FUJIGEN
 | It has been suggested that this article should be split into a new article titled Japanese OEM Guitar Manufacturers. (discuss) (October 2020) |
| File:Fujigen fgn logo.png | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Musical instruments |
| Founded | 1960 |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | Electric guitars, basses |
| Website | fgnguitars.com |
FujiGen Gakki (Japanese: フジゲン 楽器, lit. 'Fuji Stringed Musical Instruments'), also known as FGN, is a Japanese musical instrument manufacturing company based at Matsumoto, Nagano and is named after the famous Mount Fuji. "Gen" means stringed instruments and "Gakki" means musical instrument – the name is literally translated to "Fuji Stringed Musical Instruments". FujiGen does OEM guitar manufacturing for well known guitar brands and they also manufacture their own brand of guitars known as FGN.
History
FujiGen started production in 1960, making violins and classical guitars. In 1962, FujiGen started production of electric guitars. In the 1970s, FujiGen started making guitars (OEM) for companies such as Hoshino Gakki (Ibanez), CSL (Antoria), Kanda Shokai (Greco guitars) and Yamaha. In 1977–78, FujiGen went into a joint venture with Roland to produce guitar synthesizers. In 1981, FujiGen opted out of acoustic guitar production to mainly concentrate on solid body guitar production. FujiGen obtained a CNC router in mid 1981 for making guitar parts and also began to manufacture their own pickups starting in late 1981.
In 1981–82, FujiGen obtained the Fender Japan contract which lasted until 1996–97 and in 1983 FujiGen were producing 14,000 guitars a month with 80% of the guitars being made for export markets and 20% being made for Japanese domestic markets. In mid/late 1992, FujiGen obtained a part of the Orville by Gibson contract which ended in 1998 and from then on have made Epiphone Japan solid body guitars, some Gretsch models and their own branded FGN guitars. FujiGen still manufactures OEM guitars for companies like Ibanez and Epiphone but in much smaller quantities than in the past. FujiGen has three factories: the Omachi factory in Omachi, the Hirooka factory (established around 1992) in Shiojiri and the Matsumoto head office factory in Matsumoto.
List of Japanese OEM Guitar Manufacturers
| Manufacturer | Est. | Location | Description/Associated Brands |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chushin Gakki | 1948 | Nagano | Chushin Gakki was established by K. Miyazawa in 1948.[1] They have made electric guitars since 1961. They produced guitars sold by Charvel, Jackson, Fresher and Robin from the early 1980s,[1] as well as Ibanez's Axstar line in the late 1980s.[2] They also sold original designs under names such as Bambu, Cobran, and Hisonus. The El Maya (EM series) was a collaboration with Maya Musical Instrument Co and American manufacturer engineer (Alembic?), starting in 1977 through the early 1980s.[citation needed] |
| Dyna Gakki | 1973 | Nagano | Dyna Gakki was founded in 1973 and have built guitars for several well-known brands. They produced Ibanez's Blazer line in the 1980s and have also made guitars for Fender, Greco (for Kanda Shokai), Gretsch, and Fernandes. Dyna also made the Yamaki/Daion[3]/Founder/Joodee solid body guitars for Daion in the 1970s and early 1980s.[4] |
| Iida Gakki | 1958 | Nagoya | Iida Gakki have made solid body, semi-acoustic and acoustic guitars for well-known brands such as Yamaha and Caparison. Iida built Ibanez's Artfield guitars in the late 1980s as well as some models in that company's Artist series. They also built banjoes and mandolins for the Sigma by Martin brand.[5] From the late 1980s, they have shifted most (if not all) of their production to South Korea in their Peerless facility. |
| Kasuga | 1935 | Nagoya | Kasuga was founded in 1935 by Kazuyuki Kasuga.[6] They produced a variety of stringed instruments: guitars, banjoes, mandolins, ukuleles and even violins. Many of these were sold under the Kasuga brand. In the 1970s and 1980s they sold Gibson replica guitars under their own RK Herby and Heerby brands. They were involved in a joint venture with Roland to produce guitar synths in the late 1970s.[7] By the 1980s Kasuga stopped selling guitar under their own brands and instead focused on OEM production for other companies. They made acoustic guitars for Yamaha as well as guitars sold by Burny, Washburn and under ESP Guitars' Navigator brand.[7] Business conditions became difficult in the late 1980s due to the strength of the Japanese yen in global currency markets, which forced most production overseas to Taiwan and elsewhere. Kasugi continued producing mainly violins and bouzoukis for a while, but they ceased operations in 1996.[6] |
| Matsumoku | 1951 | Matsumoto | Matsumoku produced guitars for Aria, Epiphone, Ibanez and other brands in the 1970s and 1980s. The company ceased operations in 1987. |
| Terada | 1912 | Nagoya | Terada began producing stringed instruments in Nagoya in 1912. Over the years they've produced guitars sold by Epiphone, Burny, C. F. Martin, Gallagher, Gretsch, Ibanez, Morris, Orville by Gibson, Steinberger, and others. They specialize primarily in building semi-acoustic and acoustic guitars. They also sold guitars under the T. Haruo brand in the United States and the Terada brand elsewhere.[8] At their production peak, which ran from the late 1970s through the early 1990s, Terada produced up to 10,000 guitars a month in three factories: Higashiku , Kanie and Shirakawa. Their current output is about 1/8 of what it was at their peak and only the Kanie factory remains, producing exclusively semi-acoustic guitars. |
| Tōkai Gakki | 1947 | Hamamatsu | Tokai is a family owned business which began as a maker or harmonicas and pianos. They started producing guitars in the mid 1960s and have since built instruments for many well-known brands including C. F. Martin, Fender and Fernandes.[9] They also sell guitars under their own brands.[10] |
Sources
- "History of FujiGen" (in Japanese). FujiGen. Archived from the original on 2017-11-09. Retrieved 2015-05-18.
- Rainer Daeschler. "1986/1987 tour of Fujigen factory". Daeschler.com.
originally published as "Fujigen vom Kuhstall zur Weltspitze". Fachblatt Musikmagazin. 1987 (2).
- Further reading
- Yokouchi, Yuichiro (1983). グレコの仲間たち―富士弦楽器物語 [Buddies of Greco — A tale of FujiGen] (in Japanese). Matsumoto: Densan Printing Co. ASIN B000J7471C.
- Yokouchi, Yuichiro (1994). 運を掴む―弱小の会社を世界一にした男の物語 [Get the luck — A story of a man who grown a weak company into the top of the world.] (in Japanese). Tokyo: Gakken. ISBN 978-4051060671.
- "Matsumoto GUITARS" [Guitar Manufacturers in Matsumoto City] (in Japanese). Matsumoto: Junk Guitar Museum.
- Meyers, Frank (July 29, 2013). "Fujigen Gakki Factory Tour!!". DrowningInGuitars.com.
- Meyers, Frank (2015). History of Japanese Electric Guitars. Centerstream Publications. ISBN 978-1-57424-315-4.
See also
References
- ^ a b Benedittini, Frankie (August 19, 2022). "Burny Guitar manufacturers from 1975 to early 2000". Vintage Japan Guitars. Archived from the original on 2022-11-09. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
- ^ Wright, Michael (May 1, 2008). "Off with her head! (1986 Ibanez Axstar AX75 electric guitar)". My Rare Guitars (blog). Archived from the original on 2017-02-15. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
- ^ The Daion "Joodee" brand should not be confused with the "T and Joodee" brand by Japanese luthier Shiroh Tsuji.
- ^ Benedittini, Frankie (April 15, 2019). "Dyna Gakki". Vintage Japan Guitars. Archived from the original on 2022-11-15. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
- ^ Dunham, Kevin (November 2015). "Sigma By Martin: Following the Line". Vintage Guitar (magazine). Archived from the original on 2022-11-15. Retrieved 2022-11-16.
- ^ a b "Kasuga". Guitar-List. Archived from the original on 2021-12-07. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
- ^ a b "Kasuga Guitars". Jedistar. Archived from the original on 2022-04-07. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
- ^ "The Untold History of T. Haruo guitars". Kritmon. Archived from the original on 2021-09-22. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
- ^ Benedittini, Frankie (April 7, 2019). "History of Tokai". Vintage Japan Guitars. Archived from the original on 2022-11-15. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
{{cite web}}:|archive-date=/|archive-url=timestamp mismatch; 2022-11-09 suggested (help) - ^ "Tokai Guitars". USA Music Import. Archived from the original on 2022-11-15. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
External links
