equipment
INON Text and photos Marcin Trzciński
JAPAN IS A COUNTRY WHERE BOASTING ABOUT SETTING A START-UP IS AN EVEN GREATER FAUX PAS THAN PUBLICLY BRAGGING ABOUT A SHAMEFUL ILLNESS. ABANDONING A WELL-PAYING CORPORATE JOB IS GENERALLY PERCEIVED AS PLACING THE OFFENDER ON THE INTELLECTUAL LEVEL OF FORREST GUMP. CONSEQUENTLY, IT DOES NOT SEEM LIKE A PLACE WHERE INNOVATIONS WOULD FLOURISH MASSIVELY.
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specially considering that historically, the only achievement of its inhabitants in this field was the discovery of a refined method of disembowelling widely known as harakiri. It was even more difficult for his family and friends to understand the move made by Akihide Ionue at the turn of the millennium. This experienced diver, holding the position of an editor at one of the largest Japanese diving magazines, decided to commit a professional suicide. What else can we call such a decision, especially for a Japanese, if not at least surprising?! Not to say that it seems shocking and utterly incomprehensible. Akihide-san decided to change jobs, but not by moving to another, larger, and better-perceived company on the market, which could somehow be justified. Instead, he started his own garage sale business... The turbulent development of the diving market at that time, combined with the increasingly popular trend of photography
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supported by the first digital constructions, created a gap in the market that someone should fill. According to Akihide, it was him who could fill the gap, or rather it could be the products of his newly established company, offering simple, polycarbonate housings for compact cameras. Initially for Nikon Coolpix and then for successive models from Canon, Olympus, and Minolta. Thus, Inon was born, founded in a small room on the upper floor of Akihide's family home (due to its typical Japanese size, there was no garage). Over time, the company became a powerhouse in the underwater photography market. Unfortunately, not only the founder of Inon noticed this gap and the opportunity to fill it. Several manufacturers simultaneously entered the relatively small market, starting a fierce price competition. They had no choice – harakiri awaited the losers. This time, quite literally. And since Mr. Akihide didn't really want to