CONTRIBUTED BY CHARITY CAUDLE
Let me preface this by saying my husband is a musical genius. Now I’m sure he would strongly disagree, but to me, he’s amazing. I have no musical talent. None. I wish I did. I don’t need his ability to hear a song on the radio, download it and then figure out the entire thing BY EAR. I would just like the ability to do two different things with my hands at the same time! Don’t get me wrong, Guitar Hero says I rock. I’m just not so sure. I’m pretty sure GH says that to everybody.
For weeks, the husband had wanted to find the two music stores near Gate 2 Street he had heard about. And while he is a musical genius he is not a directional one so I knew that we are in for an adventure. After turning to the right at the same intersection three times and not finding the stores, we opted to turn left. Lo and behold! We find the first, Fukuhara Musical Store. It’s a behemoth of a store; three stories. We only ventured through the first two. The first floor is all CD’s. There is even a corner section that included American music. The biggest plus for us was the newest release by AC/DC.
After CD shopping we headed to the second floor. Fukuhara has a HUGE selection of acoustic, electric and bass guitars. They also had drums, woodwinds and an electronic piano. There was also an area where some Japanese employees were working on guitars. My husband checked out the guitar strings and announced that although he was happy they had a good selection the prices were a bit high. In the end, after paying for shipping, buying locally would still be a bit cheaper for small things. Any big ticket item that is available with free shipping would still be ordered online.
We left Fukuhara on a quest to find the next music store. It wasn’t futile. Teruya Music is just a few blocks away. It’s much smaller than Fukuhara but had better prices and a more “hometown” feel. They had many of the same items, albeit in smaller sections, and my husband said he would prefer to shop here first to find things he wanted. But he is thrilled that he has choices! Any of you who are musically inclined, or those with family members who are, should check out both of these stores.
Directions to Fukuhara Musical Store:
Out Gate 2 Kadena, make a left onto 330. Fukuhara will be on your right, about one block up. There is no parking lot at the store but there were signs for parking immediately before the store. We also saw a few signs for parking after. Hours: 11:00am – 8:00pm were noted on the door.
Directions to Teruya Music:
Cross the street from Fukuhara and enter the covered walkway. Take the first uncovered walk to your right. Follow this to the end. Teruya is in front of you (across the street), slightly to the left. Hours: 11:00am – 9:00pm; 10:00am – 9:00pm Sat/Sun
If you’d like to contribute an article, or have ideas you’d like to share with me, please email at toshopinokinawa@yahoo.com – Heather Hansen
Love Teruya music store. They are so friendly. Good prices. I was recently in there to buy guitar strings for my son and if you are willing to wait 15 mins. or so they re-string and tune it for you. Great since I had no idea how to re-string his electric guitar. Strings, service, and some new pics and I was out the door 20 mins. later to the tune of Y2100. Great post.
Great article! Makes me want to get up to some music makin’. Does your hubby (or you) have any places he likes to listen to live music that he can recommend?
Kelly – we haven’t found any places yet. That’s something we miss about CA! There were always 10 different places to listen to a live local band!
I would love to find a music store that sells acustic foam on island. If you know of any please let me know shade@i.softbank. I love your post.
Shade
A note for people with kids taking band at the DoDDs schools here. These places also do repairs on instruments and sell reeds/moutpieces.
I recommend Fukuhara for repairs as they are quick on turn around and IMO the prices were better.
Does anyone know if either of these places sell keyboards and keyboard accessories? And, if not, does anyone know of any other good stores that have them. The selection on base isn’t great. Thank you for your help.
I think they both have some keyboard stuff. I saw another music shop that looked nice (didn’t go in) but it is on Hwy 330. Leave Foster Legion gate, turn right on 330. Hwy 330 will turn left about 1/2km down, follow that. This road goes to the Futenma back gate. The music store is about 1-2 Km down on the right side. Can’t miss it.
Do any of these stores sell Fender of Japan guitars?
Both places are great. I know they have both been in business since 1977. Here is a guitar I bought from Teruya. I still have it and it is a monster instrument used on many tours.
to Kelly-Try Koza Music Town, there’s free shows there pretty often that range anywhere from high school students to local taiko drummers. Also, depending on what kind of music you like, the clubs up and down gate 2 street have pretty cheap, often free (for women) shows.
to Ash- I can’t remember if Teruya has any keyboard stuff (they might in the back) but i know Fukahara does (second floor, left side of the room).
to LTP-I BELIEVE Fukahara does, I could be wrong, and I’m pretty sure I saw one at Teruya not too long ago.
Hope this helps =]
Just got back from Oki and both stores do sell Fender of Japan…got myself a ’62 Reissue Telecaster at half of what it would have cost for me to get the Made in the USA model…
do you know any places where they might paint my guitar for me?
For those of you with a musical instrument, how did you bring it with you to Japan? Did you put it in your express shipment, your HHG shipment, ship it by mail, or bring it on the plane with you? I’m just stressing out because I just don’t know what would be the best option for me to get my 2 acoustic guitars over there in one piece! Any suggestions?
Shipping your guitars:
I shipped via HHG. Just realize they will probably go through quite a few climatic changes. Hard cases all the way! Slack the strings to relieve the neck tension, this will help during the wx changes. When the guitars get here let them breath for a few days and then get to work on them. Really just a simple setup…neck treatment (i.e. lemon oil or guitar honey), string change, and an intonation. Good to go! My guitars arrived without any additional ‘road wear’.
I am looking to see if either of the stores sell left handed electric guitars. Does anyone know for sure? I will be venturing out there soon but don’t want to be disapointed.
Sorry, there are no left handed people in Japan.
There is a left handed guitar on OYS right now. I know nothing about guitars, so not sure if it is what you want, but it is there.
Are there other music stores in Okinawa that sell Fender of Japan guitars?
Does anyone know of any other stores? I’ll have to check out the one down from Foster if it’s still there, but I’ve been to both Teruya and Fukuhara. Teruya is nice, but has a small selection, and when I went to Fukuhara, there was only the downstairs. They had a chain over steps leading upstairs, and it looked like the upstairs was just a stockroom from what I could see. Am I missing another upstairs entrance or something?
Upstairs of Fukuhara used to be the area where they kept the actual instruments. It’s been a while since I went in, so not sure if it changed or not. There’s another store on 330 past the Futenma back gate. Can’t give exact directions, but it’s on 330 maybe 5 min after Futenma. Before the McD’s.
Does anyone know if either of these stores or know of any store that sells ukuleles?
We ordered our ukulele from amazon.com – free shipping.