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75 Hours in Tokyo!


Anderton

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Sometimes I really like my life :)

 

Last week, over a dozen journalists made a trip to Japan that was put on by Korg, and I was lucky enough to be one of them. The object was two-fold: To give us a heads-up on what was going to be introduced at NAMM (as well as explain a little more about their 1-bit technology shown at AES), and to see Korg's headquarters and meet some of the people behind the products.

 

It was quite the schedule. I got on a plane on the 10th at 7:30 AM, and arrived in Tokyo at about 4 PM on Monday the 11th -- just enough time to clear customs, get to the hotel (a 1.5 hour plus ride), have a nice dinner with Keyboard head honcho Ernie Rideout, go online for a bit, then go to sleep.

 

Tuesday and Wednesday started at 8 o'clock with breakfast, a bus trip to Korg, then checking out products. I got to hang with some friends from mags in other countries, like Joerg Sunderkotter from Sound+Recording in Germany, and Gordon Reid from Sound on Sound. We'd head back to the hotel, then meet again at 7 PM for dinner, which usually got us back to the hotel at 10 PM. And yes, I LOVE Japanese food!

 

Thursday I got a chance to check out the electronics stores and such, then it was back to the airport and time to come home.

 

Unfortunately, I'm under NDA on the new stuff, but I certainly understand why Korg thought it justified bringing us all over. In particular, I'm chomping at the bit to check out the-main-thing-I-can't-talk-about as well as the other main-things-I-can't-talk-about. Korg was very low-key about all of this -- it didn't feel like a hypefest, more like a check-this-out, what-do-you-think? sorta deal. A lot of times these kind of press events are very high pressure, with an undercurrent of "write nice things about us or else," but it really seemed like Korg was mostly interested in treating us like a bit of a focus group.

 

Anyway, I have plenty of other comments if people are interested...I don't want this to sound like "what I did on Winter break" but I do have a bunch of pix of Tokyo and of Korg, and if y'all are interested, just say the word and I'll post some more.

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I am hearing very good things about the new PA800 keyboard arranger and can't wait to try one. I have a Yamaha psr2000, circa seven years old. But I got hold of some PA80 (not PA800) styles that have been converted to Yamaha and they are excellent. I could be tempted to go Korg, for sure.

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Craig, I was in Tokyo two weeks ago.

Where'd ya stay?

 

Did you make it to Shibuya?

That's the section of the city where many of the big music gear dealers are. Its Tokyo's version of NYC's 46-47 street. IF you didnt catch it this time around you should try and check it out the next time you get the chance.

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I love Japan. It makes me feel like when I was a kid at Disneyland. That feeling that everything is just a little different and you're not sure what to expect. That's Japan.

 

And yes Craig, the food is awesome. Girls aren't bad either.

 

 

Craig: Pictures of Japan are always welcome!

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I once spent about 18 hours in Hong Kong, after a month touring Europe, we board a plane in London, fly 1/2 way cross the world, clear customs, go straight to the venue, do a show, hotel for a shower and some shuteye, then back to the airport to complete the trip around the world (almost) back to the east coast.

 

I definitely do not miss those days!!!!!!

 

Tokyo makes NYC look like a sleepy midwest town. Traffic jams at 3am, sidewalks always bussling. The Japanese are so weird, I never knew if they were serious, joking or making fun of us.

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Originally posted by LiveMusic

I am hearing very good things about the new PA800 keyboard arranger and can't wait to try one. I have a Yamaha psr2000, circa seven years old. But I got hold of some PA80 (not PA800) styles that have been converted to Yamaha and they are excellent. I could be tempted to go Korg, for sure.

 

From what I've heard the PA800 is a great board. The local dealer is going to call me to demo one when it's delivered to his store. I'm using a PSR3000 and I may jump ship to Korg as well.

 

:thu:

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Originally posted by Anderton


...and to see Korg's headquarters and meet some of the people behind the products.


 

 

 

I would like to meet these people in japanese companies.

I think can be very interesting to know the people, seat in the garden for a cup of tea, listen and learn how they think.

Their products are the result of japanese culture, their understanding of arts and how this interact with our (their) daily life.

I found interesting how the kind of music we do can be widely aproved there, while in this planet side, I can be sound as strange or too specific.

This is one reason I like that people, they are looking inside, since childhood, in some meditative or respectful aproach.

And, of course, the women are so cute. :thu:

 

 

P.S. My first post in CASSS forum, I

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Their products are the result of japanese culture, their understanding of arts and how this interact with our (their) daily life.>>

 

You are so very, very right. One thing I noticed about the new products (I don't think I've given anything away) is that they are extremely cool from a visual standpoint. I asked a serious question, although it sounded tongue-in-cheek so they didn't have to answer if they didn't want to, "So who's head of the Department of Cuteness?" The answer was very revealing: The look is very much a process of group think, and back-and-forth between the engineers, industrial designers, and even the head of the company. My impression is that there is less of a hierarchy in the company than we find in many Western companies, where there are the "executives" and the "managers" and the "workers."

 

I was both surprised and delighted when the journalists were taken on a short bus tour, and Korg's Founder, Tsutomu Katoh, sat right on the bus with the rest of us. He had ZERO "attitude," and was unfailingly courteous and attentive; I would think that if one worked for Korg, Mr. Katoh would be receptive to any ideas. I also know he can indeed be very decisive and "managerial," but from everything I understand, a lot of deliberation and mutual respect goes into those kinds of decisions.

 

I would really, really like to have been able to spend a month there and really get inside their heads. I think it would make a fascinating documentary.

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Here' an interesting photo of the "Korg workspace." There are a few floors like this; note that there are no cubicles or walls, the whole thing is one big, open space that is designed to encourage interactivity.

 

Another interesting thing is that the environment is EXTREMELY quiet. Not quite "library quiet," but very conducive to a more "meditative" frame of mind. Although the people at Korg were good sports about it, I felt as if we were intruding on a sort of personal, shared space.

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And here's a picture of Mr. Katoh, the gentleman in the center. Check out the body language: Relaxed, hands in pockets, jacket open, and smiling (he's looking at one of Korg's first product, a drum machine with -- I'm not kidding! -- tubes in it). Although Korg had never done any kind of press tour before, he was pretty loose and relaxed. Either that, or he's a good actor :) This is a guy who seems very comfortable with himself.

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Originally posted by Anderton

I was both surprised and delighted when the journalists were taken on a short bus tour, and Korg's Founder, Tsutomu Katoh, sat right on the bus with the rest of us. He had ZERO "attitude," and was unfailingly courteous and attentive; I would think that if one worked for Korg, Mr. Katoh would be receptive to any ideas. I also know he can indeed be very decisive and "managerial," but from everything I understand, a lot of deliberation and mutual respect goes into those kinds of decisions.

 

 

 

Uhm, no, no Zero attitude, I guess. Japanese people expect to people being respectful. This is why anybody in a company can talk with anybody.

It

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Okay, here's a treat: A picture of Korg's first product, the Donca Matic drum machine released in 1963. While Mr. Katoh was looking at it, someone said "Does it still work?" Mr. Katoh said "I think so," and turned it on. Yup, it still worked.

 

By the way it's hard to get a sense of scale from the photo, but it was NOT a tabletop unit -- unless you consider it as the table itself.

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Here's a picture of the outside of their new building. It's very open on the inside, lots of glass and external light coming in. It's also somewhat isolated -- it's not in with a group of skyscrapers -- so there's more potential for it to get light and a feeling of openness.

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Once you get inside, there's a combination showroom/museum with a bunch of old and new Korg gear (you can see the Donca Matic in the corner, just in front of a couple of keyboards). It's relatively modest, not a lot of hype and stuff, very...uh...Japanese, I guess :)

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And just to give some context, here's a picture of Tokyo taken from hotel room, which was in the Shinjuku district...close to shopping and stuff, although my time there was too limited to actually get to check out much of the town. I'd been to Tokyo before, though, and had a chance to spend some time there as well as Kyoto (a lovely town, very spiritual).

 

Japan feels somewhat contradictory to me, personally: On one level, I feel very comfortable there, and have no trouble fitting in on a basic level of social interaction but some of that may be due to spending a fair amount of time studying Japanese culture, so I wouldn't come across like an idiot On the other hand, though, there's always an element of being an outsider that I don't think I could ever overcome, as I am the product of a very different culture. Still, a lot of how the Japanese see the world makes a lot of sense to me.

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This is a picture of some of the people we met at Korg, who were involved in the presentation of new products.

 

But note something else of interest: there is a very wide range of ages at Korg. For example, the engineer who designed the Polysix is still roaming the halls, but so are a bunch of kids who appear barely out of their 20s. It seems the Oriental "respect for age" thing is in play, but also, the younger employees are given their time in the spotlight. I don't know if they're treated exactly as equals, but from all appearances, they're treated as equally important. I guess that's making a very subtle difference, but I'm probably being influenced by Japanese thinking as I write this :)

 

Oh, I should add that back row, second from the right is Jerry Kovarsky from Korg USA, and fourth from the right is Jack Hotop, who is a pretty much legendary sound designer in this industry. He's not a household word, but you've heard his sounds.

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Awesome Craig,

Really enjoying this thread, thanks for the travelogue and pix, super entertaining.

I love Korg's gear, I'd say out of Yam/Roland/Korg, I'd go for Korg as being my favorite.

As for Japan, beautiful culture, seems incredible. I have a Japanese Cooking book, great photos, the way they prepare food, simple, fresh and appetizing, visually appealing, good stuff. From what you're telling us, that sort of approach seems to go hand in hand with their way of life.

Also, considering i've spent half of my life using Technics turntables and Akai drum machines, definitely have to give my respects to the Japanese for desigining such cool, reliable, expressive and fun gear.

Now it's time to spill the beans my friend, did they finally complete the telepathic sequencer?

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Damn!! How did you find out about the telepathic sequencer?!? That was supposed to be embargoed until NAMM! You really got me in trouble now...

 

Seriously, I would LOVE to be able to post pictures of the new gear we saw, but it is off limits until NAMM. However, I have some pretty cool video footage of the product introductions that will go up here on Harmony Central after the NAMM show.

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This isn't the coolest picture of the bunch, but there's an interesting story behind.

 

This is a shot of the old Korg building, which was right next to a busy highway. I believe it's still owned by Korg, and has been turned into a rehearsal space. Apparently rehearsal space is at a premium in Tokyo (check out the photo from my hotel room if you have any questions as to why!), and the place is booked pretty much 24/7.

 

I find it interesting that instead of just selling the building off and pocketing the bucks, they kept it going in a musical context. That seems kind of "Japanese" to me, the concept of continuing a legacy.

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