Kazuo reportedly began making classical guitars perhaps as early as 1950, as a teenager. Giichi left Suzuki in 1929 and opened his own shop in Kani, just north of Nagoya, where Kazuo apprenticed. Kazuo Yairi was the son of Giichi Yairi, who worked for the Suzuki Violin Company in Kiso-Fukushima. Sakazo’s sons Teruaki, Toshihiko, and Yukio became famous luthiers, as did his apprentices Yuichi Imai, Hakusui Imai, Yoshimitsu Hoshino, and Hideo Ido. Many other Japanese luthiers would follow in their footsteps. In the mid-1950s, the Nakades-located in Tokyo-were the first Japanese luthiers to make a pilgrimage to Spain to study traditional lutherie. 1973) Nakade were the sons of violin-maker Kinpachi Miyamoto (who actually measured Segovia’s guitar back in ’29). Among the earliest known modern Japanese classical guitar makers were brothers Sakazo and Rokutaro Nakade, Kazuo Yairi (1932–2014), and Yamaha. One of the key objectives in Occupied Japan following the War (which ended in 1945) was to make Japanese industry-including guitar making-a part of the emerging global economy. Hoshino Gakki Ten began importing Spanish guitars from Salvador Ibanez in Valencia, and by the mid-1930s, Japanese acoustic guitar manufacturers included Hoshino, Kasuga Gakki, and possibly the Suzuki Violin Company, with at least two separate workshops run by brothers Giichi and Sada Yairi. In 1929, Andrés Segovia toured the islands and classical guitar became a national obsession.
Morishige Takei (1890–1949) studied in Italy, started the first Japanese mandolin orchestra (1915), and began composing for classical guitar (1919).
Japanese musicians began to study in America and Europe. The influence of Western music and instruments steadily increased through the popularity of military bands and Japanese laborers returning from Hawaiian sugar-cane fields after 1868. Plus, Japanese musical scales were similar to Western scales (although untempered).ġ968 Yusaku Mokuharu, Katsura and the indigenous Japanese biwa and shamisen. These instruments may have seemed familiar-Japan already had a 4-string wooden biwa (fretted lute) and the 3-string unfretted, skin-covered shamisen. Perry’s diplomatic “negotiations” included staging several champagne-fueled blackface minstrel shows-the popular American entertainment of the day-performed by crewmembers who thereby introduced Japan to the guitar and 5-string fretless banjo. Commodore Perry’s mission was to re-open Japan for business. In reaction to 16th century evangelism by Portuguese missionaries, Christianity was outlawed in Japan, European traders were confined to a tiny island in Nagasaki Bay, and death awaited anyone who left the islands without express permission. Japan had been culturally isolated-“sequestered”-since the early 1600s. Navy Commodore Matthew Perry sailed into Tokyo harbor with a dragon fleet of steam-powered gunships. Japanese interest in Spanish guitars dates back at least to 1853, when U.S. While the somewhat jaundiced American view of Japanese classical guitars during the ’60s and ’70s was partly the legacy of World War II, its roots go much deeper in time. Some of these vintage guitars now represent excellent value, whether you’re looking for a concert-grade or very high-quality student guitar. Indeed, when it comes to classical guitars, Japanese luthiers were already building fine instruments and solving technical challenges that would soon make them major exporters well into the 1980s. The actual article in the link have several interesting photos (and also more readable than this block of text)įretwork: A Look at Vintage Japanese Classical GuitarsīY MICHAEL WRIGHT | FROM THE SUMMER 2018 ISSUE OF CLASSICAL GUITARįor those of you who grew up double-thumbing those marvelous Japanese inventions Nintendo or Sony PlayStation, it may come as a surprise that back in the 1960s and ’70s, Japanese-made products-including guitars-were often viewed with disdain by many American consumers.Ī lot of that had more to do with Pearl Harbor than the items themselves, and in retrospect it was probably unfair.
Came across this interesting article "Fretwork: A Look at Vintage Japanese Classical Guitars"Īpologies if this had been posted or shared before.
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