Tokai Guitars

Tokai Gakki Company, Ltd. (東海楽器製造株式会社, Tōkai Gakki Seizō Kabushiki-gaisha^?), often referred to as Tokai Guitars, is a Japanese guitar manufacturer situated in Hamamatsu city, Shizuoka prefecture. Tokai is one of Japan’s leading makers of acoustic guitars, electric guitars, electric basses, autoharps, melodicas and guitar amplifiers. In the past, Tokai also made pianos.

Tokai was founded in 1947 by Tadayouki Adachi and remains family-owned.

Tokai began in 1947, as a harmonica and piano manufacturer. It developed its first melodica, the Pianica, in 1961. Tokai began making banjos and harpsichords in 1973 and the electric piano in 1975.

Tokai started making classical guitars in 1965. It made its first electric guitar in 1968 with the Humming Bird, a guitar loosely based on the Mosrite Mark I and II. This was followed in 1970 with the Humming Bird Custom acoustic guitar (not to be confused with the Hummingbird guitar model produced by Gibson).

From 1970 to 1973, Tokai produced the Conn line of acoustic guitars under contract with C.G. Conn (History of Conn Guitars and Conn Acoustic Guitars). In 1972, Tokai entered into a joint-venture with C. F. Martin & Company to supply acoustic guitar parts and also to build Martin's Sigma electric guitars. In 1974, it launched its own Cat's Eyes line of acoustic guitars, which were replicas of C.F. Martin guitars.