Back from Japan with a LS135 and a bunch of other cool stuff

Hey guys,
I just got back from Japan. I had the intent to buy an LS380 but I could not find a new one. The very first tokai I picked up was a VF LS135. It played great, sounded great etc. I went to four more shops, played a bunch of other guitars (tokais/edwards) but couldn't get it out of my head...so I ended up where I started.... The story of my life....My buddy Ishimorisan and I played the LS2s and LS3s at all music and we both felt the quality of workmanship on the LS135 was equal to it's more expensive brothers. They even cut me a deal on it when I noted some buckle rash, a ding etc....doen't matter to me but they were very nice about it! Great guys.

Here's the guitar:







Here's some more pics of my trip to Japan in case you're interested: Please note, I took my picture with the guys in the guitar shop I bought it from, but the picture was taken the next day, so I grabbed the only VF tokai they had left.

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=143872675&blogID=270119669&MyToken=ce0fe070-e34d-4301-ba73-c0b80c7afbb7

I don?t know about LS135 vs LS-2 or 3 but I can say LS150 is not on the same league as a LS320,each one is in its level,being a 150 a production line guitar as gtops told once and I fully agree and a luthier guitar the 320.Love to try any one these 2 and 3 models but not avalaible to me.

Hmmm, that's interesting. As far as I know the LS1/2/3 s are plain top LS380s with different pickups (made from the same woods etc). I'm not certain of that however. I played a LS150 and a LS200 and did not much care or them due to specific issues with the individual guitars. Maybe I got a lucky one?
Next time I'll be more dilligent and secure a LS380. Plus I need another excuse to go back

Great pics and that's an awesome guitar there mate! I'm interested in getting something similar but unfortunately the Tokai supply is an issue right now. Did anyone mention anything about Tokai's being in short supply in Japan?

I know the local Rock Inn has had some Tokais on order for several months. Plenty of Japanese Fenders in the shop but can`t see any Tokais. I do see quite a few new Tokais on the web over here but none in this city.

tollund23 said:

Great pics and that's an awesome guitar there mate! I'm interested in getting something similar but unfortunately the Tokai supply is an issue right now. Did anyone mention anything about Tokai's being in short supply in Japan?

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Thanks man. Yes, Ishimorisan, my buddy, said we wouldn't see any new high end Tokais other than the LS2/3s and he checked dilligently in anticipation of my arrival. My wife emailed Tokai Gakki in Hamamatsu and they said they are back ordered at least until November...I had this dream about going to Hamamatsu and hand picking one...no such luck.

Kurosawa had a nice cherry Burst LS135 if that interests you.

Congrats on your new beauty ... :lol: :lol:

You're a lucky guy to have had the chance for a guided tour through guitarists' heaven ... :wink: :wink:

Roger

I do know how Tokai factory big is and it?s not big enough for a high production which is one of the things I like about Tokai,besides Adachi-san implication in production. I?m teaching labour and economic things to some young people and I put Tokai as factory example explaining them some matters western young people did not understand.....Still is on my mind that scene Adachi-san himself explaining young workers about acoustics....
Regarding the wait I feel it?s worth if you have a guitar to play meanwhile and the more demand the more your Tokai will be up in value(which I don?t care much but a great guitar made...).Only concern is Tokai mainteining quality craftmanship with such a high demand but I ?m sure they can stand it.

You know last night, as I was packing up from our show it struck me that I was Mr Japan. I brought 4 guitars to the show (including the new Tokai), all MIJ, my pedal board has all large box Maxon pedals (except for a Peterson strobe tuner) and my '83 Marshall 2203 I picked up in Japan on a previous trip. Drove to the show in my Isuzu trooper! Nihonjin?
On an ironic aside, my grandfather went to fight the Japanese on Guadalcanal as a Marine. I went to Japan 20 years ago and surrendered! I married a beautiful Japanese woman.
I'm sure glad times change. I love the Japanese people, their culture, their appreciation of craftsmanship, their work ethic etc. I am very very glad I did not have to fight them, knowing what I know of Japan and Japanese.
I still have family in Japan. If they only spoke English and drove on the right side of the road, I'd move in a second!

Joe,

Looks like fun.

Where did you shop? Was it in Ochanomizu?

I've got a trip coming up (maybe as soon as the week after next) to Japan and Taiwan.

I shopped in Ochanomizu in summer '05, and I'm planning on spending a Saturday there on this trip.

Scott

ScottA said:

Joe,

Looks like fun.

Where did you shop? Was it in Ochanomizu?

I've got a trip coming up (maybe as soon as the week after next) to Japan and Taiwan.

I shopped in Ochanomizu in summer '05, and I'm planning on spending a Saturday there on this trip.

Scott

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I shopped all over the place. Ochanomizu, Yokohama, (a stop http://www.yonezawa-gk.com/map.html
That's the place that had a LS150 and a LS200. I didn't care for either of them.

http://www.musicland.co.jp/store/index.php?seq=Campaign&cid=359 Had some nice tokais. But as I mentioned I bought from Kurosawa. If you go there (you get off the JR line at Yokohama Station) please tell them Joe Gorman sent you!


Man, I already want to go back.......

pages plexitone said:

You know last night, as I was packing up from our show it struck me that I was Mr Japan. I brought 4 guitars to the show (including the new Tokai), all MIJ, my pedal board has all large box Maxon pedals (except for a Peterson strobe tuner) and my '83 Marshall 2203 I picked up in Japan on a previous trip. Drove to the show in my Isuzu trooper! Nihonjin?
On an ironic aside, my grandfather went to fight the Japanese on Guadalcanal as a Marine. I went to Japan 20 years ago and surrendered! I married a beautiful Japanese woman.
I'm sure glad times change. I love the Japanese people, their culture, their appreciation of craftsmanship, their work ethic etc. I am very very glad I did not have to fight them, knowing what I know of Japan and Japanese.
I still have family in Japan. If they only spoke English and drove on the right side of the road, I'd move in a second!

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as other cultures, it is multi facted. I`ve been told that because I`m a fair haired blue eyed expat the treatment I get is somewhat different from that people of other Asian countries get here. I taught at a North Korean high school for two years...even though most were second or third generation born in Japan they were not treated very well by the Japanese. As I`ve said many times before I find the Japanese to be no different than any other people...some are real nice some are not...shouldn`t be a surprise. After almost 14 years here I still never know if I`m getting the honne or the tatemae. There are some dark sides to the culture as well...the sex trade is almost never spoken of by the locals but it`s here and I`ve seen some very inteersting TV shows on the high school girls who get thousands of yen from salary men for various reasons...one was the girls who sit outside train stations in Tokyo selling the panties they`re wearing to salary men, they go into the ladies room take them off and bob`s your uncle.
There is a lot more...recent violence has been widely reported here.
Japan is a nice place with many fine folks but Nirvana?...no.

sneakyjapan said:

pages plexitone said:

You know last night, as I was packing up from our show it struck me that I was Mr Japan. I brought 4 guitars to the show (including the new Tokai), all MIJ, my pedal board has all large box Maxon pedals (except for a Peterson strobe tuner) and my '83 Marshall 2203 I picked up in Japan on a previous trip. Drove to the show in my Isuzu trooper! Nihonjin?
On an ironic aside, my grandfather went to fight the Japanese on Guadalcanal as a Marine. I went to Japan 20 years ago and surrendered! I married a beautiful Japanese woman.
I'm sure glad times change. I love the Japanese people, their culture, their appreciation of craftsmanship, their work ethic etc. I am very very glad I did not have to fight them, knowing what I know of Japan and Japanese.
I still have family in Japan. If they only spoke English and drove on the right side of the road, I'd move in a second!

Click to expand...

as other cultures, it is multi facted. I`ve been told that because I`m a fair haired blue eyed expat the treatment I get is somewhat different from that people of other Asian countries get here. I taught at a North Korean high school for two years...even though most were second or third generation born in Japan they were not treated very well by the Japanese. As I`ve said many times before I find the Japanese to be no different than any other people...some are real nice some are not...shouldn`t be a surprise. After almost 14 years here I still never know if I`m getting the honne or the tatemae. There are some dark sides to the culture as well...the sex trade is almost never spoken of by the locals but it`s here and I`ve seen some very inteersting TV shows on the high school girls who get thousands of yen from salary men for various reasons...one was the girls who sit outside train stations in Tokyo selling the panties they`re wearing to salary men, they go into the ladies room take them off and bob`s your uncle.
There is a lot more...recent violence has been widely reported here.
Japan is a nice place with many fine folks but Nirvana?...no.

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I'm sure you're right. I two have seen the two-faced thing, that does confound me....I see japan with my Gaijin rose colored glasses. Mr. Blue eyes, light hair gets treated well. So from my perspective I'm enamored. I only speak from my experience. Any and all human endeavors are flawed. This trip I did notice what one Japanese friend living in the US called NEET kids. (forget what that stands for) Better known as deliquents I guess. I saw alot more tattos, piercings, weird hair...etc Still, can't be too bad living there....I mean, you're still there right? Take care.

One of the kids living 4 years here was refused by his father when he came back home because he was not"enough japanese" and I can say he was the most japanese of all of them who I met.....

yes still here but seriously thinking of heading back...been fun but not home.

I know Japan quite well.. I am married to a japanese woman.. and have been to Japan lots of times..

I can confirm that everything that sneakyjapan wrote is true. It is indeed a nice place to visit and such.. but.. not the easiest place to live, and if you are a foreigner it gets worse..... and yes.. everybody?s polite and nice (well, most of the times).. but you never know if it is honne or tatemae (even japanese people can?t notice the difference, most of the times).

Everybody has an opinion, and experiences, now I know yours. Great. Like I said, any human endeavor is flawed. I get it. Show me one human endeavor that is not. I understand your need to tell me it's not Nirvana. Got it.
I stand by my appreciation for that country, as imperfect as she may be. I've enjoyed my visits since I deployed to Japan, the first time, 20 years ago!
BTW. Did I mention I had a great time in Japan, I was treated marvelously by friends, family, complete strangers, merchants etc. OH, and I bought a great guitar......

yeah I don`t wanna leave the impression I hate it here and everything is bad...on the contrary. My wife`s family and relatives have made me feel like a member of the family since day one, some of my students have been with me for years and those count as the good folks I`ve met,　 among many others too numerous to mention here. if I weren`t happy I`d leave today, just that the longer one lives in any country the more they will see and the more experiences they will have. Never had anybody call me scary as I passed them on the street back home like they do here.
An American I worked with got really angry when he saw this sign posted outside the Playboy club in this city and said he was going to write a letter to the mayer...but he was told by the other expats working at the school that the mayor probably was a member of the club but go ahead and try.
Japan is a nice place but every kind of person that exists in wherever it is you live... exists here as well. I detect a slightly angry tone in your last post, could be wrong, but we`re discussing here and as you say everybody has different experiences and I think the city one lives in makes a huge difference too...Sendai is well known among the natives to be very concervative...it ain`t no Tokyo or Osaka.

sneakyjapan said:

Never had anybody call me scary as I passed them on the street back home like they do here.

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Ha! Now, I know of that well! I remember walking around trying to smile a lot and be as friendly as I could (with a high and tight cut) and still people sometimes looked at me like I was the devil! Like they were terrified I was going to kill them! I have to admit though, I love neighborhoods where I'm the scariest guy around...Shhhhh, I'm really a nice, well adjusted guy...don't tell anyone that.
A lot of Marines I knew that deployed to Japan would spend all their leave going home...had their pecker in one hand and a picture of their girl back home in the other...man I just wanted to meet nice girls who didn't hang out in bars! Ah, the 80s.....
Take care.

I detect a slightly angry tone in your last post

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Probably because the focus has shifted from the awesome axe he bought and the great time he had in Japan to a philosophical debate about a nation's acceptance of foreigners and statements of the obvious.