Back in the 80s the US was loaded with great Japanese road bikes that were as good as any bikes available. Many brands were available and they ranged from entry level all the way to pro level bikes. Now I don’t think you could find a new Japanese bike for sale in the US. So, let’s discuss their rise and fall in the US.
The Rise
Younger people probably don’t recall, but back in the 70s imported items from anywhere but Europe were often considered cheap junk, even stuff from Japan. It really wasn’t till late in the 80s that Japanese cars and electronics built up a great name for their products. So, the rise of bicycles wasn’t an easy one, I’m sure.
They got their first big break in 1972 when Schwinn began importing the World Voyageur and World Traveler bikes. These were made in Japan by National. While these were imported and sold by Schwinn they used a “World” head badge and weren’t branded Schwinn. They were very nice bikes for the price with the World Voyageur being competitive with some of the better models by other companies. These bikes must have been considered a success and in 1974 the World Traveler became the Schwinn badged Le Tour which was made into the 90s. I believe Schwinn’s use of Japan as a manufacturer gave the thumbs up that they were good bikes and opened the doors to them.
Japanese manufacturers
Bridgestone – same as the tire company. They manufactured Kabuki bikes that were exported to the US starting in the 70s. Later they also manufactured bikes that were imported by Bridgestone USA starting in the 80s through 1994.
Fuji – one of the earlier manufacturers started exporting to the US in the 70s and ended in the 90s when they switched to Taiwan.
Kawamura – mostly made Nishiki which was a popular brand in the 70s and 80s.
Maruishi – exported Maruishi branded bikes to the US as well as made some bikes for Nashbar. I believe they were active in the 70s and 80s, I don’t see many of these.
Miyata – very big manufacturer of bikes of both their own brand and for US imported brands like Centurion, Lotus, and Univega.
National/Panasonic – as mentioned above they made bikes for Schwinn and also had their own Panasonic branded bikes. Company was also a large shareholder of Miyata.
Shogun – exported bikes to the US starting in the late 70s. Later bikes changed to Taiwan.
Zebrakenko – started exporting to the US in the mid-70s and seem to disappear in the 80s.
Importers
With Japanese bikes becoming accepted as high quality, many US brands start out by using Japanese manufacturers to make their bikes.
Centurion – one of the earliest importers of Japanese bikes.
Lotus – started importing in 1980.
Sanwa – Wisconsin company imported in the 70s and 80s.
Sekai – Seattle company imported the brand in the 70s and 80s.
Takara – imported during the 70s and 80s.
Univega – started in the early 70s importing from Miyata.
West Coast Cycle – creates the Azuki and Nishiki brands.
The Fall
While Japan made great quality road bikes through the 70s and 80s, they disappeared in the 90s. I believe this is for two main reasons.
Competition
When they started in the 70s their only real competition from US manufacturers for quality road bikes is Schwinn. Other competitors are also imported like Raleigh from the UK, Bianchi from Italy or Motobecane from France. But in the 70s some great US manufactured brands started making really good road bikes like Cannondale, Trek, and Specialized. Most of the imported brands that survive out of the 80s are really expensive like Bianchi, Colnago, and Pinarello. I don’t think the Japanese bikes ever rose to that level, they were always a high quality but budget friendly option. These US manufactured bikes pushed out most of the imported competition.
Exchange rates
In the late 80s the dollar became weak against the yen and Japanese bikes became more expensive. As they lost their price advantage sales declined. They never achieved the level of like a Colnago which allowed them to sell for really high prices. Even Japanese cars didn’t achieve a great level of quality with the public till the 90s. Most production moved to Taiwan which would go on to be huge in bikes with Giant.
So, Japanese made bikes disappeared from the US market by the 90s. This was the fate of most big, imported brands. But they made some really great bikes while they were here, including many that are on our best road bikes of the 70s and 80s list!
List of the best vintage road bikes from the 70s and 80s – Frugal Average Bicyclist
Now
While some of the brands have survived, I don’t believe any bikes are currently imported from Japan. You can still buy Fuji and Nishiki, but they are made mostly in China now. The big winner for Japan was really Shimano which is still a giant component manufacturer for bikes.
More reading
Japanese Bicycles in the U.S. Market
List of Vintage Bicycle Manufacturers and Brands – Frugal Average Bicyclist
Thanks, as always, for your compendium.
Another Japanese company was Sekine. The same shop that sold a lot of Sekais here also sold Sekine. The Sekai 4000 competed with some of the finer bikes from Europe. And, as you well know, Japanese component manufacturers also rose in the 70s, especially SunTour and Sugino – plus the huge industrial conglomerate Shimano which branched out into bike components, and dominates today.
A lesser-known Japanese import in the 80s was the Bruce Gordon Hikari. Bruce was a US framebuilder who briefly tried his hand at mass-marketing. (“Mass” only compared to building by hand one frame at a time.) He designed a bike and contracted with a Japanese company to make about 200 of them. They were even painted in the same color to reduce the cost.
There was also a well-known custom framebuilder in Japan. He mostly builds track racing frames with the name Nagasawa. They are no longer available in the US, but my favorite bike shop used to carry them.
One of the knocks on Japanese bikes of that era was the painting. They had a reputation for chipping easily.
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