Fender Japan

MADE IN JAPAN serial number
Crafted in Japan serial number

Fender Japan was the joint-venture that operated the Japanese business of Fender guitars from 1982 to 2015. Fender itself took over the Japanese operations effective April 1, 2015.

History

Fender Japan was officially created in March 1982 by Fender (USA), in cooperation with two Japanese music companies that handle the ordering and distribution. The two Japanese companies were Yamano Gakki (山野楽器) and Kanda Shokai (神田商会). Yamano is a musical instrument wholesaler/retailer with its own retail outlets. Kanda Shokai is a musical instrument wholesaler with no retail outlets of its own. These two companies do not manufacture guitars, they order them from Japanese guitar factories such as FujiGen Gakki and distribute them through retail outlets. Yamano distributes through its own retail outlets and also various other retail outlets, while Kanda Shokai distributes through various retail outlets, including the Ishibashi chain of music stores in Japan.

The Japanese guitar factories that have produced Fender Japan guitars at various times were FujiGen Gakki, Tōkai Gakki and Dyna Gakki.

Manufacturers

The Fender Japan guitar manufacturing contract was originally going to be awarded to Tōkai in 1981/1982, but at the last minute Fender chose FujiGen instead. Some FujiGen-made Fender models between 1982 and 1996 have necks made by Atlansia.

Tōkai and Dyna Gakki took over the manufacture of the Fender Japan models in 1996/1997. The Tōkai-made Fender Japan guitars were not exported from Japan, but some of the Dyna-made Fender Japan guitars are exported. Dyna Gakki have made various guitars for Kanda Shokai's Greco brand.

Terada made the Fender Japan acoustic guitars such as the Fender Catalina.

"Made in Japan" and "Crafted in Japan"

According to a Fender representative, it was stipulated in the Fender Japan contract that if there was a change of manufacturer from FujiGen Gakki to another guitar factory, then the logo would be changed from MIJ ("Made in Japan") to CIJ ("Crafted in Japan").

The first CIJ Fenders started around 1992, but most of the Japanese Fenders up until 1996/1997 were MIJ Fenders.

In 1991/1992 FujiGen Gakki were expanding their factory operations by establishing FujiGen Hirooka Inc ((Japanese) フジゲン広丘（株）) to be able to take on additional set neck (Gibson like necks) contracts (such as the Orville by Gibson contract) and so Dyna Gakki (one of Kanda Shokai's main guitar makers) took over some of the making of the Japanese Fender models. This resulted in a CIJ logo being used on some Japanese Fenders instead of an MIJ logo.

CIJ is mostly used on Fenders from 1996/1997 until recently, due to Tōkai and Dyna taking over the Fender Japan manufacturing contract from FujiGen Gakki in 1996/1997. The Fender Squier range was also brought into line with the Japanese Fenders at around the same time (1996/1997), with "Crafted" rather than "Made" being used.

Timeline

1982: Fender Japan starts production with FujiGen Gakki having the manufacturing contract. The "Made in Japan" (MIJ) logo is used.

1984: CBS sells Fender to its current owners and while waiting for a new USA factory to begin production, Fender Japan models and leftover USA stock were mostly sold in the USA for a few years.

1992: The first "Crafted in Japan" (CIJ) models start appearing due to Dyna Gakki taking over some of the manufacturing while FujiGen Gakki were expanding their operations.

1996/1997: "Crafted in Japan" (CIJ) is used instead of "Made in Japan" (MIJ) because Tōkai and Dyna Gakki take over the manufacturing contract from FujiGen Gakki.

2015: Fender, Yamano and Kanda Shokai end the Fender Japan joint-venture on March 31, 2015. Fender took over the Japanese business effective April 1, 2015.

Sources