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There were a number of G-type tape recorder product variations. The G-type "A" tape recorder incorporated a limiting amplifier for better articulation of sound nuances. The G-type "B" tape recorder was designed with emphasis on frequency characteristics and sound volume fidelity. The G-3 tape recorder, which was produced while the company was focusing its engineering efforts on the H-type tape recorder, had steel handles attached to its sides to enhance portability.
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Still, all the G-type tape recorders were extremely heavy. With its long-awaited completion, the H-type tape recorder became the first consumer tape recorder model and was marketed in March 1951. It weighed only 13kg, which was less than a third of the original G-type tape recorder. The H-type tape recorder, which came in a case, boasted a chic design, for it was the first Totsuko product designed by industrial designer Sori Yanagi.
With the introduction of the H-type tape recorder, Kurahashi's consumer education program and others activities began to pay off, and school orders increased. at that time, using audio visual aids in schools had just begun to become accepted in Japan (as it was incorporated into Occupation policy). The idea was to present 16mm educational films as a visual aid while playing NHK radio for listening. The intention was to move from Japan's pre-war educational style based on conceptional practices to one which made use of audio visual teaching aids.
Totsuko decided to take advantage of this trend by offering various radio programs on "sound cans" and editing them to suit the school's curriculum. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education and NHK organized conventions with teachers all over Japan to discuss how to use the school hour broadcasts more effectively. Even though Totsuko was a small company with a tight budget, Ibuka and Morita were sympathetic and willing to lend several dozen H-type tape recorders for use at these conventions.
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At the same time, Kurahashi and others thought about possible uses of tape recorder in subjects other than those offered in schools. They started discussing such possibilities with the Ministry of Education and teachers, in order to arrive at the most effective use of tape recorders.
Shortly after this study got under way, Morita summoned Kurahashi and said, "You are doing a very good thing. Why don't you tour around Japan and talk about what you have learned so far?"
Thus, Kurahashi was assigned to give lectures at schools all over Japan as managing director of the Society for Sound Recording in Education, formed within Totsuko, on the theme of "How An Audio Visual Education Should Be Offered." This was done under the sponsorship of a private society, because if he had spoken as sales manager of the Tokyo Recording Company, people would not have come to hear him. Not many people would have been interested in hearing a mere sales pitch for the tape recorder. In fact, Kurahashi never said, "Please buy the Totsuko tape recorder," or anything resembling that during his lectures. He only stressed the importance of an audio visual education and elaborated on the uses of a recording machine for educational purposes.
Perhaps because this approach was appreciated, Kurahashi received one request after another to speak on the subject. And Kurahashi, for his part, learned a lot from teachers and enhanced his understanding of the actual classroom situation. In an abacus class, for example, the tape recorder proved useful in reading consistent instructions for adding and subtracting figures. It also enabled a teacher to individually teach the students how to use their fingers. Another class, which turned noisy and kept ignoring the teacher's repeated instructions quieted at once when the teacher recorded and played back their babble.
As the saying goes, "dig a trench before you drain water." The education programs conducted by Kurahashi and others bore fruit, and the Totsuko tape recorder rapidly penetrated the school market throughout the country. Through this experience, Morita and his colleagues learned that the real and best market could be found only by developing the market itself.
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