![]() ![]() Herb Ohta “Ukulele Virtuoso” was deeply impressed by Okamoto’s effort that he wrote a letter recommending the “Famous” brand of ukuleles (on display at Ukulele Museum “RAKU”). #Ukelele brands professional#He solicited advice from various professional musician and even personally inspected every one of his ukuleles prior to delivery. Despite these tough conditions, Okamoto did his best to remain in business while trying to boost up sales and improve the quality of his ukuleles. The days of winter-like hardship were about to begin.Īt one point, the recession was so severe that “Famous” was the only domestic brand being produced. Even Luna, the best known Japanese brand, eventually disappeared. People no longer bought ukuleles, and most makers either went out of business or ceased production. Unfortunately, this was in mid-60’s and at a time that Rockabilly craze was beginning to sweep across Japan. As the name implies, it was Okamoto’s dream to make his product famous. Under these adverse circumstances, however, Ryoji Okamoto, at that time the President of Kiwaya Shokai, decided to stick with the ukulele and launched his “Famous” brand. In fact, the one explosive Hawaiian craze was already beginning to cool down with the guitar becoming more popular. ![]() They were a little late in entering the market. However, there were also many other Japanese brands that contributed to the Hawaiian craze in Japan.īIRTH of the KIWAYA “FAMOUS” BRAND and the DAYS of WINTER-LIKE HARDSHIPīy 1955, the ukulele was the main product of Kiwaya Shokai. The most popular brand was the Luna that was manufactured by Luna Gakki (working out of Okayama prefecture) and distributed through Kamano Gakki. It was a time when musicians such as Katsuhiko Haida, Buckie Shirakata and Setsuo Ohashi established what is sometimes referred to as “Japanese Hawaiian Music.” Japanese Ukuleles reached their heydays in the 1950’s. ![]()
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