Moridaira Gakki Co., Ltd. is a musical instrument wholesaler based in Chiyoda, Tokyo. It introduced Morris guitars in 1966 and remains the exclusive sales agent for Morris Musical Instruments Manufacturing.
Credited On
- The Gazette - TOUR11-12 VENOMOUS CELL FINALE OMEGA LIVE AT 01.14 YOKOHAMA ARENA - The Gazette, released May 9, 2012 (
SRBL-1523). Cooperation (Kenji Imai).
History
Translated from the ja.wikipedia article モリダイラ楽器 (CC BY-SA 4.0), revision 107851746.
History
In April 1965, the company was founded by Toshio Moridaira. It was incorporated in July and introduced Morris guitars.
In 1968, it began import and export operations.
In 1989, Toshio Moridaira became chairman of the board, while Yoichi Minagawa became president and representative director.
In 1997, Moridaira Gakki and Morris Musical Instrument Manufacturing introduced a unified corporate identity. Both used a brand logo combining the initial “M” with an eagle’s head.
In 2000, Yoichi Minagawa became president of the affiliated company Morris Musical Instrument Manufacturing, while Tamio Minagawa became president and representative director.
In 2017, Tamio Minagawa became CFO (Chief Financial Officer), while Toshimasa Oka became president and representative director.
Overview
Founded in 1965, the company introduced guitars under the Morris brand and began mass production at Morris Musical Instruments in 1972. In 1983, with the cooperation of instrument designer Hideaki Shiino (椎野秀聰), it also began selling electric guitars under brands including H.S. Anderson and Bill Lawrence, the latter supervised by German pickup designer Bill Lawrence. Although sales were temporarily discontinued, the H.S. Anderson MAD CAT was revived in 2009.
In the latter half of the 1980s, it produced component guitars under the AIRCRAFT brand through the work of guitar maker Tadashi Yokoyama, now the representative of Yokoyama Guitars. Its principal users included Michiya Haruhata, Takashi Masuzaki of DIMENSION, and Masahiro Andoh of T-SQUARE. Production was temporarily discontinued in 2005, but the brand name was revived in 2016 and production and sales resumed.
The company currently continues its musical instrument wholesaling business, having concluded exclusive Japanese distribution agreements for products from overseas manufacturers including Hohner, Jim Dunlop, LP (Latin Percussion / ラテンパーカッション), and Paiste.