Nikko and Toko represent the two prominent brands of binoculars in Japan during WWII. These Japanese military giant big eye binoculars were widely used on naval ships for scanning the horizon for impending dangers. Diagrams of Japanese Navy vessels during WWII show 13 of these giants mounted on the deck. They were quite common in the collector market for 50 years after the war, but as collectors saw the value and beauty of these binoculars, they became harder to find. Nikko

Big eye binoculars were favored during WWII by the Japanese Navy and were largely used to keep an eye on the horizon from the decks of ships. Japan was the most prolific maker of large aperture binoculars during WWII and Nikko and Toko were their largest manufacturers. From 1939 to 1944, Japanese optical industries imported approximately 2,000 tons of optical glass from the German supplier, Schott, the most advanced maker of optical glass in the world. After WWI, the Japanese