If having a good quality acoustic guitar made in Japan is important to you, I’d recommend that you look for guitars made by Tokai.
Some of the Morris guitars are pretty nice, too, but truthfully most of the acoustic guitars made in Japan between the mid-1960’s through the mid-1980’s aren’t up to the same quality standards as guitars being made in Asia right now. Construction techniques and CNC tooling have improved the overall quality an immense amount.
There are fans of that era of Japanese guitar manufacturing who will undoubtedly chime in (there was one manufacturer that started with the letter “Y” - what WAS their name?) but Tokai and, to a lesser extent, Morris were the companies that impressed me the most back during that era. The higher end Alvarez-Yairi and Ibanez guitars can be impressive. There are also Made in Japan Bozo and Lowden guitars (most of which were made at the Morris factory, as were many of the best Ibanez instruments.)
There were so many brand names that a lot of the time you just have to judge the guitars by their sound and playability, then look at the materials they were made from and the overall fit and finish. But that’s best done in person rather than buying online and hoping for the best.
Hope that makes sense.
Wade Hampton Miller
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