National (ナショナル) was a brand used by Panasonic Corporation (formerly Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.) to sell home appliances, personal appliances, and industrial appliances.
Several similarly-named companies exist, such as National Cash Register, National Semiconductor, National Car Rental, National Australia Bank, National Book Store and National Grid Corporation of the Philippines, but none of them are related to the National brand.
History
Before present-day Panasonic produced appliances under the name, the National brand was first used by Konosuke Matsushita's electric firm to sell his battery-powered bicycle lamps, hoping that they would be a product used by all of Japan, hence the name "National". It was arguably the first well-known brand of Japanese electronics.
National was formerly the premier brand on most Matsushita products, including audio and video and was combined in 1988 as National