Japanese Acoustics: Cat's Eyes, K.Yairi and Momose

A good Japanese acoustic needs no special treatment

At Guitar Lab, we believe carefully chosen Japanese acoustic guitars are at least an equal alternative to American instruments. In many comparisons, we would choose the Japanese example for its sound, comfort and build quality, not just its lower price. After a professional overhaul, it can be a better purchase than a far more expensive guitar with a prestigious logo.

This opinion comes from dozens of overhauls in our workshop, playing the instruments and talking with guitarists. We see these guitars from the inside, work on their necks and fingerboards and learn both their construction strengths and areas needing improvement. We assess the finished instrument, intended to serve its musician well for years to come.

The histories of Cat’s Eyes, K.Yairi and Headway help explain where this quality comes from. They include American inspirations, direct exchanges of knowledge, independent designs and individual luthiers who devoted their professional lives to making guitars.

Cat’s Eyes and Martin: a collaboration that really happened

Tokai’s relationship with Martin is particularly well documented. Tokai’s official history states that in 1972 it signed an agreement to distribute C.F. Martin instruments exclusively in Japan. In 1973 it began importing them and established technical cooperation with the American manufacturer. Its own acoustic brand, Cat’s Eyes, appeared in 1975.

That sequence matters. Cat’s Eyes guitars were made by a company with direct access to Martin instruments and Martin’s technical knowledge. Their resemblance to American dreadnoughts therefore had far deeper foundations than a similar headstock shape or a decorative rosette. For us, this is a good reason to treat these guitars as serious candidates for comparison with Martin.

Tokai — official company history and cooperation with C.F. Martin ↗

CE1500 and D-28: a specific reference in the catalogue

Tokai’s 1981 catalogue presented the CE series as ‘Vintage Martin Replica’. The CE1500 was explicitly described as a design drawing on the pre-war D-28. Its listed features included, among others, scalloped X-bracing and distinctive herringbone trim. This is an example of a deliberate reference to a particular building tradition, not a coincidental resemblance between two guitars.

It is worth looking at the catalogue scan: alongside the CE1500 there are other models with their own features and appointments. Cat’s Eyes is an extensive family of instruments. When choosing a guitar, we check the exact model designation and year, so we know which design principles actually lie behind the instrument we have in our hands.

1981 Tokai Cat’s Eyes catalogue — CE series and CE1500 (scan, PDF) ↗

K.Yairi: American learning and an independent Japanese workshop

The family Yairi workshop dates to 1935, when Giichi Yairi began making wooden instruments. His successor, Kazuo Yairi, travelled to the United States to learn guitar construction. After his return in 1965, Yairi Guitar and the K.Yairi brand were established.

The workshop in Kani developed its own approach: many models, small runs and extensive handwork. The company describes this production model as a tradition maintained since the 1970s. Such conditions allow attention to individual pieces of wood and the fitting of components. For a guitarist, that matters when workshop care translates into a responsive, comfortable instrument.

K.Yairi — history and philosophy of the Kani workshop ↗

What lies behind K.Yairi’s reputation for quality

In its account of production, Yairi describes preparing wood over many years, selecting it, joining plate halves, shaping braces and hand-fitting the neck-to-body joint. Separate stages include preparing the nut and saddle. This is specific work on materials and instrument geometry.

From our workshop’s perspective, it is precisely such details that are the essence of a good guitar. A carefully built body should work together with a correctly set neck, level frets and properly fitted string support points. An impressive wood species alone cannot replace that whole. A K.Yairi is worth play-testing with a focus on what the instrument does under your fingers: how easily it produces a note, how it responds to a harder attack and whether it lets you vary dynamics freely.

K.Yairi — wood selection and stages of guitar construction ↗

Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir and the Alvarez-Yairi WY1

Bob Weir is one of the clearest examples of appreciation for this school of guitar making. Alvarez states that the Alvarez-Yairi WY1 was designed for and with him. The W in its designation comes from the Grateful Dead guitarist’s surname.

The WY1 has a Folk/OM body, deeper than the brand’s standard OM models, a solid cedar top, rosewood back and sides and a 635 mm scale. It also uses a Direct Coupled bridge and an extended dovetail neck joint. It is an independent design response to a musician’s needs, with different proportions and features from a classic American dreadnought.

By comparison, the Martin OM-28 uses a spruce top and a 25.4-inch scale. Both models are worth considering as manageable acoustics for versatile playing, but each offers a different feel under the fingers. This independence in design is one of the reasons Japanese instruments have their own following.

Alvarez-Yairi WY1 — collaboration with Bob Weir and model specifications ↗

Martin OM-28 — construction and scale length ↗

Jerry Garcia and Paul McCartney: guitars used in real music

Another fine studio story from the Grateful Dead circle involves Jerry Garcia. In his notes for Bare Bones, Volume II, David Grisman recalls their first session together in his new studio. He was setting microphones while listening to Garcia play an Alvarez acoustic, then started recording and joined him on mandolin. That became Bare Bones Prelude. It is a session participant’s account of an instrument being used to make music.

David Grisman — notes for Bare Bones, Volume II, 2024 (PDF) ↗

K.Yairi in Paul McCartney’s hands

A European musician worth mentioning here is Paul McCartney. In an article about Japanese instruments, Foreign Press Center Japan names him among well-known K.Yairi users. Alongside the Bob Weir collaboration, this illustrates how guitars from Kani have reached musicians with access to an exceptionally wide choice of instruments.

For buyers, the most interesting point is that K.Yairi has long been a choice for playing and for developing a personal sound. The brand’s history does not end with comparing price lists with the competition. It is worth sitting down with such a guitar and finding out what you can bring out of it yourself.

Foreign Press Center Japan — K.Yairi and Paul McCartney ↗

Yasuo Momose and Headway: take apart an HD-28, understand it and move forward

Kei Yatsuzuka and Yasuo Momose started Headway in 1977. According to the company’s official history, an early step was a detailed study of a Martin HD-28, including disassembly. The aim was to understand the building methods behind its respected American sound. They then developed their own solutions; one result was the HD-115, introduced in the late 1970s.

A factory fire in 1983 destroyed tools and interrupted acoustic production. The user community helped bring it back: in 1999 the company received a letter from a Headway enthusiast running a forum about older models. Momose recreated the tooling, and the return began with a run of 128 HD-115 guitars.

This story shows well the power of an instrument people want to come back to. Older Headways had players willing to campaign for production to be restarted. That is a far more interesting testament to their significance than an impressive catalogue description alone.

Headway — studying the Martin HD-28, HD-115 origins and the brand’s return ↗

Momose’s legacy also lives in people and working methods

Momose was already building guitars in the 1960s, before becoming Headway’s technical director. He designed tooling and production processes, developed instruments and passed skills to subsequent luthiers. In 2015, Nagano prefectural authorities awarded him the Shinshu Master Craftsman distinction.

He died on 19 March 2024. Deviser names Masato Yasui and Arata Furihata as the successors continuing his work on the Headway Custom Series. The Momose name is also borne by a brand of electric guitars and basses developed by builders trained in that tradition. His legacy therefore encompasses both individual instruments and the knowledge on which the next generation draws.

At Guitar Lab, this understanding of quality resonates with us: a well-made guitar matters, along with the craft that lets it be developed, maintained and passed on. Japanese guitar making has its own masters and continuity of workshop knowledge.

Deviser — Yasuo Momose’s achievements and continuation of his work ↗

Japanese and American acoustics: what to compare

The table below combines documented historical inspirations with suggestions for direct play-testing. When choosing, we look for a similar intended use and an interesting tonal response. Comparing specific instruments with strings in similar condition and a similar setup tells you the most.

Japanese instrument	American reference	Purpose of the comparison
Cat’s Eyes CE1500 in the 1981 catalogue	Pre-war Martin D-28	The catalogue explicitly cites the D-28 as its inspiration. An example of a historical interpretation of the classic dreadnought.
Headway HD-115	Martin HD-28	The HD-28 was the starting point for Headway’s construction research; the HD-115 represents the development of the company’s own school of guitar building.
K.Yairi YW500P and Thumb W-500	Martin D-28	Dreadnoughts for guitarists looking for spruce-and-rosewood construction. We compare response, tonal balance and comfort.
Alvarez-Yairi WY1	Martin OM-28	Comfortable Folk/OM acoustics built on different design premises: the WY1 has a cedar top and a shorter scale, while the OM-28 has a spruce top and a 25.4-inch scale.
Aria WJ-40	Gibson SJ-200	Large bodies combining spruce and maple. This is a suggestion to compare guitars suited to similar tasks, not a claim that their construction is identical.

1979 K.Yairi YW500P: quality you can test under your fingers

Our YW500P combines a spruce top with rosewood back and sides and a mahogany neck. Its preparation at Guitar Lab included planing the fingerboard, fitting new Blacksmith Medium Jumbo frets and making a bone nut and saddle. The instrument has been set up for 12–53 strings.

This scope of work delivers very concrete practical value: the guitarist gets a vintage instrument with a renewed playing surface and properly fitted string-bearing parts. In our view, that is a strong argument for buying a Japanese acoustic rather than putting the entire budget into a new higher-end guitar. The YW500P is well worth setting alongside a good Martin—simply listen to both from the player’s position and from that of someone sitting opposite.

K.Yairi YW-500P – Natural, Lawsuit era, 1979Photos, service record and current offer details →

1973 Thumb W-500: a dreadnought prepared for years of playing

The Thumb W-500 is another example we are happy to show players looking for an alternative to an American dreadnought. This example has a solid spruce top, rosewood back and sides and a mahogany neck. In our workshop it received fingerboard levelling, a refret with Blacksmith Medium Jumbo frets and a setup for 12–53 strings.

The classic Martin D-28 is likewise built on spruce and rosewood; for the current model, the manufacturer specifies solid spruce and solid East Indian rosewood. That is a useful starting point for a discussion of construction, but it is only the sound and comfort of the specific instrument that decide our choice. That is precisely why we give the Thumb a fully legitimate place in such a comparison.

Martin D-28 — current model specifications ↗

Thumb W-500 - Natural, Early Vintage, 1973Photos, service record and current offer details →

Aria WJ-40: Japanese jumbo alongside a Gibson SJ-200

The 1981 WJ-40 takes the comparison beyond dreadnoughts. It is a jumbo with a spruce top, maple back and sides and a maple neck. Our example received new 2.1 mm Blacksmith frets after fingerboard preparation. It also has a passive piezo pickup.

The natural American reference point for a large spruce-and-maple guitar is the Gibson SJ-200. The Standard version, as described by the manufacturer, combines solid Sitka spruce with maple back and sides. The Aria is an interesting proposition for someone who likes a large body and is looking for an acoustic for accompaniment, but wants to use their budget sensibly. Shared tonewoods open the conversation; your own playing, the instrument’s response and its preparation settle the choice.

Gibson SJ-200 Standard — spruce-and-maple super jumbo construction ↗

Aria WJ-40 – Natural, Lawsuit era, 1981Photos, service record and current offer details →

What dozens of Guitar Lab overhauls have taught us

Our conviction about the value of Japanese guitars comes from working on real instruments. During an overhaul, you can assess the condition of the joints, the neck geometry, the fingerboard and the scope for setting up the strings correctly. This makes it possible to separate wear resulting from many years of playing from the quality of the construction itself. A good acoustic with worn frets can still be an excellent basis for continued use.

Preparing such a guitar requires looking at the instrument as a whole. A refret alone does not solve every problem, just as lowering the saddle is no substitute for assessing the neck angle. When the scope of work matches the actual needs of the instrument, we get back a guitar that can be judged by playing it, instead of fighting with its setup.

In our comparisons, well-prepared Japanese acoustics have repeatedly proved at least as convincing as more expensive American instruments. Conversations with guitarists and their impressions from playing such guitars reinforce this assessment. For us, the better guitar is the one that gives the musician more freedom, responds to their articulation and makes them want to keep playing.

How to hear the difference yourself

Start with relaxed accompaniment and listen to whether your voice sits well alongside the guitar. Then play single notes, bass runs and a few chords higher up the neck. Check whether the instrument lets you keep clarity under a stronger attack and still responds effortlessly to a light touch. A test like this tells you more about how well a guitar suits the player than that first loud strummed chord alone.

Also ask someone else to play both instruments. A guitar sounds different from behind the body than from a few steps in front of it. Make sure the strings are similarly fresh and play in the same room. It is then easier to decide whether you prefer a particular K.Yairi, Thumb, Cat’s Eyes or Headway, or the Martin or Gibson you are comparing it with.

Why we so often choose Japan ourselves

In our opinion, buying a well-chosen Japanese acoustic after professional preparation is one of the best routes to a high-class instrument. We get solid construction, a history of genuine craftsmanship and a guitar refined for everyday playing. In many cases, we consider such a choice better than buying a far more expensive instrument from the USA.

Cat’s Eyes shows how fruitful cooperation with the American tradition could be. K.Yairi shows how to build an identity of one’s own and win the recognition of demanding musicians. Headway and Yasuo Momose show how an analysis of classic solutions can be forged into an independent school of lutherie. These are reasons strong enough to place a Japanese guitar next to a Martin or Gibson without any inferiority complex.

We invite you to visit Selected Vintage Guitars in Poznań. We will be happy to show you the instruments, explain the scope of the work carried out and help you compare them with your own playing in mind. The best ending to this story is a guitar you yourself want to take home.

Also read: a Japanese dreadnought instead of an expensive Martin ↗

A refretted guitar — what to check before buying ↗

Browse the current instruments ↗

Japanese acoustics alongside Martin and Gibson: Cat’s Eyes, K.Yairi and the Momose legacy