For decades there have been countless myths and half truths spread about the stencil drums that came out of Japan in the 60’s and 70’s. Some of the popular ones were about how they were all made by Pearl, or several companies shared a factory in Japan, or they would keep changing the name brands so they wouldn’t get caught making copycats. We may not have all the answers, but we now know many of the truths about these drums. Consider this a primer on the companies who made the Japanese stencils.
For those who don’t know what stencil drums are, they are simply “generic” drums (usually entry-level) on which the manufacturer or distributor would put the name of the distributor’s choosing on them. Literally hundreds of distributors, music stores, and mail order businesses would use this practice to have their own branded drums. Almost all of the stencil drums in the 60’s & 70’s came out of five factories in Japan. Today we can tell most of the time which factory made what, because each factory made almost all of their own distinct parts.
The market wasn’t an equal share between the five companies, we have what we call “The Big Three”, which was Hoshino, Pearl, and Star. Based on what is floating around out there today, these three companies were about 75% or more of the stencil market. The other two main contributors would be Gracy and Sakae, with Gracy producing more than Sakae.
GRACY: Gracy started off as a company called Yamamoto Drum Co. Yamamoto’s in-house brand name was Gracy, which by 1965 became the Company’s official name. We don’t know when Yamamoto/Gracy became a company, but it seems to be limited to between WWII and the early 60’s. The end of the company is not documented either, but it is after 1970 and suspected to be early 70’s. Distinguishing characteristics of Gracy drums were Gretsch style lugs and clamshell strainers, neither of which were common with other Japanese drums. There are a couple of their catalogs out on the internet, one can be found here: https://www.vintagedrumguide.com/my_collection_gracy_catalog.html .
HOSHINO: Hoshino is one of the most misattributed drum companies in this era. The official name of the company is Hoshino Kougyou, which translated is Hoshino Manufacturing. They get frequently confused with Hoshino Gakki, (Hoshino Musical Instruments) the parent company of Tama. These two companies were never related. If you see the name “Hoshino” on a drum it is the official brand of Hoshino Kougyou. Hoshino’s beginning is unknown, but their drums have been spotted in department store catalogs dating back to 1966. Hoshino went out of business in a merger in 1983. That merger became HRK Drum Institute whose official brand was Trak. Some of the distinguishing features of Hoshino were Slingerland style cigar lugs, the sharktooth lug, Roger’s beavertail style lugs, and the big round strainers. Late Hoshino drums were professional quality drums and very desirable. There is one catalog from Hoshino online: https://www.drumarchive.com/Hoshino/ .
PEARL: Pearl is the most notorious of the bunch with much more documentation. The company began in 1946 and started producing snare drums in 1950. By 1955 was already producing full drum sets under the Pearl name. It’s been rumored that in about 1960 Pearl became the first MIJ stencil supplier to the US. In 1973 Pearl opened a factory in Taiwan which was originally dedicated to the manufacturing of the stencil branded drums. Up until that point the stencils drums followed the Pearl timeline with their parts, but once the Taiwan factory was going the stencils were stuck in 1972 as far as styling goes for almost a decade. By about 1986 Pearl was out of the stencil market and growing their very successful brand. The Pearl website has old catalogs on it: https://pearldrum.com/en/support/product-catalogs .
SAKAE: Sakae actually began in 1925, but besides that we know little about the company’s early days. We do know that Sakae was a shell supplier, if not a whole drum supplier to Yamaha beginning in the 60’s until somewhere in the 2,000’s. Just a couple years ago Sakae shut down for a short while, but have reemerged under new management. Distinguishing signs of a Sakae are the shells, which are vertical grain on the inside but horizontal on the outside, (all other MIJ drums were vertical inside and out). They are also known for heavy die-cast hoops and heavy cast lugs that protrude into the shell. The overwhelming majority of Sakae drums are snare drums. No known catalogs exist from this era of Sakae.
STAR: Star was formed by Hoshino Gakki in 1961. Star’s run as a stencil manufacturer was from 1961 until 1974. In 1974 they completely left the stencil market and rebranded themselves as Tama. Star’s distinguishing marks are Sonor teardrop lugs, Slingerland style lugs and strainer, and badges that say “World’s Supreme Quality”. The Tama website has old Star catalogs on it: https://www.tama.com/usa/support/catalogs/ .
For honorable mentions we have a couple companies that were much less connected to the stencils, but still have ties, they were Negi and Yamaha.
NEGI: Negi is a small factory that has been making their own brand drums since 1962, but there a few stencil kits under the Kawai & Sons brand have turned up with Negi manufacturing tags. Negi is known for higher end drums and usually not connected with entry level drums.
YAMAHA: Yamaha began making drums in 1967 and for a few years, between 68 and 72 were involved with making parts for Roger’s budget line drums, the R-360 and R-380. In recent years has Yamaha denied any partnership with Rogers in this era, but Rogers’ factory workers have commented about it and were the ones that actually assembled the drums. According to Rob Cook’s Rogers book, the lugs were designed by Joe Thompson of Rogers and made by Yamaha. The hoops are stamped with an “R” and “Japan”, also the wood shells appear to be Asian as well. So let the debate continue on this one.
One more general rule to the stencil brands; the brand names are not necessarily associated with just one manufacturer. Big brand names like Apollo, Stewart, Zim-Gar, and many others had up to five different manufacturers over the years, that’s why hunting down the manufacturer of the drum will tell you more about the drum than just the brand name. The brand name is helpful in telling who the distributor was and what country it was sold from. The story doesn’t end here, stenciling continues to this day, the companies and countries are just different, mostly in Taiwan and China.
Next month: Part 2 - Japan’s Ode to Slingerland
If you have questions or comments you may contact me at: marcpatch@hotmail.com
(editor’s note; Marc is the author of the book Vintage Stencil Drums Made in Japan. available to buy here: https://www.blurb.com/b/8433623-vintage-stencil-drums-made-in-japan
Marc also hangs out on the FB group Vintage MIJ Drums https://www.facebook.com/groups/270145106666038 He usually responds so quickly there that I believe he has it hooked up to his pager!)
Marc Patch