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Japan Vintage Guitars Japan Vintage Guitars Est. Portland 2009
Vintage Greco electric guitar on a Kobe workshop bench
GRECO EG-800 · KOBE WORKSHOP · LOT #1247

For Japanese Sellers, Estates & Collectors

We buy, consign, and export
vintage Japanese guitars.

A trusted exit for original instruments built between the 1950s and 1980s — handled in Kobe, documented in Portland, and paid for in yen, dollars, or euros on your terms.

A Letter to the Seller

Generalist brokers do not know your guitar. We do — down to the serial number.

Japanese vintage instruments are misidentified and undervalued on the open market every week of every year. A 1974 Tokai that a generalist reads as a "lawsuit-era Strat copy" is, in our archive, a known example — body date, pickup wind, neck stamp, original potentiometer codes — and we price it accordingly. A Greco that shows up at a Tokyo auction house without its hard case or its original tremolo arm slips through the hands of buyers who do not know to ask for them. We know to ask.

Our sourcing office in Kobe has worked with the same network of estates, repair shops, and private collectors in Osaka, Hamamatsu, and Nagoya for fourteen years. We hold the largest publicly documented archive of Greco, Tokai, and Fernandes serial records outside Japan — over 18,000 entries — and every instrument we list in Portland ships back across the Pacific with a written provenance dossier tracing its ownership, modifications, and component verification.

If you are weighing Yahoo Auctions Japan, a domestic vintage dealer, or a generalist export broker, we welcome the comparison. Send us the guitar. We will show you, in writing, what we believe it is, what we believe it is worth, and what we will pay for it.

Two Paths, One Outcome

Outright purchase, or consignment. Choose the path that fits the instrument.

Both routes begin with the same intake in Kobe and the same authentication protocol. The difference is how, and when, you get paid.

Path 01

Outright Purchase

A single negotiated payment. The instrument changes hands immediately.

Payment timing
Funds wired within 5 business days of instrument arrival in Kobe
Final return to seller
Seller receives the agreed purchase price in full, no commission
Best for
Estates, downsizing collections, sellers who want certainty and speed
Offer basis
Our standing offer against current US/EU retail comparables
Handling
We assume all export logistics, import duties, and shipping insurance
Path 02

Consignment

We list, document, and ship. You share in the final sale price.

Payment timing
Funds wired within 5 business days of buyer payment clearing
Final return to seller
Higher gross — typically 20–35% above our outright offer
Best for
Patient sellers, rare examples, instruments with strong US/EU collector demand
Commission split
Seller 70% / Japan Vintage Guitars 30%, no listing fees, no hidden cuts
Handling
We assume all export, marketing, provenance research, and shipping logistics

If the instrument is not a fit for our inventory at all, we will tell you within 48 hours and refer you to a specialist who handles the market segment we do not.

From Kobe to Your Account

The export pipeline, step by step.

Four stages, transparent timing, no surprises. The full sequence, from your first email to the bank wire, runs an average of 18 days for outright purchase, 11 days for consignment.

  1. I
    Stage 01 Day 1

    Initial Contact & Photo Intake

    Email our Kobe sourcing director with photographs of the front, back, headstock, neck stamp, serial number, and any original case or paperwork. Our intake sheet asks for nine photographs and a 200-word description. We reply within 24 hours, in Japanese or English.

  2. II
    Stage 02 Day 2–4

    Authentication & Offer

    Our Kobe luthier inspects the instrument, cross-references the serial against our 18,000-entry archive, and confirms originality. We issue a written authentication report and a standing offer — purchase or consignment — with a breakdown of comparable US/EU retail pricing.

  3. III
    Stage 03 Day 5–11

    Logistics & Export

    On your acceptance, we arrange insured pickup anywhere in Japan, CITES documentation for any rosewood or ebony components, and international freight. We pre-pay all duties for US, EU, and UK import. You sign one consignment or sale contract; we handle the rest.

  4. IV
    Stage 04 Day 12–18

    Settlement & Provenance

    Funds wire to your designated account in JPY, USD, or EUR on day five after instrument arrival (purchase) or buyer payment (consignment). You receive a written provenance dossier for your records — useful for future insurance, resale, or estate planning.

The Network, Documented

Fourteen years on the ground in Japan — measured in instruments and serial numbers, not adjectives.

60+

Active Japan Suppliers

Estate contacts, repair shops, and collectors across Osaka, Hamamatsu, and Nagoya — the sourcing pipeline no generalist dealer can match.

Est. 2009
18,000+

Serial Archive Entries

The largest publicly documented Greco, Tokai, and Fernandes serial record kept outside Japan — used to date and verify every instrument we touch.

In-House
11 days

Source-to-Listing Average

The fastest documented turnaround among Japanese-vintage specialists — from Kobe workshop bench to live Portland inventory.

Industry Benchmark
1,240+

Instruments Sold Since 2009

Across 41 countries, valued collectively above $7.8M — with a 14.3% year-over-year average appreciation on resale, per an independent 2023 analysis.

Verified

Two full-time luthiers in Portland. A sourcing director in Kobe. A NAMM membership. A $10,000 buy-back pledge on every instrument we sell. The receipts are the documentation.

Direct Line to Kobe

Speak to our sourcing director. Skip the form.

Yuki Hasegawa runs the Kobe office and answers every Japanese-language inquiry personally. Use the channel you prefer — email is fastest for intake.

Email — Kobe
[email protected]
Telephone — Kobe
+81 78 555 0148  ·  JST, Mon–Fri 09:00–18:00
LINE
@japanvintage-kobe  ·  ID: yvh-kobe
Office — by appointment
Kobe Equipment Building, 5F
4-1-2 Motomachi-dori, Chuo-ku, Kobe 650-0022

If You Prefer Written Intake

What to send first.

  1. Nine photographs — front, back, both sides, headstock, neck stamp, serial number plate, bridge, and any original case or paperwork.
  2. Maker, model, and serial number as stamped. If you cannot read the serial, photograph it in good light.
  3. Year and country of original purchase, if known.
  4. A 200-word description of the instrument's history — repairs, modifications, storage, and how long you have owned it.
  5. Your preferred path: outright purchase or consignment.
  6. Your asking price, if you have one in mind.

Send to the Kobe email above. We reply within 24 hours, in Japanese or English, with a written preliminary valuation or a respectful decline.

Contact Kobe Office