Who invented the massage chair? The story begins in 1954 in Osaka
Michael Roedeske
Owner of Massagesessel Welt
Last updated:
Nobuo Fujimoto built the world’s first mass-produced massage chair in Osaka in 1954. His materials: wood, softballs, bicycle chains, and a car steering wheel. His workshop grew into the company Fujiiryoki, which continues to manufacture massage chairs to this day, making it the oldest manufacturer in the industry. The original unit still exists. It is on display at the factory in Osaka and has been officially recognized as part of Japan’s industrial heritage since 2014.
The idea comes from the bathhouse
In 1950s Japan, very few apartments had their own bathrooms. People washed at the sentō, the public bathhouse, where the neighborhood would gather in the evenings. At the time, Nobuo Fujimoto sold scrub brushes for bathhouse tiles. Every evening, as he visited his customers, he saw the same scene: people sitting in the changing room after work, simply exhausted.
He wanted to build something specifically for this space—a machine where you could sit down after a bath and be massaged without the need for a masseuse. He came up with the business model right away: The bathhouse guest inserts a 10-yen coin (about 40 cents in today’s purchasing power) and receives a 3-minute massage, while the bathhouse owner earns a share of the revenue from the machine. That’s how the massage chair came into being—as a coin-operated machine in the changing room.
Wood, softball, bicycle chains
Ready-made parts were scarce in postwar Japan, so Fujimoto built the machine from whatever he could find. For the massage heads, he used softball balls because their rubber has a flexibility similar to that of human thumbs. Discarded bicycle chains provided the drive mechanism, and a car steering wheel mounted on the side served as the height adjuster. Prototype after prototype was created in this way in his workshop in the Abeno district of Osaka, until the first production model was completed in 1954: the Fuji Automatic Massage Machine.
The device could do exactly one thing: knead your back. Two massage heads moved along the left and right sides of the spine, and the height was adjusted manually using a dial on the side. The only electrical component was a single on/off switch. The early models cost around 70,000 yen—about 820 German marks at the fixed exchange rate of the time. Adjusted for purchasing power, that’s roughly 480,000 yen or 2,500 euros today, and compared to the starting salary for a college graduate at the time—7,800 yen per month—it was actually about nine months’ salary. Nevertheless, the bathhouse venture paid off: The chairs operated, the coins clinked, and Fujimoto’s three-person family business grew into a factory.
One inventor, or two?
However, the history of the industry’s origins includes even more names. In Sakai, right next to Osaka, Niichi Kawahara was working on motorized massage devices at the same time, and the manufacturer Thrive emerged from his circle. Family Inada, also from Osaka, claims to have built the first fully automatic massage chair in 1962. And in 1969, Panasonic became the first major corporation to enter the business.
However, only one is documented with the date, the device received, and an independent inspection: the start of production in 1954 at Fujiiryoki. Something else stands out, though. All of these names come from a single region. The massage chair is an invention from the Osaka metropolitan area, just as the quartz watch comes from Switzerland.
Machine Heritage No. 68
A recent award demonstrates just how seriously Japan takes this invention. On August 7, 2014, the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers (JSME) designated the first model from 1954 as Mechanical Heritage No. 68. The first Shinkansen trains and Honda’s early engines are also on that list. The wooden massage chair from the bathhouse is now officially part of it.
The History of the Massage Chair on a Timeline: From the Hand Crank to AI
What followed is the story of a single question: How can mechanics come closer to what two human hands can do? The engineers' answers, decade after decade:
| Year | Model | What's New |
|---|---|---|
| 1954 | Fuji Automatic Massage Machine | First massager chair in series production: kneading, height adjustment via hand wheel |
| 1965 | Fuji A-1 | 4 massage heads, targeting the shoulders and lower back at the same time |
| 1967 | Fuji C-3 | Tapping Massage Using Contoured Massage Heads |
| 1975 | Fuji MOTHER FM-52 | Kneading and tapping in the same machine, selectable via a switch |
| 1979 | Dr. Roller FP-401 | Roller massage along the spine, reclining backrest |
| 1995 | Royal Chair MC-133 | First chair with only air chambers; calves and thighs included for the first time |
| 2000 | AS-777 | Combined massage heads and air chambers |
| 2001 | CYBER-Relax AS-001 | 3D Point Navigation: The rollers also work in the depth direction |
| 2012 | CYBER-RELAX AS-850 | 4D: The characters also vary their pace |
| 2019 | CYBER-RELAX AS-2000 | AI Control with Dual Body Sensors |
| 2025 | AS-R2300 | Touchscreen, 40 programs, AI navigation; sold internationally as the JP4000 |
Here are a few of these stations in pictures:
The current generation of this series is called the AS-R2300 in Japan. Outside of Japan, Fujiiryoki sells the same unit as the JP4000—identical in construction except for the nameplate—and that’s exactly the model we have here: Fujiiryoki JP4000.
Why Japan, of all places?
From the very beginning in Japan, the massage chair was found wherever people gathered: first in public bathhouses, then in electronics stores, and finally in living rooms. Today, about one in every 10 Japanese households has a massage chair. Manufacturers have thus been developing products for 70 years for a mass market that is constantly comparing and demanding more.
Just how far this culture extends is demonstrated by the current president of Fujiiryoki, Tadahito Nakai, who is known in Japan as the “massage chair sommelier.” His philosophy, roughly translated, is that the product lineup should be so broad that every family member—from the grandchild to the grandmother—can find a program that suits them. It is this philosophy that has given rise to the chairs now on display in our showrooms.
What's in Today's Armchairs from 1954
If you sit down in a Japanese massage chair today, something happens in the first few seconds that Fujimoto would have liked: You are being measured. The rollers scan your back once, from the cervical spine to the pelvis, and note where your shoulders are. Then you’ll be massaged exactly where two softballs traced their paths in 1954—only now in 3D or 4D, with heat and air chambers extending all the way down to your calves.
The history of the massage chair has never been interrupted. Fujiiryoki continues to manufacture them to this day, and other Japanese massage chairs also carry on this legacy. On display in our showrooms are the descendants of the 1954 wooden chair, and you’re welcome to try them out one after another. In just two minutes, your body will feel the results of 70 years of development. If you’d like to narrow down which chair suits your body beforehand: Find the Right Chair in 5 Steps.
Frequently Asked Questions About the History of the Massage Chair
Who invented the massage chair?
Nobuo Fujimoto, a former brush salesman from Osaka. In 1954, he built the Fuji Automatic Massage Machine, the world's first massager produced in series, and subsequently founded the company Fujiiryoki.
How much did the first massage chair cost?
The early models cost around 70,000 yen, which was about 820 D-Mark at the exchange rate at the time. That was roughly equivalent to 9 months’ salary for a Japanese college graduate—about 2,500 euros in today’s purchasing power. They earned their money as coin-operated machines in bathhouses: 10 yen for a 3-minute massage—back then, a good 10 pfennigs, or about 40 cents in today’s purchasing power. According to Fujiiryoki , the 1965 Model A-1 cost 80,000 yen (about 890 German marks at the time)—just under four months’ salary, or about 2,000 euros today.
Is the first massage chair still around?
Yes. The original machine from 1954 is on display at the Fujiiryoki plant in Osaka and was recognized as Mechanical Heritage No. 68 by the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers (JSME) on August 7, 2014.
Since when have 3D, 4D, and AI massage chairs been available?
The 3D massage was introduced in 2001 (Fujiiryoki AS-001), the 4D massage with variable speed in 2012 (AS-850), and the first AI control system with body sensors in 2019 (AS-2000).
Sources
- Fujiiryoki: The History of the Massage Chair (Japanese)
- Fujiiryoki-Company History, Chapter 1: The Founding Years, Beginning in 1954 (Japanese)
- Fujiiryoki: The First Device as Machine Heritage No. 68 (Japanese)
- Fujiiryoki Global: History of the Massage Chair (English)
- nippon.com: The Art and Science of Relaxation (English)
- Conversion and Purchasing Power: German mark values based on the fixed exchange rates of the Bretton Woods era (360 yen per U.S. dollar; 4.20 German marks per U.S. dollar, from 1961: 4.00); Japan’s Consumer Price Index (prices have increased roughly sevenfold since 1955) and starting salaries, long-term statistics from JILPT; euro values at the exchange rate as of August 28, 2026 (1 euro = 186 yen), rounded.
