“If fashion brands and computer brands can do it, why can’t we?” I journeyed to the only dedicated Fender store in the world – and found out how it could change the future of guitar retail as we know it

Japan is experiencing a record-breaking travel boom. 36.8 million tourists journeyed to the country in 2024, and I was one of them.

But while the usual sightseeing hotspots were high on my to-do list, I, like many tourists, was also feeling the pull of the Japanese shopping experience. And top of my list was the only Fender store in the entire world.

Opened in 2023, Fender Flagship Tokyo is a futuristic haven for guitar fans. Nestled somewhere between Samsung and Vivienne Westwood in the fashionable Harajuku district, the store’s gleaming glass exterior is announced by a giant vertical video screen that blares the company’s latest slickly produced promotional clips.

I entered to the soundtrack of the all-star Voodoo Child rendition that celebrated 70 years of the Fender Stratocaster, and was immediately struck by the store’s spaciousness, and its light and relaxed atmosphere. It’s the polar opposite of the rammed-to-the-rafters shops you’ll find in the city’s iconic Ochanomizu musical instrument district.

There are enormous displays of guitarists with the latest models, plentiful benches to sit and try guitars, and four floors that span every Fender offering from acoustic to Custom Shop. Heck, there’s even a cafe on the ground floor.

This is no regular guitar store. In fact, it might just be the future of guitar stores. No wonder the likes of Jack White, Nile Rodgers and Cory Wong have all made beelines away from their tour schedules to perform there (being Fender signature artists helps, of course).

But, as I was about to find out, this is more than a money-making exercise or vanity project. It’s a symbol not only to the American guitar giant’s renewed focus on the region, but also its commitment to inspire the next generation of guitar players.

“Why can’t we?”

When Edward ‘Bud’ Cole first signed on as Fender’s Asia-Pacific President in 2014, he holed up in his basement and drew up a 10-year masterplan on a whiteboard. It started with reclaiming control of Fender’s distribution and production in the region. But Fender Flagship Tokyo would be the crown jewel of his manifesto.

“The assertion that we made is that we can elevate and inspire guitar players through our own retail,” he says of his elevator pitch. “And by doing so we could grow the entire market.”

Formerly president of Ralph Lauren Japan – and a touring musician before that – Cole was uniquely placed to tear up the guitar store rulebook. And he saw no reason why Fender shouldn’t have its own direct-to-consumer offering.

“If fashion brands can do it, and computer brands can do it, and footwear brands can do it, why can’t we?”

Touring the store with its chief architect, he makes a compelling case, and it hasn’t gone unnoticed. Earlier this month, Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder – who has been to his fair share of guitar stores – was effusive in his praise for the space. And that’s all down to the details.

There are no prizes for guessing that the brightly lit, futuristic interior is influenced by Apple’s ubiquitous stores. But it’s a template rarely applied to guitar retail, and it works remarkably well. It means Fender’s latest models – its equivalent of the new iPhone and iMac – are front and center when you enter Flagship Tokyo.

“We want people to know what's most important to Fender, what is the latest and greatest, and what is going to take artists and players at every stage of their musical journey to the next level in their playing,” Cole says.

“We don't want it to be a needle in a haystack; we're proud about what we do. We're proud about what our latest launches are.”

During my visit, the Stratocaster’s 70th Anniversary models had pride of place, alongside the American Ultra II lineup, signaled via the store’s enormous floor-to-ceiling displays. These highlight another departure from traditional stores – not just in the scale, but also the limited number of guitars on the wall.

Again, there’s sound logic here: as Cole relays, having too many guitars on display prevents visitors from focusing on one design. It’s too much to take in; in a sea of shapes and finishes, you can’t focus on what grabs you. Anyone who’s visited a Guitar Center in the past decade knows that feeling.

Yet every current-production model is in stock, if you want a different color or configuration. Giant pictures of players holding the guitars and readily available mirrors dotted around each floor are all designed to allow customers to picture themselves as players, or for existing guitarists to know exactly what, say, a Meteora might look like hanging on their shoulder.

Then, of course, there are giant setpieces highlighting the company’s distinctly Japanese collaborations, such as recent video game collab, the Monster Hunter Telecaster. Store displays change on a regular basis, too. When I returned five days later to gather some extra photos, guitars had moved and new launches had taken place.

It feels cared for, it feels alive, and it encourages repeat visits, too. Most importantly, it feels contemporary and cool – not words you always hear associated with guitar stores in 2025.

Big in Japan

As is consistent with Japanese retail in general, the staff are approachable and proud of where they work. If they’re not helping customers, they’re tuning guitars, and restringing them once a week to make for the best possible shopping experience.

Similarly, there are stations with Fender’s Mustang Micro headphone amps so customers don’t have to endure the dreaded ‘guitar store syndrome’ of fumbling licks in front of a room full of people.

For anyone who wants to crank real amps, every current-production Fender combo is available to try in a soundproof room (“you can play it super, super loud”, promises Cole). The store will soon be installing a demo booth where customers can press Tone Master Pro switches to activate effects and change the sound of a real-life guitar player on-screen.​​

These beginner-friendly entry points echo the store’s mantra: it’s not just to foster more Fender guitar players. It’s to remove obstacles to guitar playing, period. Intimidation is the death of aspiring guitarists. Curiosity gives birth to them.

Journeying up the staircase to the second floor – dubbed the Rock and Roll Stairway to Heaven – brings you face to face with Fender’s biggest artists from around the globe, past and present. Everyone from Jimi Hendrix to Jeff Buckley, Steve Lacy to Juanes, and Japanese phenomena Silent Siren and Miyavi.

It prepares you to come face to face with the biggest range of made-in-Japan Fenders in the world. All the guitars we here at Guitar World find ourselves drooling over on a monthly basis were hanging there in all their glory. The eye-popping Ken Stratocaster experiments. Limited-edition oddities like the Cyclone. And the distinctly Japanese Junior Collection, with its 24-inch scale length for younger players.

The third floor also plays host to a more familiar lineup, showcasing USA- and Mexico-built models, with big glossy photos selling the American guitar dream. There are also regularly rotated museum pieces, with a ’54 Strat just hanging out by the stairs – one of the few guitars behind glass.

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Head up to the top floor, and you’re met with the largest collection of Fender Custom Shop guitars in the world. Almost 100 guitars are in stock at any one time, and players of all ability levels are encouraged to play them.

Make an appointment, and you can design your own Custom Shop guitar. Choose from drawers and drawers of components, different neck shapes and a cornucopia of finish options, and US luthiers will make your dream guitar.

“We can come up with the design and fabrication and plans here, and pass that on to our team in the U.S. in Corona and our Master Builders,” Cole explains. “It might take some time, but if you can conceive it, we can create it.”

There’s customization for less well-heeled players, too. Head down to the basement, and nestled among the Acoustasonics and traditional acoustic guitars is the Mod Shop, where Fender technicians will set up guitars and replace pickups for a very reasonable price – a pickup swap is just ¥3,300 (approx $22).

And, of course, there’s merch – and lots of it, from clothing to totes, and even Fender’s (surprisingly good) own-brand coffee, available from the cafe in the basement.

The Japan flagship store also houses its own fashion line, F Is For Fender, with nods to the company’s heritage – including a coat made of the same tweed that covers its amps.

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“If people are willing to tattoo on their body the Fender logo and Fender guitars, we have to meet the people halfway,” says Cole. “We know that not everyone’s going to buy a guitar every time they go to a guitar store; we also know that people love our brand.”

Cole’s philosophy is that Fender has as much right to be in Tokyo’s premier shopping street as the likes of Dior and Ugg – maybe even more so, given his argument that a guitar will always be cooler than a new designer coat or pair of boots.

And the brand played on

400,000 people have visited Fender Flagship Tokyo since it opened in 2023. Cole claims that not only has Fender grown its business by double digits, but its Japanese dealers – who were initially reticent of the idea – have grown by similar margins.

The firm hopes its own efforts will make guitar stores in general more appealing to established and aspiring guitarists.

“Brands are understanding that having retail [can be] part of their marketing mix,” Cole says. “I mean, if a brand can't get it right, I don't know how they can expect the dealers to get it right, actually. And there's a lot of really good dealers waiting for the lead from the brands to demonstrate how they can do it.”

Guitar stores are changing. Gibson has launched two of its own luxed-out retail spaces, the Gibson Garage, in Nashville and London. Roland and Yamaha have flagship stores in major cities dotted around the world.

Brands are, as Cole puts it, leading the charge for what guitar retail could look like: a welcoming atmosphere that encourages new players to pick up a guitar and not feel intimidated by condescending staff and locked-up instruments. We already know Guitar Center is looking to move its own stores in this direction, and it’s only a matter of time before the rest of the industry follows suit.

For Fender, Tokyo could just be the beginning. Cole hopes the flagship store will act as a template for further Fender spaces across the globe.

But whatever avenues the brand may soon explore – and whatever criticism they may face from the old guard of guitar – it’s all to serve a greater mission. Like fellow Fender CEO Andy Mooney, Cole hasn’t forgotten what the guitar has meant to him personally – and he wants everyone to experience that feeling.

“Getting people to pick up musical instruments, specifically guitar, sticking with the guitar, becoming a lifelong player, we believe makes the world a better place and music makes a difference,” he says.

“I will not and we will not pull any punches. Any way we can reach consumers wherever they are on their musical journey, we will do it.”

• For more info on Fender Flagship Tokyo, head to Fender.com (you’ll need to set your region to Japan).