Kazuo Kashio was president of the Casio Musical Instrument Company during the heyday of electronic keyboard sales. The company produced some innovative products during that time and conti...
Hirokazu Kato took part in the innovative engineering team at Yamaha in Japan who utilized FM Synthesis to create an electronic musical instrument, first the TRX prototype and then the re...
Seiki Kato is the president of KORG, the Japan based electronics company that has created innovative musical products since his father first established the company in the 1970s. Seiki pr...
Tsutomu Katoh had many ideas for using electronics to improve the way people make music in their homes. As the founder of KORG, he was able to see his ideas turn into successful musical p...
Hirotaka Kawai was the president of the Kawai Music Corporation in Japan following in the footsteps of his grandfather, the company's founder and his father, who expanded the company afte...
Sanjiro Kawamorita was drafted into the Japanese Army during World War II. He served under Shigeru Kawai who hired Kawamorita-San and other soldiers from his unit after the war. He remain...
Yoshinori Kimbara was a former Yamaha Japan Corporation executive who worked under Genichi Kawakami beginning in the 1950s. He was the first general manager of the Yamaha Music Foundatio...
Keisuke Kobayashi is the Director and Chief Marketing Officer for Audio-Technica in Japan. His long and very interesting career in the music products industry started when he began worki...
Yoshi Kobayashi began working for Yamaha Corporation of America in 1958. In the early days of his career he was tasked with supervising the import and export of the motorcycle division. ...
Akira Komaki recalled the early days of his grandfather’s career as a Japanese retailer. Akira took over the company from his father, the eldest son of his grandfather. Komaki Music opene...
Masako Koyama worked closely with the Japan Music Trades Magazine founder, Mr. Hiyama. The magazine was launched in 1962 with the goal of sharing stories about the instruments and people ...
June Kuramoto was born in Japan but raised in Southern California, where her passion for traditional Japanese instruments melded with American soul music.
Yutaha Kurihara formed his own case company in Japan, which came into its own in the 1989s when he introduced a line of cases in a variety of colors. Since that time Yutaha has been very...
Tsunesaburo Kurosawa has a deep passion for instrument building and has become one of Japan’s leading classical guitar luthiers. The success of his guitars grew into the need to create a...
Nat Kusano has always been compelled to create and market ideas and products that inspire and encourage people to pick up an instrument and play. Having had piano lessons when he was a ch...
Yoko Leader learned to play as a student of the Yamaha Electone school but later graduated from university with a major in Mathematics. When Yoko was picked up from graduation by Matsushi...
Takaki Maeda and his team were celebrating the 40th anniversary of Casio's Musical Instruments division while attending the NAMM Show in 2020. This special occasion was the perfect opport...
Yasuharu Mano’s grandfather opened a toy business in 1902 in Japan and by 1917 expanded to include a small line of harmonicas. Soon, the harmonica became in high demand and the company ch...
Kazuo Matsushita is the son of the founder of Audio-Technica, a creative and innovative company that has been an important part of the music industry since the early 1960s. When Kazuo b...
Fumio Mieda was hired by the founder of KORG, Tsutomu Katoh, back in 1967. Mieda-san began working on a number of innovations as he hoped to improve the function of electronic organs. The...
Jun-Ichi Miki joined the Roland Corporation in 1977 right after graduating from university. After working in research of sound synthesis and analysis for electronic musical instruments, i...
Yoichi Minagawa began his career in the music industry in 1961 on the sales floor of a large music store in the heart of Tokyo. Minagawa-san soon met Moridaira-san, the founder of the co...
Hiro Miyaji is the president of Miyaji Music, which opened in 1917 in Japan. He later expanded the wholesale business his grandfather started to include retailing. The company began pro...
Masashi Miyazawa formed the Miyazawa Flutes Company in 1969. Mr. Miyazawa founded the company with a dream to create a better instrument. With his background in the design and manufacture...
Makoto Muroi's passion for music began in school when he played the French Horn. He studied computers in college and worked on microcomputer development. While working on drum machines ...
Chieko Nakamura is the CEO for Jujiya Musical Instrument Company in Ginza, Tokyo. The harp and flute retailer is also known by the shorter name Ginza Jujiya. The company was established i...
Takuya Nakata is the Director and Executive Officer for Yamaha in Japan. During his NAMM Oral History interview he provided details about the development of Yamaha’s electronic musical pr...
Toyomasa Namikawa was the founder and chairman of the board for the Japan music publisher Teine Corp., which was named after his initials. He dedicated his life to providing students and ...
Toyoshi Namikawa grew up in the music publishing business because his father was the founder of the Teine Corporation. Located in Tokyo Japan, Teine has played an important role in the Ja...
Takeomi Nishimura found his way to Suzuki Musical Instruments while studying engineering in college. Upon returning home from school one day a friend suggested he work for the company and...
Hideo Nonaka was the chairman of Nonaka Boeki Company, a music instrument distributor located in Yokohama, Japan. His father began importing musical recordings in a business that was burn...
H. John Nonaka keeps in mind that his grandfather, who established the family owned music business, always supported musicians - an element of the business John happily continues. Since j...
