Early 1920-1940s Japanese archtops - any info?

[Guitarz]

Hi,

Does se anyone have info on early 1920s archtop guitars made my Japanese companies?

[Klatu]

I wasn't aware that such things existed.

[citizenk74]

Hi,

Does se anyone have info on early 1920s archtop guitars made my Japanese companies?

[Guitarz]

Thanks; I think I’ve run across an archtop guitar made sometime in the early 1920s; as the tag say “Made in Nippon” and as such would have been made previous to 1920 ban in the USA Of imports from Japan stating ‘Nippon’ instead of ‘Japan’

[travisty]

The only one I can think of offhand is Suzuki (at the time known as Suzuki Violin).
Ibanez didn't start importing guitars til later, and didn't start making and exporting guitars til even later.
Nippon Gakki (which was the precursor name of Yamaha) didn't start making guitars til the 60s.

Suzuki started making guitars in the teens, and they exported violins that early with a "made in Nippon" label so why not...

They made "Spanish guitars" and later made "parlor guitars."
I did not know they made archtops that early, but it is possible. I know they made archtops later. They have a distinctive f-hole where the top and bottom "dots" are separated from the body of the "f."

They had started with mandolins in the early 1900s but the influence was European bowl-backed mandolins (and always has been), and not the archtop mandolins made by Gibson in the teens.

[Guitarz]

Take a look .... Toyo Gahki .. I only found references to the company in the early 1900s; the last one being 1930....by 1933 they were not listed in the directory for Japanese manufacturers .... so what’s your take ?

[travisty]

That is the style of F-hole I was speaking of - little circles separated from the body of the f.
The design of the label, headstock, and cellulose decoration to me do not look 1920s I'd think. I'd suggest 1940-60s.

MONTANO was a brand of ubiquitous and relatively inexpensive guitars (though they went from cheap to a bit more expensive) made and mostly sold in Japan.
The brand owner - (Nagoya) Teikoku Inventions or ??????or ???????? - farmed out production to other companies and then exported the items or sold them in Japan.

They have the "Made in Nippon" label, "Made in Occupied Japan" briefly, and "Made in Japan" labels, but there are clearly guitars made in the 50s and 60s (L7 cutaway copies) with the "Made in Nippon" label so I expect that those were sold locally.
One point here might be that even in the 1950s, "Nippon" was seen as Japan for Japanese while "Japan" was the name used by foreigners. And the name "Teikoku" - where the company did not change its name when many companies with that kind of name did post-war - means "Imperial" and has very clear references to Japan as a country with an emperor, not modern post-war Japan.
It would have been like putting "New Amsterdam" on your violin label after the city name changed to New York. It was done deliberately, for effect, not just for US Customs purposes.

The earliest catalog I have seen is 1941. The last guitar I have seen with the MONTANO label is 1980s.

T?y? Gakki KK (??????????) ("KK" is like "Incorporated" or "Limited") was started in the early 1900s by a guy who built a factory and made organs and then violins. It disappeared at some point then came back. There are guitars made in the 50s with T?y? Gakki labels.
Other OEMs which show up on the MONTANO labels include Terada, Yairi, Takamine, and others (another maker of archtops under the MONTANO label was Okamoto Gakki). Sometimes there is no OEM shown on the label at all.
I think it is eminently possible that Teikoku took over Toyo Gakki, but I can't find any history suggesting that other than one old thing, though when Teikoku was no longer Nagoya Teikoku and just Teikoku, it was based in Osaka, which is just next to Hyogo which is where Toyo Gakki was from.

MONTANO guitars mostly ended up in the US, from what I understand, because they were sold to GIs in Japan.

The MONTANO brand sold classical guitars, folk guitars, Spanish guitars, "pick" guitars (a flat back box with f-holes akin to a Gibson L50), parlor guitars (flat top and flat back but with f-holes), and later full-blown nice archtops as well as ukeleles.
Some of the guitars are quite nice from appearance, but if you dig into the construction, it sometimes gets cheap/dodgy. In some cases, they are out-and-out really, really cheap.
In any given month, once can find several offered for sale in Japan on Yahoo Auction or Mercari (the local equivalents of ebay and a centralised craigslist).

It appears Teikoku used exactly the same 'flowery' label to export guitars to the US under the "Harmony Guitars" label (with the maker name "Harmony Guitars Manufacturing Co").

I expect that above the MONTANO name on your guitar there is a logo of "crossed guitars" (guitar and mandolin?) and then above that a little shield with either a bird, or something else in it, and organ pipes on either side (No. 47 is the model number). I expect the "Model HN" is the cheaper version of your guitar.

Other "brand" guitars which ran almost identical ranges with very similar looks at a certain time include Kiso Suzuki, Yamauchi, ZenOn, Nardan, Maruha, History, Headway, and a few others (some were "house brands" of instrument retailers, and some were simply trading houses which supplied them in bulk to instrument retailers). There was also the Raffaele Calace brand sold in Japan. Raffaele Calace was a mandolin maker from Naples who took over the business with his brothers. He became well-known in Japan in the 20s because he came to Japan and played, including playing for the Emperor. It was a big thing in the papers and after that, Calace-brand mandolins and guitars sold well for decades. I had assumed they were made in Italy and exported, but they could have been made in Japan under contract. I have seen a Calace which looks nearly identical to your guitar. The Calace brand sold archtops in Japan well into the 50s and 60s.

Hope this helps.

[travisty]

Weirdly, the Japanese names are showing up as question marks for me unfortunately.

[Guitarz]

Travisty can you respond to my private message. Thanks

[Guitarz]

Is there a collectors market for such instruments?

[Guitarz]

Wouldn’t it predate the 1920s due to the McKinley Tariff Act which would have prevented it being imported with ‘ Made in Nippon?’

[Guitarz]

If anyone has interest in acquiring an early Japanese archtop guitar, please PM me. Thanks

[customxke]

Wouldn’t it predate the 1920s due to the McKinley Tariff Act which would have prevented it being imported with ‘ Made in Nippon?’

No. There are guitars made today that say "Made in Nippon". You'd be hard pressed to find any arch top guitar with f-holes made before 1921. They exist, but there's not many.