Awards

2015 “Master craftsman of Shinshu” Yasuo Momose

We are proud to announce that Momose Yasuo, the master builder and CTO at our Aska workshop was chosen as “Shinshu No Meiko” (master artisan in Nagano) of 2015 by our local government of Nagano prefecture. 
Momose has been engaging himself in guitar building for 52 years since he was 20 years old, and has built more than thousands of guitars by hands. He has also been putting efforts into the education of younger builders and improvement of the whole workshop’s productivity. Numbers of jigs and tools developed by Momose himself are still used at various sections of the workshop up to today. The prize given to him this time encourages Momose and he keeps devoting himself to further improvement and development of the workshop and guitar building.

About Yasuo Momose

Occupation: Stringed instrument manufacturer
Date of birth: January 5, 1945 (71 years old)
Affiliation: Asuka Technical Advisor Co., Ltd.
Main work history
1958: Ida Furniture Co., Ltd.
1964: Fuji Stringed Instrument Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
1969: Hayashi Guitar Technology Division
1977: General Manager of Engineering Department, Headway Co., Ltd.
2004: Managing Director Asuka Co., Ltd.
2015: Incumbent

About Headway

This is the brand name of our acoustic guitar, which Momose has been involved in producing since the brand was launched.
At the time of 1977, the company name was “Headway Co., Ltd.”, but this was developed and differentiated into “Divisor Co., Ltd.” as a distributor and “Asuka Co., Ltd.” as a manufacturer. Momose is currently affiliated with the manufacturer “Asuka Co., Ltd.”
Headway’s acoustic guitars have a wide price range from low-priced models made overseas to high-end models made by Asuka Co., Ltd., and the guitars produced by Momose are the most luxurious guitars in the brand. Currently, most of the work is made-to-order products that are produced after receiving an order.

Nagano guitar production

Nagano Prefecture Industrial Statistics According to the 2013 confirmation report, Nagano Prefecture recorded the highest shipment value of manufactured products in the guitar industry in 2012. The environment is climatically suitable for woodworking, and the wood industry has been thriving since ancient times, so when the guitar culture flowed into Japan, the guitar industry spread at once.
There are still many famous domestic guitar makers, and the situation is definitely rooted in the industry. On the other hand, the “No. 1 in the guitar industry in Japan” as a recognition for the general public is not yet known, and I think that there is a possibility that the recognition will spread.

About Shinshu master craftsman

The Governor commends those who have outstanding skills and are regarded as the leading people in the prefecture in the field as “Shinshu Master Craftsmen” (Governor’s Award for Outstanding Skills). It has been implemented since 1970 for the purpose of increasing the motivation of technicians to improve their skills, improving their skill level, and raising the social evaluation of technicians. By 2014, 921 technicians were commended. I am.

Nagano Prefecture Website Shinshu Master Craftsman
http://www.pref.nagano.lg.jp/jinzai/happyou/151029shinshuumeikou.html