1950
After the war, larger construction equipment was needed in order to reconstruct and cultivate devastated farmlands. At this point, Japan was developing equipment imitating what the U.S. army had brought in.
The history of Motor graders in Japan is still short. The first prototype was built by Ikegai Auto Corporation under the military order in 1944 during the World War II.
Later, Ikegai was acquired by Komatsu, and Ikegai's ZS series was succeeded by Komatsu's GD series. GD25-1 was the same model as Ikegai's ZS31 and ZS32 with only a different name.
This is Ikegai's ZS32. It was a small model aimed to be used for maintenance of narrow roads in cities and villages.
Other Equipment
There were other construction machines built by Komatsu over the years. We can see how the various designs mirrored different eras if we look at them set against the flow of history.
