MIJ guitar price increases vs general inflation in Japan

[BrazenPicker]

My interest in MIJ guitars has led to a wider interest Japan-related things. Recently I came across a newspaper article that said that the average Japanese salary had been dropping in the past 10 years, which is of course in contrast to the prices of MIJ guitars.

Anyway, I got curious and looked up inflation data for Japan. What you basically see is (1) a general price index from 1980 till now, and (2) price indices for a variety of goods and services. Click on item 17.6 "A. Basic group index" here:

http://www.stat.go.jp/English/data/nenkan/1431-17.htm

Here's the general price index:
1980 76.9
1985 88.1
1990 94.1
1993 100.2
1994 100.8
1995 100.7
1996 100.8
1997 102.7
1998 103.3
1999 103.0
2000 102.2
2001 101.5
2002 100.6
2003 100.3
2004 100.3
2005 100.0
2006 100.3
2007 100.3
2008 101.7

What we're seeing here is that the average price level went up by around 30% from 1980-1993 but that since then prices are pretty much flat. (Note that within the spreadsheet there's more variation for individual categories.)

Similar story with average wages (click on 16-25 A):
http://www.stat.go.jp/English/data/nenkan/1431-16.htm

AVERAGE MONTHLY TOTAL CASH EARNINGS PER REGULAR EMPLOYEE BY INDUSTRY
1985 Av. 317
1990 370
1995 409
2000 398
2005 380
2006 384
2007 378
2008 379

I think this data is interesting for example when evaluating a model number from the early 80s. Ebay sellers will sometimes say things like "this was a university graduate's monthly salary at the time", or "100,000 Yen in 1980 was about the same as $2,000 to an American today", but this data is a more objective benchmark. Another thing this data suggests is that MIJ guitar price increases are well beyond general inflation in Japan. That doesn't mean they're a bad deal today, but looks like the guitar makers have started to notice that they can increase their prices by a lot without demand falling off a cliff. I wonder, by the way, how much of, say, Tokai's top models are destined for export. I would think that for the base models, the largest share is still for the Japanese market, but I wouldn't be surprised if for the high-end models, a significant chunk goes straight abroad, and that it's us gaijins bidding up the prices. The latter is of course just my guesswork (trying to explain the apparent lack of price-sensitivity).

 

[youami]

Good thread. Two reasons for the increases in MIJ guitar prices I'd say, first being increased demand from overseas thanks to the Internet, second being rarity of woods used to make high-end guitars.

 

[Koubayashi]

Of course its demand from overseas that pushes the prices.
Most guitars are not sold to Japanese players.
They go to the west via Rinkya, E-bay (Japanese sellers buying on Yahoo and selling on Ebay). Its stupid expensive on Yahoo and I get somewhere around 75% of my guitars from other places. The average Japanese doesn't have time to go around the country searching for guitars so I still have most of that area to myself.

Japan is having economic troubles since the early 90's but if they find a way to solve the problems the guitar party will be over soon.

 

[Dave_Mc]

i thought it was just the relative strength of the yen compared to most other currencies. Certainly the pound is worth about half as many yen as it was a couple of years ago, and that affects prices (in the west, anyway).

Unless you're actually just talking about the list price in yen, of course.

 

[BrazenPicker]

Yeah, was thinking about the model numbers / price in Yen. For sure there's a double whammy with the exchange rates. I should have taken up this "hobby" 10 years ago.

 

[Dave_Mc]

yeah, as you say, the exchange rate is kind of like a double whammy I got in just in time, I got a couple of MIJs before the prices went through the roof. Though I'd have preferred to get everything I wanted, lol. Occasionally, if you're lucky, you can still find them at the older prices if you find shops which still have stock bought at the old prices...