Tokai is a company with a rich history. The Japanese guitar company has been around since the 1950s but really became known worldwide in the early 1980s. At that time the guitars of the Japanese company were immensely popular due to the widely known valley in which Fender as well as Gibson were hit; people started looking for alternatives from Ibanez, Yamaha and...Tokai.

For years there was no import into Europe of Tokai and thus the guitars have been off the radar for a long time so the brand seemed to have disappeared from the market and therefore -among enthusiasts- gained a cult status. However, the "better than the original" image has remained with many guitarists and has been passed on to the younger generations.