Japanese Music Industry

Takeomi Nishimura found his way to Suzuki Musical Instruments while studying engineering in college. Upon returning home from school one day a friend suggested he work for the company and the rest is history. Within the company, Takeomi has served a variety of roles including production control, marketing and development, and at the time of his interview, serves as the Director of Sales where he evaluates sales trends and helps guide the trajectory of the company based on the success of individual instruments.

Hideo Nonaka was the chairman of Nonaka Boeki Company, a music instrument distributor located in Yokohama, Japan. His father began importing musical recordings in a business that was burned to the ground during World War II.  Hideo reestablished the business and in 1953 expanded the product line to include musical instruments. He pioneered American instrument imports during the 1950s and built up the Japanese market as a result. His contributions have been recognized by the Japanese government as well as the French government, which bestowed the prestigious “Chevalier de I’ordre N

H. John Nonaka keeps in mind that his grandfather, who established the family owned music business, always supported musicians - an element of the business John happily continues. Since joining Nonaka Boeki in 1983, John has focused on marketing and promotions while at the same time creating programs and services that support musicians. One such program has been funding transport that has brought over 200 student bands to the local professional football (soccer) games so that they could perform and gain that unique and rewarding opportunity. His commitment to musicians would make

Ken Oda was hired by Yamaha in 1967 to run their retail store in San Francisco, California.  He continued to work for the company until his retirement at which point he joined Fender Musical Instruments.  While at Yamaha he met and worked with Bill Schultz who later hired Ken to help grow the Asian market for Fender.  Ken worked for Fender for ten years when the company enjoyed strong growth in many Asian countries where Ken was involved.

Hiroaki Oh-oka sat on a thin mat in front of a leg-less table in his traditional Japanese home where he outlined the history of the bamboo flutes his five- man company produced. The company, which his father started as a street vendor in Tokyo, holds a patent for the colorful plastic ends on the flute.  Oh-oka was very proud that his son and his grandson who have continued the tradition of making quality flutes the same way his father did, by hand.

Yukio Ohashi was the chairman of one of Japan’s leading musical instrument distributors, Prima Gakki. The company was established in 1945 as a sheet-music distributor and wholesaler. Over the years, Yukio became a key figure in the development of Japan’s music industry, helping design associations and creating music-encouraging events and materials to increase active music making. As a leader in the Wholesaler Division of the Japan Music Industry Association, he played an important role in strengthening music education programs and supporting musical events that expanded music mak

Hiroo Okabe is the Director and Managing Executive Officer of Yamaha’s Musical Instrument Business Group. During his NAMM Oral History interview he provided the history of how Mr. Torakusu Yamaha began his career in the music industry by first repairing a reed organ and later, in 1900, introduced his first grand piano. Mr. Okabe spoke of the development of Yamaha’s production of the pianos and how it allowed the research of other instruments during the 1960s and 70s. The changes in automated production of instruments at Yamaha was also explained by Mr. Okabe, as well as the variou

Ryoji Okamoto was the chairman for Kiwaya Corporation in Japan, which was established in 1919 and has since become one of the most important manufacturers of the ukulele. With his keen interest in the instrument, Mr. Okamoto wrote several successful method books and created a popular training school dedicated to the promotion of the ukulele. The company’s brand name, Famous, has been at the forefront of music education programs in Japan for several decades. As the brand name grew over the years Mr. Okamoto provided more and more resources for music education programs as well as th

Ryo Okumoto began his professional musical career as a keyboardist during the height of the electronic musical instrument boom of the 1970s.  The synthesizer was growing nearly every month and new sounds were being created at nearly every NAMM Show, an opportunity Ryo-san took full advantage of as a performer.  He often played the Hammond Organ and Mellotron in his early career and later specialized in playing the Minimoog, which can be heard on many of his recordings with the band Spock’s Beard.

Shiko Onodera is the President of the Japan Music Trades Magazine. This monthly magazine was established in 1962 by Mr. Rikuro Hiyama to support the music industry and to encourage sharing of ideas. When Mr. Hiyama approached John Majeski, the editor of The Music Trades Magazine (established in 1890 in New York) asking if he could use the name Japan Music Trades, Mr. Majeski cordially agreed. Shiko-san has followed Mr. Hiyama's vision and has helped expand the scope by incorporating new technologies such as a digital format for the magazine and webinars to bring people together to

Yukio Sakurai studied photography and art at the university in Tokyo before his uncle asked if Yukio would come to work for him. His uncle was the founder of the Japan Music Trade Magazine and Yukio was very interested to work in the music industry, which in publishing required his training as an artist. Yukio joined the magazine in 1963 and rose to become the chief editor and a pioneer in the industry as a supporter of music education and as an advocate for music and music making.

Ryoichi Sasaki was hired by Yamaha in 1967 working in the method book division.  In 1978, he formed his own publishing company, Rittor Music, which focuses on producing music-themed magazines, including guitar and technology magazines.  Ryoichi has also been very active in copyrights and the rights of music related to ringtones and karaoke.  Active with the CDC in Japan, he has also been instrumental in how copyrights effect MIDI and other industry technologies.

Tadahiro Sato loved music and baseball!  In fact after playing baseball for many years in his youth, he joined the music industry while playing baseball all along.  His sister's husband established Star Music in Japan in 1950, where Tadahiro began working four years later.  He and his brother-in-law teamed together to open the Star Music School, which grew to ten locations.  While the store focuses on keyboards, the lesson program requires much of his time.  For over 16 years he served within the Tokyo branch of the JAMI in developing programs to grow the industry.  All throughout

Masaru Sawano began playing guitar as a young student when he first heard the Beatles.  He took a liking to music and the first job he took after college is the one he still has, working for Japan Music Trades.  Although today he is president of the magazine and he started out as a part time employee.  Just like the fact that Masaru-san still enjoys playing the guitar, he also still is passionate about the music products industry and being a part of it.  During his interview, Masaru reflected on the history of the 40th anniversary of the Japan Music Trades Magazine and the role it

Hisatake Shibuya took great pride in developing music education opportunities for students wishing to bring music into their lives. By forming music schools in Japan and later opening the Musicians Institute in Hollywood, CA, Hisatake-san has created a model for extended musical education programs. The schools are funded largely by his ESP Guitar Company, which was formed in 1975, and provides instruments and gear around the world. 

Hidesato Shiino’s great-grandfather formed a music business in Japan, which gave young Shiino-san a strong background in the industry. He also had a passion for playing musical instruments, which he and others in his country were unable to obtain in the years following World War II. Over time he found opportunities to provide schools with musical instruments and with his own company, Vestax, was able to make and sell his own musical products.  

Kazuhiko Shima is the director of the Hamamatsu Musical Instrument Museum, which opened to the public in 1995.  He was hired the year before to help assemble the instruments and create the displays.  He is proud of the programs they have developed over the years to engage visitors of all ages.  The museum, under his direction, was among the very first to recognize the role of electronic musical instruments as influential, and to put early synthesizers on display in the museum.

Mototsugu Shimamura grew a small Japanese music retail store into the country’s largest music retail chain. Shimamura Music has played a vital role in music education and the expansion of the music market in Japan since 1962. As both president of Shimamura Music and an active member of several industry associations, Mr. Shimamura worked to build global growth within the music products industry. His mission for his very first store is still the mission for his entire retail chain today: “Deliver our customers the joy of music to their everyday life.”

Fujio Suzuki was the president of the Suzuki Musical Instrument Company in Japan in 2003 when the NAMM Foundation’s  Museum of Making Music celebrated the launching of the new Hammond-Suzuki B-3. Fujio Suzuki took the stage alongside the president of the United States office of Suzuki and legendary jazz musician Joey DeFrancesco, who endorsed the organ as well as demonstrated it’s new features while keeping the traditional sound. Manji Suzuki, the chairman of the company, has also been interviewed for the NAMM Oral History library.

Manji Suzuki had a deep passion for the music industry. He is the founder and president of Suzuki Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company in Hamamatsu, Japan. The company began as a harmonica maker and over the years has developed innovative instruments such as a full line of wood harmonicas for music education. His passion and mission was to introduce music into the lives of young people. During the 1980s he purchased the Hammond Organ Company and for the first time ever brought in the Leslie Speaker Company under the same ownership. Those on hand for the recording of Mr. Suzuki

Peter Suzuki's career parallels the rise of Yamaha and the highly successful Yamaha Music Schools in Japan and the United States. Mr. Suzuki started with Yamaha in 1962 as a retail keyboard salesman in Tokyo. Faced with ever-increasing Electone Organ production, Mr. Suzuki realized the Electone to be the ideal keyboard teaching tool and successor to the reed organ for young students in Japan. This spurred music education and the Electone to even greater sales and national renown and vaulted Mr. Suzuki to national manager of educational programs in the Yamaha Education and Promotio

Reiko Suzuki discovered her passion for music at a young age as she watched her father and mother operate a company that manufactured harmonicas and other instruments. This coupled with her father, Manji Suzuki’s desire to spread the joy of music to children later served as her inspiration to follow in her parent’s footsteps. After her start in the company where Reiko managed and supervised employees, worked in the accounting department, as well as the production side of the operation, Reiko became the president of Suzuki Musical Instruments.

Tetsuya Takagi served as Executive Vice President of Yamaha International Corporation (currently Yamaha Corporation of America) and worked for Yamaha Corporation in Japan holding several important positions during his long and successful career.  Mr. Takagi received scholarship from Yamaha while in college and went to work there after graduating from the college in 1960. In 1969 he was ordered to serve in California as part of Yamaha International Corporation, which had opened in 1960.  He helped establish many of the management programs still utilized today throughout Yamaha.

Wayne Tanabe is a pioneer in the band instrument repair field who has helped create and improve several methods for instrument cleaning using ultrasound and cryogenics. Looking towards ways of cleaning band instruments without harming the horn, Wayne began experimenting with deep freezing the instruments in the method of cryogenics. He also owned and operated the Brass Bow in Chicago for over 25 years and in recent years has served as the senior technical manager for Yamaha in New York City.

Yuji Tanaka is a Senior Executive Officer for Roland Corporation who has enjoyed a successful career in the music products industry. Yuji provided detail about how and why he came to work in the industry during his NAMM interview. He spoke about the innovations he has witnessed throughout the years, his R & D activities at Yamaha and his experiences at Parsons Music, which was an important part of his personal and professional life. The interview also covers many of the historic products Yuji has played a part in bringing to the market such as those within the Roland line of i

Yoshiaki Tanaka, though not a musician himself, has always harbored a deep appreciation for music and a steadfast commitment to music education.

Toshitsugu “Tom” Tanaka, the president of Hoshino Gakki. Ltd, recalled with a smile his early training in the industry under Harry Rosenbloom of Medley Music. That experience not only educated him on the American instrument market, it was also the foundation of his partnership with Mr. Rosenbloom. Together the two men established the Ibanez Guitar brand and brought it to the world market. Mr. Tanaka played a key role in the establishment and operation of Hoshino USA and served as president during the years the company launched the Tama drum line.  

Hidekazu Tanaka became the fourth president of the Roland Corporation in Japan in 2005. The role within the company followed nearly 25 years of service within the company including working in sales, marketing and the export division. The company has been a source of great instrument innovation since its founder, Ikutaro Kakehashi, introduced a line of influential electronic keyboards, drum machines and synthesizers beginning in the early 1970s. Since that time the company remains focused on the early mission to produce innovative musical products that add to their customer’s love

Ken Taniguchi runs the store his father opened in 1936 in Ochanomizu, Japan.  The store started as a repair shop for accordions in the years before World War II.  When US soldiers came in for repairs on all manner of instruments, the shop developed a strong reputation and soon expanded.  Ken came into the business in 1965, the year before the Beatles toured Japan, which forever changed the industry.  Finding a special niche, the store specializes in left handed electric guitars.  He rode the wave of demand in guitars but always felt the new competition made business very difficult

Isao Tomita was the world-renowned composer of electronic music who famously used the Moog synthesizers to create award winning music that influenced a generation of music makers!  Among his most incredible contributions to music was his use of multitrack recordings to create polyphonic synthesizers sounds before a polyphonic synth was created!  His sound designs and new sounds included realistic string simulations before most composers took advantage of the technology.

Ryoichi Totsuka began his notable career in the music industry right after college as a salesman for Kawai Pianos in Japan. The experience inspired Ryoichi-san as he sought other opportunities to contribute to the piano side of the industry. In 1980 he helped establish the European office for Kawai and worked with several brands over the years including Panasonic and Technics as well as Fazioli and Estonia, the latter two which he imported to Japan for the first time. His long association with Bechstein Pianos began in the mid 1980s thanks to his friendship with Karl Schulze.

Mark Tsuruta is an influential product engineer who led development teams at Ace Tone and Roland Corporation throughout much of his distinguished career. Born in Nara, Japan, Mark grew up playing guitar and was inspired early on by The Ventures. When faced with a broken electronic organ as a young musician, he successfully repaired the instrument — an experience that sparked both joy and a lifelong desire to support musicians by providing the tools they need to express themselves. In 1971, Mark was hired by Ikutaro Kakehashi to join Ace Tone, confirming he had found the career he