Buying and Importing from Japan

[Cornwall Steve]

4 hours ago, Gizmo said:

 

If you can stomach the poor quality of the bevel routing....Looks like something from an Aliexpress seller! 

 

 

 

 

@Cornwall Steve You can try Zenmarket  as a 3rd parry shipper (plenty of YT reviews and How to video on importing guitars using their services) 

 

Using something like Zen can save you a few Hundred £'s over the 3rd party ebay/reverb sellers, doing so will shift the postage risk to yourself, for example using Zen and surface shipping i can get a BTB865SC laned in the UK for about £700 'ish, 3rd party reverb/ebay sellers want £700+ for the same bass without shipping/VAT/Duty inc....so buying from them would give a landed cost of about £1k...but in doing so they take the risk of it getting damaged/missing in transit...risk/reward

 

GL   

Thank you. Not heard of Zen before however someone else suggested them too so I'll check them out.

[Owen]

13 hours ago, BigRedX said:

 Fernades Pie-zo Bass Gothic Hello Kitty Edition, 

I cannot be the only person who was wondering.

 

https://jp.mercari.com/item/m49617180061?srsltid=AfmBOopwopOvwLm9ct3NXxD1-0kez0V9BMlyuIv7nFNnArr-3_c9rEAr

[Owen]

Double post

Edited Thursday at 22:03 by Owen

[Owen]

Triple post

Edited Thursday at 22:04 by Owen

[fergs40]

Another satisfied Ishibashi customer here - in Ireland, but the customs and taxes charges and processes are very similar to the UK. Ishibashi went above and beyond, even when An Post didn’t…

 

 

[Cornwall Steve]

12 hours ago, pete.young said:

 

Many thanks Pete

[BigRedX]

10 hours ago, Cornwall Steve said:

Thanks. There are several for sale by Japanese vendors, hence the reason for my Post 

 

Have you doubled checked that they are actually different bases and not the one on Digimart being offered by various "middlemen".

[BigRedX]

10 hours ago, Owen said:

I cannot be the only person who was wondering.

 

https://jp.mercari.com/item/m49617180061?srsltid=AfmBOopwopOvwLm9ct3NXxD1-0kez0V9BMlyuIv7nFNnArr-3_c9rEAr

 

That's the one.

 

Here are some better photos of the one I actually owned:

 

IIRC it was sold on to someone in the UK so it should still be around.

 

Fernandes do lots of limited edition models with custom graphics for both the bass and guitar versions of this. You rarely see any of them outside of Japan.

Edited yesterday at 08:17 by BigRedX

[Gizmo]

2 hours ago, BigRedX said:

 

That's the one.

 

Here are some better photos of the one I actually owned:

 

 

Looks like a giraffe with little legs...or maybe a diplodocus talking a drink ! 

 

@Cornwall Steve Hardoff is worth taking a look @ Zen will purchase and shipp from them, Hardoff kinda seems like JP Crack converters but much less scummy.

Edited yesterday at 10:18 by Gizmo

[Cornwall Steve]

2 hours ago, BigRedX said:

 

Have you doubled checked that they are actually different bases and not the one on Digimart being offered by various "middlemen".

Yes, I've been checking carefully and after carefully comparing I've discovered several duplicates being offered by competing vendors

[NancyJohnson]

On 12/02/2026 at 07:33, Cornwall Steve said:

Hi members

Has anyone ventured down this route before ?

 

Frustrated by not being able to find the bass I'm after, I frequently come across them for sale in Japan on evilbay, quite often with a modest delivery charge for shipment to UK or even included in the price.

I understand about the import duty situation, etc however I guess my primary concern is more about taking the plunge and ordering if anything goes wrong regarding communication, language, damage or loss in transit, etc.

Has anyone actually given this a go. If so, what were your experiences. Did it go well, or were there mega problems, or did it all go smoothly and you counted yourself lucky, and wouldn't hesitate to do it all again. And did you end up being stuffed for any unexpected costs?

 

Many thanks in anticipation.

 

Bought from Ishibashi a couple of times.  No issues.  First bass I didn't pay any duties on, the second one I did.  No idea why as values of each exceeded £800.00.  Comms were good, however I'd say that they Ishibashi do/did employ the services of someone with a decent grasp of English.

 

I wouldn't buy anything where there's a broker type thing going on, you know, those adverts on eBay where there's dozens of people in Japan 'selling' the same thing, even though this process is all supposed to be above board there (gawd knows how they navigate the minefield of multiple purchases),

[Cornwall Steve]

3 hours ago, NancyJohnson said:

 

Bought from Ishibashi a couple of times.  No issues.  First bass I didn't pay any duties on, the second one I did.  No idea why as values of each exceeded £800.00.  Comms were good, however I'd say that they Ishibashi do/did employ the services of someone with a decent grasp of English.

 

I wouldn't buy anything where there's a broker type thing going on, you know, those adverts on eBay where there's dozens of people in Japan 'selling' the same thing, even though this process is all supposed to be above board there (gawd knows how they navigate the minefield of multiple purchases),

Hi, and many thanks for your reply. I checked out Ishibashi first because they've come recommended by several BC members. Unfortunately they don't have the bass I'm looking for, despite it being widely available in Japan (I'm after certain Ibanez 5 string BTB's). I've also reached out to another popular choice, Zen, by completing and submitting their on line contact form but not heard back from them yet. 

[BigRedX]

The great thing about Ishibashi is because their on line presence is based on the stock from all their shops, they have a regular turnover of new and especially of used instruments. Therefore if the bass you are after isn't in stock to today, it may well be in stock tomorrow, or next week or next month. It just depends on how long you want to wait before one comes up.

 

None of the basses I bought from them were exactly common - the Yamaha BJ-5B was made in a limited edition of just 50 - but all of them eventually came up for sale on Ishibashi.

[miles'tone]

On 12/02/2026 at 08:11, Sean said:

I've done it myself a few times but recently I've done it 3 times through https://www.bassjapandirect.com/index.html

 

Danny Stewart is the chap. He charges a small fee for his export services however this is the only route I'll use these days. He has a Bass Finder service but if you know what you want and where it is he reduces that to just his admin fee. 

I used Danny's bass hunter service to source a rare-ish MIJ bass. I found him to be a brilliant chap to deal with. Lots of transparent communication throughout with a couple of options to choose from in the end. He gives his honest opinion on instruments found which is refreshing.

When he received my bass, he even made a youtube demo video to show me the bass, his thoughts, and the set up he'd given it

The overall cost all in from him to me was less than I was expecting too.

Plus he's a professional working bassist in Japan so he really does know his stuff.

Recommended 👍

[Paul S]

32 minutes ago, miles'tone said:

I used Danny's bass hunter service to source a rare-ish MIJ bass. I found him to be a brilliant chap to deal with. Lots of transparent communication throughout with a couple of options to choose from in the end. He gives his honest opinion on instruments found which is refreshing.

When he received my bass, he even made a youtube demo video to show me the bass, his thoughts, and the set up he'd given it

The overall cost all in from him to me was less than I was expecting too.

Plus he's a professional working bassist in Japan so he really does know his stuff.

Recommended 👍

 

This was exactly my experience with Danny, who sourced and bought for me a Yamaha BB5000.  Posted a vid etc.  Albeit 2017.

 

I also used Ishibashi a few times as around 10 years ago I went through a period of liking medium scale Precisions which were nigh on impossible to find here but popped up reasonably regularly in Japan - both Fender and Squier.  Faultless service.  Also the exchange rate at the time meant it was always a good deal, even including the shipping and taxes.  No so much now, I don't think.

 

Edit.  Video is still on his website!  Should have kept it but, of course, sold it for a massive loss.

 

 

Edited 1 hour ago by Paul S

[miles'tone]

1 hour ago, Paul S said:

 

This was exactly my experience with Danny, who sourced and bought for me a Yamaha BB5000.  Posted a vid etc.  Albeit 2017.

 

I also used Ishibashi a few times as around 10 years ago I went through a period of liking medium scale Precisions which were nigh on impossible to find here but popped up reasonably regularly in Japan - both Fender and Squier.  Faultless service.  Also the exchange rate at the time meant it was always a good deal, even including the shipping and taxes.  No so much now, I don't think.

 

Edit.  Video is still on his website!  Should have kept it but, of course, sold it for a massive loss.

 

 

My vid is still on there too. 6 years ago...

I too sold mine eventually as I went to 5ers for a band at the time. 

Damn if it wouldn't just be perfect for what I'm doing now 🤦