Fender Showcase Tokyo Opens
(Fender | Posted 2007-11-04)
The stunningly Fender-filled showroom you see here is the Fender Showcase Tokyo, a new display facility for Fender Custom Shop instruments and other instruments, amps and accessories by Fender and its associated brands that celebrated its grand opening in the bustling heart of the Japanese capital on Sept. 4, 2007.
Conceived and operated in partnership with Yamano Music, Fender’s longtime Japanese distributor, the elegantly appointed showroom is, like its predecessor in Düsseldorf, Germany, open only to dealers, their special guests, and artists. Such high-end clients in Japan who probably otherwise wouldn’t visit a more conventional guitar retailer can receive exemplary individual attention and personally peruse Fender Showcase Tokyo instruments by special appointment.
Such instruments include the finest of Fender’s finest—Custom Shop guitars and basses that are the stuff of which sonic dreams are made; meticulously crafted to appeal to the world’s finest players and most discerning collectors. The grand opening of the showroom marks the first time that these exquisite guitars, basses and amplifiers been put on such dazzling, high-end customer-centric display in Japan.
Unlike the Custom Shop Lounge in Düsseldorf, however, which is on the grounds of Fender’s offices in Germany, Fender Showcase Tokyo is a standalone showroom, separate from Fender’s Japanese offices and prominently situated in Tokyo’s popular and fashionable Shibuya commercial district, home to many of the city’s music- and media-related businesses. The showroom itself consists of two main areas, the Custom Shop Lounge and STUDIO-1946.
“I want to thank our friends at Fender for all their efforts regarding the Fender Tokyo Showcase,” said Mako Yamano, Yamano Music president and chief operating officer. “By working together on this project over the past two years, we were able to make our collective dream come true by providing Fender enthusiasts with a breathtaking facility that is second to none.”
Dozens of Fender and Yamano executives and their guests attended the Fender Showcase Tokyo grand opening; several other such showrooms are envisioned for other major cities worldwide.
“We want to thank Yamano Music’s Mako Yamano, Kenji Sakai and Takashi Nonomura for doing an excellent job in creating this highly-specialized showcase presentation of our products,” said Andy Rossi, Fender senior vice president of global marketing, sales, and research and development. “I'd also like to thank Fender’s Matt Janopaul and Ken Oda. Only a brand as iconic and highly-sought-after as Fender can sustain itself in an environment such as this, and we are excited to present our flagship Custom Shop products to the musical community in Tokyo.”
