2003 Masaki Sakurai "Special 640" SP/CSAR

This 2003 Masaki Sakurai “Special 640” is a classical guitar with a spruce top and CSA rosewood back and sides, made in Tokyo, Japan – a shorter-scale guitar with a 640mm string length and a 51mm nut.

The “Special”

A beautiful, classic design, perfectly executed: this guitar shows both the influence of Masaru Kohno, with whom Sakurai learned his craft, and Sakurai’s own personality. The “Special” is a step up from the “Concert-J” in its detailing – especially the purfling and rosette – and in its choice of materials. It has thick back and sides, and the double-ebony reinforced neck makes it a very stable instrument for travel.

Sound and Playability

The spruce top has a clear, clean sound while keeping the depth and warmth of its cedar counterpart. The guitar has the power for any concert setting, solo or in an ensemble. The shorter 640mm string length and slightly narrower neck, with a 51mm nut, make it very comfortable to play.

Materials, Condition and Label

The materials are spectacular, including a very dramatic set of CSA rosewood for the back and sides. Although used, it is in great shape, with only some mild wear in the finish. The label – “Masaki Sakurai, Kohno Guitar Manufacturing” – gives the model, “Special”, and the year 2003, and is signed by Sakurai. The 640mm scale is not on the label.

Videos and Further Reading

Two films above show the workshop: a documentary on Masaki Sakurai, and “The Luthier and the Guitarist”, with Shin-ichi Fukuda playing Bach on a Sakurai guitar. The guitar makers of Japan are the subject of Orfeo Magazine No. 15 – read the issue online, or find it in the print edition that collects issues 11 to 15.

Orfeo No. 15: The Guitar in Japan

Orfeo Magazine, 11-15 (print edition)

Masaru Kohno (1926–1998)

Kohno, Sakurai & Kimishima are three generations of one Tokyo guitar-making family. Masaru Kohno – Japan’s most important classical guitar maker, and one of the best worldwide – was born in 1926 in Mito City. In 1960 he traveled to Spain and apprenticed for six months with Arcángel Fernández in Madrid; back in Tokyo he established his own workshop, and in 1967 he was awarded the Gold Medal at an international guitar-building competition in Belgium, judged among others by Ignacio Fleta, Robert Bouchet, Joaquín Rodrigo and Alirio Díaz. Julian Bream, Oscar Ghiglia and Sharon Isbin are among the many players of world renown who have used Kohno guitars.

Masaki Sakurai (1944–2025)

Born in Tokyo on May 10, 1944, Masaki Sakurai joined the workshop of his uncle, Masaru Kohno, in 1966. Among many other accomplishments, in 1988 he was awarded First Prize at the 4th International Guitar Making Competition in Paris, France. Mr. Kohno passed away in 1998, and the workshop was taken over by Sakurai, who carried on its legacy under the name Sakurai-Kohno. The guitars built since he took over have maintained the high levels of quality, precision craftsmanship, meticulous attention to detail and beauty of tone that have made Kohno guitars world renowned. Masaki Sakurai passed away in 2025 at the age of 81 (read our tribute).

So Kimishima (born 1983)

So Kimishima, Masaru Kohno’s grandson, studied at the Musashi Institute of Technology in Tokyo and joined the family workshop, where since 2007 he has worked and trained with his uncle, the great Masaki Sakurai. His guitars are based largely on the sound of Masaru Kohno’s guitars from the 1950s and 1960s, with design ideas and techniques learned from Sakurai, and he uses different bracing designs according to the tonewood of each top. In 2021 he announced his own model, the “Stella”, followed by his flagship “Sol” and its sister model “Luna”.