Canon

The most famous brand canon actually evolved from a  Precision Optical Instruments Laboratory established back in 1933. In 1934 it produced the Kwanon, a prototype for Japan’s first-ever 35 mm camera with a focal plane based shutter.

 The first set of cameras was manufactured as a part of business trial and these early birds were named Kwanon after the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy. Now this Goddess was the possessor of thousand arms and spat flames.

From the very beginning, the company worked with an ambition of reaching out to the outer world and as such the company wanted to adopt a name that will be acceptable globally. With this intention, the company name was changed from Kwanon to Canon and it was registered as the  logo trademark name of the company in the year 1935.

Three diamond embelem of Mitsubishi

Logo Mitsubishi

Mitsubishi, (literally means three diamonds in english), is a japanese company established in 1870 as a shippnig firm by Koyata Iwasaki.This three-diamond embelem is signifying the meaning of the word Mitsubishi,which is combination of the words "mitsu" and "hishi." "Mitsu" means three. "Hishi" means water chestnut, and the word is used to denote a rhombus or diamond shape. As customary, "hishi" is pronounced "bishi" when it forms a latter part of a word, hence the combination of "mitsu" and "hishi" reads "mitsubishi."
Yataro Iwasaki, the founder of the old Mitsubishi organization, decided on the three-diamond mark as the emblem for his company.The mark is said to be an arrangement of two family crests; the three-oak-leaf crest of the Yamauchi family, Lords of Tosa, where Yataro was born, and the three-tiered water chestnut crest of the Iwasaki family.

Origins of the Famous Emblem of Mitsubishi

Subaru: The Star cluster

The automobile manufacturing division of Japanese transportation conglomerate Fuji Heavy Industries (FHI),Subaru is  the twenty-sixth biggest automaker by production worldwide in 2011.Subaru ,the name of a star cluster in the Taurus constellation is known as Pleiades in Greek mythlogy. This name was given to this company by the first president of Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. (FHI), Kenji Kita.Clearly, this is one of the clusters much loved by the Japanese from ancient times.

Moreover the Subaru word in Japanese means to unite together. Thus the current logo is having all these six stars which actually present the six merger companies of Subaru.

Former logo on a Subaru 360 showing six stars in an arrangement similar to the Pleiades open star cluster

Mazda

Mazda Motor Corporation is a Japanese automotive manufacturer based in Hiroshima, Japan.
It is said that Mazda coincides with the anglicized pronunciation of the founder's name, Jujiro Matsuda, who was interested in spirituality, and chose to rename the firm in honor of both his family and Zoroastrianism. The word Mazda derives from Ahura Mazda, the Avestan language name for a divinity exalted by the ancient Iranian prophet Zoroaster, as the source of wisdom, intelligence and harmony.

The current logo attempts to capture the spirit of Mazda, the stylised "M" evokes an image of wings in flight and symbolises the Mazda’s flight toward the future. The "V" in the centre of the "M" spreads out like an opening fan, representing the creativity, vitalty, flexibilty and passion that is Mazda. The symbol as a whole expresses the sharp, solid feeling that Mazda will be seeking in all of its products. The dynamic circle symbolises our readiness to spread our wings as we enter the 21st century.

Yamaha

Yamaha :Branding tuning fork in its logo

Famous for heavy motorbikes the Japanese brand Yamaha was once known for its famous Piano. Torakusu Yamaha , founder of the company stasted the company with the name Nippon Gakki Co., Ltd. in 1887 as apiano and reed organ manufacturer.

The first organ made by  Torakusu Yamaha however, was criticized harshly for its poor tuning. So he began studying music theory and tuning. After endless struggles  he was finally able to complete the organ,with the concept of the tuning fork mark, inspired by the difficult experience of studying tuning while holding a tuning fork in his hand.

In 1898, one year after the establishment of Nippon Gakki Co., Ltd., forerunner to today's Yamaha Corporation, the company decided to use a tuning fork as its corporate mark, with "a design featuring a hoo (Chinese phoenix) holding a tuning fork in its mouth" as the trademark. Since then, after undergoing a variety of changes that paralleled the growth of the company, the tuning fork mark was finally unified in 1967.

1898	This is the design with a hoo (Chinese phoenix) holding a tuning fork in its mouth, which was established as the trademark in 1898, one year after Nippon Gakki Co., Ltd. was established. The mark was known for being used on top quality organs, which illustrates how the Founder always aimed to create world-class products.
1927	A trademark application was submitted for this tuning fork and Yamaha Veneer mark.
1934	A design widely used in newspaper advertising and catalogs.
1937	A trademark application was submitted for this tuning fork used on organs.
	A trademark application was submitted for this tuning fork used on pianos.
	A trademark application for tuning forks alone.
1956	A trademark application was submitted to be used on musical instruments.
1959	A trademark application was submitted to be used on musical instruments.
1998	The current standard and special versions of the tuning fork marks were established.