![]() ![]() ![]() Perry’s diplomatic “negotiations” included staging several champagne-fueled blackface minstrel shows-the popular American entertainment of the day-performed by crewmembers who thereby introduced Japan to the guitar and 5-string fretless banjo. Commodore Perry’s mission was to re-open Japan for business… with America! In reaction to 16th century evangelism by Portuguese missionaries, Christianity was outlawed in Japan, European traders were confined to a tiny island in Nagasaki Bay, and death awaited anyone who left the islands without express permission. Japan had been culturally isolated-“sequestered”-since the early 1600s. Navy Commodore Matthew Perry sailed into Tokyo harbor with a dragon fleet of steam-powered gunships. Japanese interest in Spanish guitars dates back at least to 1853, when U.S. While the somewhat jaundiced American view of Japanese classical guitars during the ’60s and ’70s was partly the legacy of World War II, its roots go much deeper in time. Some of these vintage guitars now represent excellent value, whether you’re looking for a concert-grade or very high-quality student guitar.įor those of you who grew up double-thumbing those marvelous Japanese inventions Nintendo or Sony PlayStation, it may come as a surprise that back in the 1960s and ’70s, Japanese-made products-including guitars-were often viewed with disdain by many American consumers. A lot of that had more to do with Pearl Harbor than the items themselves, and in retrospect it was probably unfair. When it comes to classical guitars, Japanese luthiers were already building fine instruments and solving technical challenges that would soon make them major exporters well into the 1980s. ![]() BY MICHAEL WRIGHT | FROM THE SUMMER 2018 ISSUE OF CLASSICAL GUITAR ![]()
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