Circle-T Japan Orthos

Hi folks,

This might not be of interest to many, but I enjoy satisfying my curiosity.

I recently found what I think is the manufacturer of these eyepieces in Japan: Tani Optics. These are available from most astro shops in Japan and I believe are the same eyepieces that University Optics sell.

This website has some photos:
http://www.starcloud.jp/hpgen/HPB/categories/43121.html

The first photo says "Tani Optical Research Laboratory" in Japanese. They are based in Itabashi ward in Tokyo.

The description on the third photo is something like "[These are the] very small lenses. The lenses are made to order by a Japanese lens maker". So, it seems the actual lenses are not made in house.

Searching on google.co.jp for these Orthos results in the usual high praise for sharpness.

I had always wondered who the circle-T folks were, thinking perhaps they were related to Towa, as they also used the circle-T logo. But it seems not. Tani means "valley" in Japanese. It's possible the area where they are based was called "something valley" in the past, I can't see a name like that on any maps of the area, and given the location on the Kanto plain it seems unlikely. Tani is a character used in surnames too, so it may be related the original owner.

Cheers,
Stuart

Great stuff! I use the UO orthos quite a bit myself.
I'd also heard they were from Tani. Interesting to
see photos of the guy assembling them.

Hi Stuart,

Thanks for sharing this information. I ran a couple of web translators against this web site and I think the Company name may translate to Astro Valley Optical.

I found your post interesting because I think that Tani may have been one of the providers to Celestron in the 1970's before they established Vixen (Circle-V) as the sole provider through the 1980's and 1990's.

Regards,
Blake