Japanese Audio

Hello bjesien.  I hope you have noticed that no one has pointed out that Japanese music is played with plucked string and flute like instruments. It is not loud and has lots of "character" in the sound of the instruments. Reproducing such music requires amps that can accurately reproduce such sounds. Such amps need very low distortion and very high transparency, not a lot of power. Traditional Japanese homes have thin walls and polite occupants who do not want to annoy their neighbors. Hence the concentration on the needs of the customers on the part of the Japanese manufacturers. Accuracy - delicacy come first. One must be able to hear the samisen vs the koto, and who is playing. Enjoy!

The japanese love vintage american high efficiency speakers and they make the low powered tube amps just for them also they voice their electronics and cartridges for the classic american designs. When you hear a system setup such as this you will never want to hear anything else.

Since I live in Kyoto I feel like I have to offer some opinion not that it is any more valid than others. Regarding speakers(the OP was wondering) hmm good question. Japan does have Diatone that rarely see the light of day outside of its home and Yamaha, denon, pioneer etc are all quite popular in the audio stores and community but I think in higher end systems apart from TAD and pioneer it’s mostly imported. Tannoys are a standard in bars. I’ve actually never seen any other brand in bars when there is vinyl. It might be this idea ‘we do electronics well so we’ll leave speakers to others’ but I think the top reason is that Japanese tend to anoint things with prestige and once it’s been anointed there is likely no Japanese product that could dethrone it. Public opinion is huge here. There is a saying that no one does anything until they see someone else doing it. So if you are buying high end or higher end you go first with what the last guy bought or what’s considered the correct choice. No one wants to be the fool or laughed at. 

at least in the international scene, there are notably fewer well known tippy top japanese speakers compared to the many excellent top tier brands of electronics

yamaha sony pioneer all have had some well known speakers over time in various price categories, and of course audio note (japan and uk branches) have made some excellent high priced ones - but just not that many - dunno what buyers in the japan domestic market typically buy - i do know there is quite a large following in japan for british monitor speakers... these of course are revered and used by audiophiles world wide for many years

@boomerbillione, 
I do not doubt that Japanese music lovers desire authentic reproduction of indigenous music and instruments. Jazz is highly popular in Japan so I suspect that they also crave authentic reproduction of trumpets, saxophones, drum kits and piano as well 😊.

Charles