stylized as J-POP; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively also known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the ...

duo Pink Lady appeared in several commercials promoting National's air conditioner and Pepper portable transistor radio. * In the 1980s a promotion was made in Japan for National TV, using the cat "Chatran" also known as "Milo" from

Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Owned and operated by the it is the key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network S ...

's 1986 theatrical feature film ''The Adventures of Milo and Otis'' (''Koneko Monogatari''). The commercial features some segments of the movie, then shows "Chatran"/"Milo" with a human companion.

References

External links

Panasonic products website

Brand History, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

ABBA TV commercials promoting National Brand (From YouTube)

* ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=108ykuI9Fss National Brand TV commercial cross promoting "The Adventures Of Milo & Otis"/The Adventures Of Chatran" from 1986 (From YouTube)
Ohmura Electric Industry plc.
{{Japanese Electronics Industry Panasonic Corporation brands Consumer electronics brands Japanese brands Products introduced in 1927