About the Company
Juli-Corder is an obscure Japanese brand of reel-to-reel tape recorder, and very little historical documentation exists about the company or its operations. What is documented comes mainly from enthusiast vintage-audio catalogues and collector directories rather than formal corporate histories.
Manufacturer Identity
The brand name “Juli-Corder” appears to have been used on tape recorders made by a company called Tokyo Rokuon Kogyo Corp., a Japanese electronics manufacturer based in Tokyo.
Beyond this association, there is no publicly well-documented corporate history outlining when the company was founded, how long it operated, or the breadth of its product line. It was likely a small OEM/consumer brand, possibly with units marketed under various names or for limited markets.
Known Products and Timeline
Mid-1960s?
One of the few known models is the Juli-Corder DA-401, a transistorized four-track stereo reel-to-reel recorder.
According to Radiomuseum.org, this unit may date to around 1965, though exact production dates are uncertain.
The DA-401 offered solid-state electronics, four-track playback/recording, and was evidently designed as a mid-level (consumer) tape recorder, similar in style to other Japanese tape decks of the era.
Production Footprint
Only one model (DA-401) is widely catalogued under the Juli-Corder name. It’s possible that other models existed, but no comprehensive list has been documented by collector databases.
A few anecdotal sightings by collectors (e.g., reddit posts) suggest that other machines branded Juli-Corder — such as a “Model 301” — may have circulated in second-hand markets, though specific historical details are sparse and largely undocumented outside enthusiast forums.
Market Position and Legacy
Juli-Corder is considered a minor or niche player in the wider history of reel-to-reel tape recorders. Its limited presence in collector directories and absence from mainstream audio history books reflects how small and under-documented the brand was compared to major manufacturers like Sony, TEAC, Akai, or Pioneer.
Because of the lack of mainstream sources, much of what’s known about Juli-Corder comes from vintage electronics catalogues or user-submitted listings rather than formal corporate records.
Summary
Juli-Corder represents one of the many smaller Japanese reel-to-reel tape recorder brands that appeared during the height of analog audio equipment production in the 1960s and 1970s. Available evidence suggests:
It was linked to Tokyo Rokuon Kogyo Corp. in Tokyo.
At least one solid-state reel-to-reel model (DA-401) was produced, likely in the mid-1960s.
Very little else about the company’s production history — including when it began, ended, or how extensive its product lineup was — is documented in publicly accessible historical sources.