Japanese instruments shop

This will be my last post of this blog, and I will tell you something about Japanese instruments shop as a final work. As I was interested in British instruments shops, the styles are quite different from Japanese one. Japan is one of the biggest instruments markets in the world, but I noticed that demands are really different between Japanese people and other countries' people. 

This is a typical style of Japanese instruments stores. Many instruments are placed as much as possible, and even in one brand, you can find many kinds of model. Foe example in this picture, these are all Gibson guitars. Even the same Les Paul, you can find 50 or 100 or more.

Moreover, you can find cheap guitars for beginners, too.  To sell the guitars for beginners, they can keep wide range of customers so that they can last to store more and more guitars. 

Though Japan is one of the biggest instruments markets, the number of shops are very few. In other words, many people buy the guitars on the internet. Of course, the guitar is made by wood, so those are different one by one. It will be the best way to see the guitar directly and try it, but most of those guitars that are sold on the internet are chosen by good buyers before those are being sold, so there will be not so much problems as you expected. 

Next, there are more new guitars than used guitars. It is said that used guitars have better sound than new guitars because equid or air in the wood will be released the more you played, but at the same time, unless you use them properly, the wood will be damaged and in many case, it cannot be replaced. That's why they sell more new guitars than old guitars.

The differences between instruments shops in UK and Japan will be really clear if you look at all of my posts. It's true that Japanese instruments are more useful and convenient for musicians, but also it's true that we cannot find such a large number of unique guitars. Thus, it was really good experience for me to see around mane instruments shops in UK, and all shops are really nice.

Thank you.

Denmark Street

On 22nd May, I went to Denmark Street in London. Actually, many things have changed from four years ago. Some shops are closed and there are too much traffics on the street because of redevelopment of the surrounding area. However, there are still some historical shops, too. As I reported in the last post, this street is known as the model of K-on, so I felt as if I had jumped into the world of animation.

I think this place is amazing for people who play the guitar or the bass guitar. You can see the same instruments as The Beatles or The Rolling Stones have used.  They mainly sell vintage guitars. Many Gretsch guitars, Rickenbackers, Hofners and Voxes. Some of them are very rare and don't have the exact prices. Therefore, even if you don't know much about these guitars, you can enjoy like a museum. To be frank, they are too expensive for me and I couldn't find the one that I wanted but still it was worth going. I can spend all day long in this place. This street is located in the central part of London, so it is very easy to access! I strongly recommend you go there when you come to London.