CASIO Music Europe Promoter

Once upon a time, there were four brothers who had talent, ideas, courage, and a vision. What sounds like the beginning of a fairy tale was the venture that brothers Kazuo, Tadao, Toshio, and Yukio Kashio embarked upon in 1946, just one year after the end of World War II. Their collective idea was to develop, produce, and succeed with electronic and digital technology. However, one vision came specifically from the enthusiastic hobby musician Toshio, whose great dream was to build electronic musical instruments that would be affordable for leisure enthusiasts. Following their initial success with the first electric tabletop calculator based on relay technology in 1957, the first inkjet printer and the first pocket calculator followed in the early 70s. Then, in the mid-70s, with the still-popular CASIOTRON, they achieved a major coup in the watch market, Toshio decided that the know-how was sufficient, the developed technology advanced enough, and the time ripe to realize his dream, to put the founding vision into action. With the beginning of 1978, under the leadership of Toshio Kashio, the brothers began to completely revolutionize the market of electronic musical devices. Their goal: to create a price-performance ratio with new ideas, smaller devices, and innovative technology that made creative joy in music possible for those on a tighter budget and within the confines of their own four walls. By 1980, the time had come, and CASIO set standards for the future with the CASIOTONE 201, the world's first portable keyboard. Success was not long in coming, given the 49 different sounds the device could generate. With the mini-keyboard VL-1, which hit the market a year later, Stephan Remmler of TRIO proved that good did not have to be expensive or large and promptly scored the global hit "Da Da Da" with it. The 16-bit sampling synthesizer FZ-1 then definitively ushered in a new era in which amateurs could also participate in the big music business - without having to pay the price of a new car. Thus, Toshio's vision became a reality – and it is still the credo according to which products are developed and produced today. From beginner keyboards to affordable digital pianos to the pro range with synths and stage instruments, CASIO devices offer quality and creative possibilities at an affordable price. Today, CASIO is present worldwide and stands at a point with 70 million instruments sold that Toshio Kashio could probably have never dreamed of.