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ORIC in Japan

Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2020 9:53 am
by HigashiJun
Just found an interesting ad on the Web :D :

Oric.jpg

Though I do not know whether an Oric was ever sold here...

(It seems the original ad had two pages, but only the second one survived).

Re: ORIC in Japan

Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2020 9:59 am
by Dbug
Maybe there are archives in japan that can be searched?

I remember having seen this picture some time ago, and indeed that's the only Japanese reference I found at the time.

Re: ORIC in Japan

Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2020 10:01 am
by HigashiJun
Ok, here is the full ad:

26.jpg
27.jpg

Cheers.

Re: ORIC in Japan

Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2020 10:47 am
by HigashiJun
Dbug wrote: Fri Oct 23, 2020 9:59 am Maybe there are archives in japan that can be searched?
I have been looking for a long time now and never found anything...

This ad was for a mail order company called Odessa, and I guess this company was just trying to sell some popular European computers on the Japanese market without really succeeding.

Japan had at this time its first MSX computers, which were really popular here, and despite its lower price the ORIC did not make it here.

Re: ORIC in Japan

Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2020 2:09 pm
by 6502Nerd
Wow this is great, I wonder how few were sold in Japan. Did these Oric machines from from UK direct or perhaps via France where Oric was more popular..

Re: ORIC in Japan

Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2020 11:11 pm
by HigashiJun
The website where I found this ad says it comes from a Japanese magazine from year 1983, that is to say one year after the Oric-1 was first launched in the UK.

If you also look at the (fake) stamps on the (fake) envelope, you can see they are British ones.

The ad also says Odessa (in fact Trans World Trading KK) works together with a British company called "Micro Peripherals" and that they are importing computers from Western countries.

Considering all the above mentioned facts, we can therefore suppose their Orics were imported directly from the UK.

Re: ORIC in Japan

Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2020 10:31 pm
by 6502Nerd
Oh yes, I didn't look properly - agree with your deduction, the implication is indeed that this is from the UK. Nice to know there may be an Oric or two out there in Japan!!

Re: ORIC in Japan

Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2020 6:15 am
by HigashiJun
Apart me and my own Atmos, I am rather very skeptical about finding more fellow Oricians here in Japan. :(

But who knows...

Re: ORIC in Japan

Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2020 10:49 am
by ibisum
I'm sure there's one floating around in the back shelves of an alley-shop in Akihabara somewhere .. ;)

Re: ORIC in Japan

Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2020 11:53 am
by HigashiJun
:D :D :D

Re: ORIC in Japan

Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2020 12:23 pm
by Dbug
HigashiJun wrote: Sun Oct 25, 2020 6:15 am Apart me and my own Atmos, I am rather very skeptical about finding more fellow Oricians here in Japan. :(

But who knows...
Well, based on the tracking information for my 8bit hub, it's possible there is an Orician in Kyoto.

Re: ORIC in Japan

Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2020 12:47 pm
by HigashiJun
Dbug wrote: Mon Oct 26, 2020 12:23 pm
HigashiJun wrote: Sun Oct 25, 2020 6:15 am Apart me and my own Atmos, I am rather very skeptical about finding more fellow Oricians here in Japan. :(

But who knows...
Well, based on the tracking information for my 8bit hub, it's possible there is an Orician in Kyoto.
That would be good news !

Re: ORIC in Japan

Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2020 8:52 pm
by Steve M
I think OPEL tried to get Orics in different countries. There may be a news item in one of the magazines about trying to sell there, but I'm not certain.