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is a Japanese bicycle company manufacturing both bicycles and parts. The company was started as a small family business in Osaka, Japan in 1918 by Sentarō Kuwahara (桑原仙太郎).〔 With his wife and eight children, he began a local bicycle parts wholesaler.〔(History of Kuwahara Bikes ), Feel BMX〕 In 1925, Kuwahara began to export bicycles and parts to Russia, China and Southeast Asia, closing the business from 1940 to 1945 during World War II.〔(Kuwahara BMX ) Company "About" page〕 Nineteen fifty-nine saw the first delivery of Kuwahara bikes to the USA. Sentaro Kuwahara died the following year, with his son Masao taking his place. In 1962, Kuwahara sent its first shipment of Apollo brand sport bicycles to Canada and, in 1968, began exporting private label bikes to the USA for other companies such as Schwinn, Takara, Puch, and Azuki. The first Kuwahara branded bikes for export came in 1972 when it began developing BMX bicycles for the North American, European and Australian markets. Howie Cohen — who had previously operated West Coast Cycle, importer of Nishiki bikes — founded the company, Everything Bicycles, and worked with Kuwahara to build and import BMX bikes carrying the "Kuwahara" brand name, developing the first major BMX distributorship.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 publisher = American Bicycle Association BMX )〕 To make the Kuwahara brand name a household word, Cohen ran a promotion giving free stickers to children who called a toll-free phone number and could correctly pronounce the brand name.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 publisher = Bicycle Industry and Retailer News, Steve Frothingham, August 1, 1999 )〕 In 1989, Cohen sold the Kuwahara name back to the Japanese parent company.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 publisher = Kickstand Magazine, James Burrus, August 15, 2009 )〕 The Kuwahara brand gained international recognition and popularity when its BMX model was used in ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial''. Following the success of the film, Kuwahara began producing red and white "ET" models in three price and quality levels.〔(ET Kuwahara )〕 Kuwahara reissued the ET model in 2002, as part of ''ETs twentieth anniversary. Takuo Kuwahara started Kuwahara International in 1988. ==References== 〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Kuwahara (bicycle company)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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