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1933 Born in Ohnohara Town, Miho District, Kagawa Prefecture, Shikoku, Japan.
He is the third son of a rice wine and soy sauce maker.
   
1943 Ten-years old Maitani built his first camera.
   
1956 Maitani joined Olympus Optical Co. Ltd..

1959 Pen was released.
During its product life, the sales of Pen series reached 10 million.
     
1963 Pen-F was released.


1969

M System Camera Unit, MDN prototype
(also know as OM-X)
Information from Olympus Japan

 

 


1972

M-1 was released.
The name was changed to OM-1 a year later.
 


1973
OM-2 was released.


1979 XA was released.

 

Advertisements featuring Maitani appeared in U.S. photography magazines.


1981 XA2 was awarded the Japanese Industrial Good Design Grand Prix Award.
   
 

  Pen EF (the last Pen camera) was released.


1983 OM-4 was released.
   
 

   
1984 OM-3 was released.


1985 TRIP 35 was awarded the Japan MITI Long Lived Design prize.


1986

OM-4Ti was released.

  


1988

AZ-300 was awarded the European Compact Camera ’88 - ’89 Award.
 
1990

IS-1000 was released.


1991 [mju:] - 1 was released.
It was chosen as the official camera of the Anglo-Soviet Juno Space Mission.


1992



Maitani was the recipient of the 1992 PMA Hall of Fame Award.

Maitani, together with Eiichi Sakurai and Mitsuo Kawazoe, was interviewed by Camera Review - Classic Camera Senka No. 20.


1994 Maitani was awarded the 1994 Science and Technology Agency's Director General's Award.
   
  OM-3Ti was released.


1996 Maitani retired from Olympus Optical Co. Ltd. on 30 June, 1996 as a managing director. He is now an auditor of Olympus Japan, a sales company in Japan.



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