science

Shimadzu

Shimadzu is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Shimadzu rather than just read about it. In short: Shimadzu Corporation (株式会社島津製作所, Kabushiki-gaisha Shimadzu Seisakusho) is a Japanese public KK company, manufacturing precision instruments, measuring instruments and medical equipment, based in Kyoto, Japan. It was established in 1875.

Key takeaways

Shimadzu belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Shimadzu to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Shimadzu from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Shimadzu Corporation (株式会社島津製作所, Kabushiki-gaisha Shimadzu Seisakusho) is a Japanese public KK company, manufacturing precision instruments, measuring instruments and medical equipment, based in Kyoto, Japan. It was established in 1875. The American arm of the company, Shimadzu Scientific Instruments, was founded in 1975.

History

Founding and early years The company was established by Genzo Shimadzu Sr. (島津源蔵, Shimazu Genzō) in 1875. During the 1890s and 1900s, Shimadzu experienced rapid growth that occurred at the same time as higher education grew in Japan. X-ray devices, the spectrum camera, the electron microscope, and the gas chromatograph were developed and commercialized in advance of other Japanese companies. Shimadzu became a corporation in 1917. The American arm of the company, Shimadzu Scientific Instruments, was founded in 1975. Genzo Shimadzu Sr's son Genzo Shimadzu Jr was the second president of the company and also founded battery manufacturer GS (now GS Yuasa) in 1917.

Developments The company also developed, in 2001, an ultra-high speed video camera, HyperVision HPV-1, which is capable of recording at 1,000,000 FPS, while in 2016 it released the HyperVision HPV-X2, a camera that achieves ultra-high-speed continuous recording at 10 million frames per second at Full Pixel Resolution. Other products developed by Shimadzu include head-mounted displays. Koichi Tanaka won the 2002 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for a new mass spectrometry method. Embarrassed by Tanaka's low rank at the company, Shimadzu immediately promoted him to research fellow, and named a laboratory after him. The company had revenue of ¥264.048 billion yen ($2.8 billion USD) in FY 2012, with 10,395 employees as of March 31, 2013.

Acquisition history In 2024, Shimadzu's scientific Instruments "SSI" acquired ZefSci (Zef Scientific, Inc.) to strengthen their core position in the Multi Vendor Space. In 2019, Shimadzu's Medical subsidiary in USA acquired CORE Medical Imaging, Inc. to strengthen healthcare business in North America. In 2018, Shimadzu acquired Infraserv Vakuumservice GmbH of Germany in order to strengthen their turbomolecular pump sales and service capabilities in Europe. In 2017, Shimadzu acquired AlsaChim, a specialist for high-quality analytical isotope labeled standards. In 1989, Shimadzu Corporation acquired Kratos Group Plc. in U.K. to expand in surface analysis and MALDI-TOF segments.

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Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Shimadzu

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Shimadzu claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Shimadzu before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Shimadzu ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Shimadzu

In research: Shimadzu appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Shimadzu in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Shimadzu is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Companies listed on the Osaka Exchange, Companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, Defense companies of Japan, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Shimadzu outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Shimadzu in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Shimadzu means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Shimadzu out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Shimadzu in simple terms?

Why does Shimadzu matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Shimadzu?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Shimadzu.