Torakusu Yamaha was born to the family of a Kishu Tokugawa (today's Wakayama Prefecture) and was captivated by Western science and technology from early on. He pioneered the production of Western musical instruments in Japan and was the founder of the Yamaha brand trademark, YAMAHA. At an early age, being fascinated by the watches that were gaining popularity in Osaka at the time, he took up watchmaking, studying business along the way. On one serendipitous occasion, the Hamamatsu Jinjo Elementary School requested that Torakusu Yamaha try to repair a reed organ. He agreed to the task and was successful at the repair, marking the first step toward the birth of the Yamaha brand.

Recognizing a business opportunity, Torakusu created a blueprint of the inside of the organ while repairing it, later creating his own prototype. In order to deliver the custom handmade organ to the then Music Institute (today's Tokyo University of Arts), the story goes that Torakusu slung his new creation over his shoulder using a carrying pole and crossed over the mountains of Hakone. Unfortunately, the organ was highly criticized for its poor tuning. Undaunted, Torakusu started over from scratch, studying music theory and tuning. Yamaha was able to successfully complete the organ with proper tuning after many trials and difficulties, including the difficult experience of studying the art of tuning while also holding a turning fork in hand, inspiring his concept of the tuning fork mark.