The Social Influences of the Transistor Radio : In Case of Japanese and American Society from the Middle of the 1950s to 1960s

トランジスタ　ラジオ　ノ　シャカイテキ　エイキョウリョク　1950ネンダイ　チュウバン　カラ　60ネンダイ　ノ　ニホン　ト　アメリカ　シャカイ　ヲ　チュウシン　ニ

ミズハラ, タスク

Mizuhara, Tasuku

The Economic Society of Osaka University

オオサカ　ダイガク　ケイザイ　ガッカイ

ランドマーク商品

音楽産業

高度成長期

ソニー

Radio

Landmark Commodities

Music Industries

Rapid Economic Growth

Sony

Radio was born in Germany in 1888. Then the broadcasting was begun in 1920 as KDKA in the United States. In Japan JOAK was the first radio broadcasting station, and radio was produced on a large scale by major electric company like Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd (now as known as Panasonic Corporation). The invention of the transistor was the turning point in the radio industry. It was made by the Texas Instruments, but it was used only in hearing aids. Japanese electric company such as Tokyo Tele-Communication (changed its name to Sony since 1958) decided to use the transistor as the parts of radio. Transistor Radio which was produced by many of Japanese electric companies including Sony supported Japan’s rapid economic growth. Many Japanese electric companies increased the amount of export of it. It became the popular product among the overseas markets. Transistor is the smaller parts than vacuum tube, so radio can be miniaturized. Then the transistor radio has changed the lifestyle of the people who listen to the music. For example, in the United States, as the diffusion of the transistor radio, the rock singer Elvis Presley become the rock star, and rock’ n’ roll became popular music among young people and became new category of the music along with jazz and classical music. Youngsters listened to Elvis songs with the transistor radio. The transistor is the model of semiconductor, and developed to the basis of the computer industries.