WhereIsAtlas · Electronics
Casio
The Japanese company that gave the world the calculator watch, the G-Shock, and the keytar
Active — Still going: the calculator-and-watch maker survived by constant reinvention — from the G-Shock to the keytar.
Casio was founded in 1946 by Kashio Tadao in Tokyo, initially making a small gadget that fitted a pipe into a cigarette holder. The company found its calling in electronics — Casio became one of the first companies to build a compact, mass-market calculator, and by the 1970s it was a household name in Japan and beyond for calculators and digital watches.
The 1980s were Casio's golden age of invention. It produced the world's first digital camera (1981), the iconic, near-indestructible G-Shock watch (1983), and the CZ-series synthesizers — including the legendary Casio SK-1 sampler and the 'keytar,' a keyboard guitar that became a symbol of 80s pop. Its F-91W wristwatch, launched in 1989, went on to sell over 100 million units and became one of the most recognisable objects of the 20th century.
Casio never dominated a single market, but it never stopped making things either. Today it remains a profitable, diversified electronics maker — still selling calculators, G-Shock and Edifice watches, musical instruments and projectors. The name 'Casio' conjures the G-Shock and calculator watch more than any single product, and the company is still very much alive.
Quick facts
- Founded
- 1946, by Kashio Tadao
- Iconic watch
- G-Shock (1983), F-91W (1989)
- First digital camera
- 1981
- Music icon
- CZ synths, SK-1 sampler, keytar
- Still active
- Watches, calculators, instruments
Sources
- Casio - Wikipedia — Wikipedia (2026-02-14)
- The history of the G-Shock — Casio (2026-02-14)