The Yanagisawa Story
1893 saw the company form to manufacture wind instruments. The Egawa Rappa factory was established in 1921 to make Signal Trumpets and Cornets under the name “Nikkan by Mr Tokutaro Yanagisawa, the first technician to make and repair brass instruments in Japan. It was to be 33 years later before the first tenor saxophone was produced.
The years of American occupation following the second world war also brought with it American music i.e. Jazz and Be Bop. This was the introduction of the saxophone to Japan. As brass wind instrument manufacturers and repairers, the Yanagisawa Company were often asked to do repairs on saxophones by the musicians based in the Tokyo area. This soon led to modifying and improving some of the saxophones that came through their workshops.
After much deliberation the Yanagisawa Company looked into the possibility of manufacturing their own saxophone. In 1954 they launched their first model, the T3 tenor saxophone. This first model was was silver plated and engraved with the design of a castle. Incidentally, this first model was said to have been bought by an American soldier at the Komaki music store in Tokyo. In 1956 this model was soon followed by the A-3 alto saxophone.
For the next ten years the company to produce alto and tenor saxophones but did not produce any new models. However, as the company motto “Yanagisawa pursues technology” suggests they were by no means dormant. The company, endeavouring to become a saxophone specialist , remodelled the existing 2 saxophones and plans were on the drawing board to produce a full range of saxophones for the domestic market.
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Unit 14, Mile Oak Industrial Estate, Oswestry, Shropshire, SY10 8GA