The company name has its roots steeped in Japanese tradition. Shimamura says ”it is said to be good to add a ‘maru’ meaning a circle before the name of the stores or companies. When Mr. Iwasawa, who is the founder of Tokyo Marui, created the name of the company, he took one letter from his name, which is ‘I’ and added ‘Maru’ before the letter. Since he was born in the old part of Tokyo, so he added Tokyo to the companies name, which made the name of the company ‘Tokyo Marui’.”

Probably the largest airsoft company in the world, Marui employs “about 200 people including both full time and part time” says Shimamura.

Original Tokyo marui Headquarters
Photo- courtesy of ARMS Magazine

From it’s inception in May of 1965, Tokyo Marui has made a number of different items but has “focused on plastic models in the beginning.” As the company grew they “adopted things that seemed to be popular.” For example, “when radio-controlled cars were popular, we made it and the same goes for mini four-wheeled vehicles.” A popular item among collectors, yet highly unknown to the wider airsoft audience is the remote control King Gidora that Marui produced. “It’s not a gun, and was not even sold commercially because a company bought them all.” The best selling item in Marui’s history comes from before airsoft. “It was probably the kamihikouki made out of styrene foam.” The kamihikouki is a small foam plane for children to play with. “I have heard that the kamihikouki sold nearly 2,000,000 pieces.”

Before airsoft guns were created, model guns-more commonly known as cap guns were all the rage. “In the past, there was the boom of model guns which people enjoyed its sound. It used gunpowder, but did not fire a projectile. However, those model guns were very expensive because they were finished products. Marui came up with the reverse idea that they could make prices cheaper if they sold kits and let customers build it themselves. At that time, a finished model gun cost ten to twenty thousand yen. We started to sell model gun kits which cost three thousand yen and it became really popular. This is why we started to sell guns.”

According to Haruka Nakajima, an editor of ARMS Magazine, the first guns were “revolvers and some had the blowback function using gun powder. This was sold nearly 20 years ago, but if your’e lucky can be still found today.

Airsoft guns were the next logical step. Survival games were already taking place in Japan, and Marui decided to try their hand at it. “Since the process of making airsoft guns was same as making plastic model guns, it was relatively easy to start making airsoft guns.” These first airsoft guns were not the same as those we are familiar with today. “In the beginning the airsoft guns used shells not just BB’s. It was the worlds first gas blowback guns, and soft air guns that discharged shells.”

“The first actual airsoft 6mm BB guns was the Luger P-08” says Nakajima. “This is still sold today and at the time cost only 1900 yen. These 1900 yen series were Marui's best selling airsoft products. However, laws in Japan got strict and it became difficult for kids to buy them.”

Over time the company started to produce a huge line of spring and gas pistols and spring rifles. Although Marui did not make a gas rifle, gas rifles were available. In the past, players who had gas rifles were needed to either carry a can of Flon gas with them on the field to regularly charge their guns, or have a constant air system attached to their guns. “Survival games in the past did not look good because people had to have air tanks on their back and the guns were connected to pipes.” Since “Marui was selling radio-controlled kits and had many batteries and motors at that time, we thought about using them to make electric guns.” This gave birth to the automatic electric guns better known as AEG’s. “The innovation of motor and battery made it possible to create electric guns and this innovation made every kind of electric gun possible.”

The start of the AEG revolution that changed the face of airsoft
Photos courtesy of ARMS Magazine 

In April 1991, the worlds first AEG was produced. “Marui's first AEG was the FA-MAS. This did not sell well in the beginning, but the next model, M-16A1, was a huge hit in Japan” says Nakajima. Now that “electric guns have been introduced to the public, the effort put into airsoft has changed dramatically and Marui has been established a leader in the field.”

Marui’s current lineup does very well, but hand guns are their most popular items. “Pistols sell more because of its affordable prices.” Amongst the most popular of the line are the “High-Capa and G-18C.” For the AEG’s, the “M14, M4 series and the recently released MP7A1 are the most popular.”

Sales of the Hi-Capa and the Glock have a way to go though. When Tokyo Marui creates a new gun, it tends to stay in their catalog for a long time. “We still sell the P-38 that was produced more than 15 years ago. Certainly, the Hi-Capa and G-18C are very popular, but they are still low compared to other products measured by total sales. The Hi-Capa and G-18 are still low because they do not have much history.”

 
In-house design and manufacturing allows strict quality control
Photos courtesy of ARMS Magazine

Tokyo Marui uses CAD programs to design all of their guns and then the guns are manufactured “by using metal molds just like the plastic models, and mass-produced.” Over the last several years there have been some good improvements made to the guns. “We did a lot of research and made some changes to the outside appearance and the type of materials used.”

Team Gerirarira at the Tokyo marui factory

Future guns and new ideas are usually discussed in Executive meetings. When picking a new gun to make they “consider movies that are popular and have high exposure and products that are seen on TV.” They also “listen to customer’s comments and figure our market moves, and discuss about many things. Eventually, the executives give the OK or acceptance.”

Before a new gun hits the market a series of tests are performed on it to make sure it meets their standards. “We do all kinds of tests that we can think of such as an endurance test, a strength test, and a falling test.” They also only use “Marui BB to perform the tests (0.2, 0.25, 0.3).”

New guns to look forward to are the “Japanese Self-Defense Forces Type 89 ‘Buddy’ and M1911 Government .45.” Some guns which never quite made it are the “STI, King Cobra and MP40.” They had planned on doing it “but missed a good timing.” Same goes for a remake of the FAMAS.

Manufacturing and assembly work being done
Photos courtesy of ARMS Magazine

Many aftermarket products can be found that are made to fit onto Tokyo Marui’s guns. Some of these are strictly cosmetic, while others are designed to enhance performance, or to increase the guns’ power. In the last couple of years, Marui has finally started to make parts for players to customize the outer appearance of their guns, but they haven’t made anything to increase their guns’ power. In Japan, there are airsoft unions or groups that self regulate the industry, and Tokyo Marui “will not make products that go over the regulated power set by them. We think that it is good to have this type of rules in force.” However, this did not stop some players from upgrading their guns. “In Japan, many incidents using powered up airsoft guns have occurred, and because of this the power level of guns might be controlled by law as early as this year.”
If there will be no distinction between power-up guns and Marui’s gun, and an incident happens, Marui surely will get inquiries so Marui thinks that it is good to have an effective law regarding power.”

Although the market is becoming more competitive, and more companies are starting to manufacture airsoft guns, Tokyo Marui doesn’t seem to be too worried. “We have a patent for electric guns, it is quite difficult for the other companies to produce similar products.” Since Marui concentrates mostly on airsoft “we will have to develop new products with new technologies to beat competitions.” The company watches the “trends and will consider products accordingly.” However, “if they copied our products and sold them, it would be a threat and we would have to watch their movement carefully.”

Tokyo Marui’s latest venture has been working on a new CQB arena which will be open sometime in June. “It was a long-time dream” says Shimamura. They created this place for players to play and experience what their guns can do. He also points out another motive- “if an incident happens in country, it is Marui who has to correspond to reporters. Because of this, we wanted a place to teach enlightening rules.”

Image courtesy of Tokyo Marui

The CQB arena is “1000 square meters, with an actual field of 500 square meters. It can take in a maximum of 80 people. Inside the building, there is a mezzanine-floor, and metal gallery, so you can shoot three-dimensionally. There are stairs going to the 2nd floor. A part of the gallery is a maze, so you can play many patterns to conquest. The gallery floor is mesh. Some parts are screened, so you can shoot or cannot shoot from below. The screen can be moved, so you would never get bored. The atmosphere of room can be changed to pitch-dark, and red or blue light.”

For the future Shimamura says “we hope to expand our market into the internationally.” He thinks only “15 to 20% of their products” are shipped outside of Japan. But for now they “will continue their business in the future as they currently do. Tokyo Marui has created products with ideas and innovation that other companies do not have. We have also kept making products with which users have been satisfied without reducing quality and endurance. These are Marui’s fundamental spirits that will not change. At the same time, it is important not to be satisfied with the current situation and to have to be always ambitious.”

Keeping with their goal of expanding internationally, Tokyo Marui has started to recognize airsoft events outside of Japan, starting with Airsoft Hawaii’s ASH BASH.

Visit the Tokyo Marui website (http://www.tokyo-marui.co.jp) to see all the latest guns available. The website does not contain pictures of the discontinued or limited edition guns or model kits.