Fender Japan Bass Guitars
My MIJ & CIJ collection, 20 basses deep
My Fender Japan obsession: Why these basses own my vault I’ll be honest, more than half my collection is Japanese quality Fenders. There’s something about these instruments that just hits different. Whether it’s the Fujigen-era MIJ precision or the Dyna Gakki CIJ craftsmanship, these basses punch way above their weight. This is my personal archive of Aerodynes, Jazz Basses, Precision Basses, and signature models that prove Japanese Fenders are some of the best Fenders, period.
MIJ vs CIJ: what the decal actually tells you
Almost every guide runs the factory timeline and the decal timeline together. They are two different things, they overlap, and they don’t match. Read them separately and most of the confusion goes away.
The decal timeline
| Years | Decal | |
|---|---|---|
| 1982 – 1997 | Made in Japan | Dominant |
| 1995 – 1997 | Both | Transition window |
| 1997 – 2008 | Crafted in Japan | Dominant, with stragglers to about 2010 |
| 2007 – 2008 | Both | Transition back |
| 2008 – today | Made in Japan |
If your bass dates to 1995-97 or 2007-08, either decal is plausible and neither is a red flag. Fender didn’t switch overnight on any model, let alone all of them.
The factory timeline
Fujigen Gakki built for Fender Japan from 1982 until around 1997 – the era that produced the JV and E-series instruments, and the ones that famously startled Fender’s American leadership with their quality. Dyna Gakki began supplying around 1995-96, became the principal builder, and still is. Tokai joined from about 1997, mostly on domestic models that never left Japan.
The decal did not change because the factory changed
You’ll read that it did. It appears not to be true.
In the second half of the 1990s, Sam Sekihara, then Managing Director of Fender Japan, proposed swapping “Made in Japan” for “Crafted in Japan” purely to lift the instruments’ image and set them apart from other Japanese guitars. At roughly the same time, Fender was increasing orders and delays were biting at Fujigen, so Fujigen’s own VP suggested bringing Dyna Gakki into the picture.
Two separate decisions that happened to land together. For a stretch, Fujigen, Dyna and Tokai were all building instruments wearing the Crafted in Japan decal.
The decal tells you roughly when. It does not reliably tell you who.
So don’t let the label decide for you. MIJ carries more vintage prestige, but plenty of CIJ instruments shipped with better hardware and more historically accurate wood. Condition and the model code stamped in the neck pocket matter more than what’s printed on the headstock.
The full breakdown – serial prefixes for both eras, the neck stamp, and the exceptions that break every chart – is in my field guide to Fender Japan.
The twenty-some Fender Japan basses in the vault
Which Fender Japan bass should you look for?
The Precision side
The PB70 ’70 reissue is the model most people end up hunting, and it’s the one I have most of – eight, spanning 1990 to 2004, MIJ and CIJ. The suffix is what decides the specification: PB70 versus PB70-US changes the pickups and the body wood entirely. Also worth knowing: the Sting ’54 reissue, the Hama Okamoto #4 with its Jazz neck, and the Mustang MB98 if you want short scale.
-> Fender Japan PB70 Precision Bass guide
The Jazz side
The JB62 ’62 reissue is the Jazz equivalent, and it runs on the same suffix logic – a trailing number is the original yen price, and the tier decides whether you get basswood or alder, Japanese or USA pickups. Beyond it: the Aerodyne with its carved top, the Geddy Lee signature, and the Jazz Bass Special in its PJ configuration.
Fender Japan bass FAQ
CIJ stands for Crafted in Japan. It’s a decal Fender applied to Japanese-built instruments from about 1997 until about 2008, replacing the earlier Made in Japan mark. It tells you where the bass was built, not how well – and on its own it tells you nothing about the specification. For that you need the model code, which is stamped in the neck pocket and at the base of the neck rather than printed on the headstock.
Not as a rule. MIJ carries more vintage prestige, and the JV and E-series instruments in particular have a serious reputation, so those command higher prices. But plenty of CIJ basses shipped with better hardware and more historically accurate wood than the MIJ models they replaced, and the Crafted in Japan years brought a wider spread of domestic-market finishes you couldn’t get anywhere else. I own instruments from both sides of the change. Condition and the model code decide which is the better bass far more often than the decal does.
Not from the decal – it names the country, not the plant. Start with the serial number: the prefix places the instrument in a production period, and that period maps to a factory. Then read the model code stamped in the neck pocket and at the base of the neck, which gives you the specification the serial can’t.
Two honest caveats. The transition windows are genuinely ambiguous, and instruments built within a year of each other can carry different decals. And Fender Japan never marked the plant on the instrument, so for some years the honest answer is a narrowed shortlist rather than a single name. My field guide has the prefix-to-period mapping.
In my experience, yes – and for particular models, better. The Fujigen-built JV and E-series basses of the early eighties were good enough that the comparison with American production of the same period is a real argument rather than a fan claim. Later Japanese instruments hold up too: tighter fretwork and cleaner finishing than you’d expect at the price, and the upper tiers came with genuine USA pickups and nitro topcoats.
More than half the forty-odd basses in my vault are Japanese Fenders. That’s not an accident.
It’s all about the passion!
Henrik Bonde Hanfgarn aka. BassGarn has played bass for thirty years and documents the forty-odd instruments in the Bass Vault – photographs, specs and stories, with particular depth in Fender Japan MIJ and CIJ reissues.
He plays live in Denmark with Bad Boys of Boogie and Foo Fighters Tribute. The bass hook on Nü Néon’s “Vi Kysser Natten Farvel” came out of a short-scale Mustang from the vault. He talked about the collection with Danske Bassister.
Main Gear TC Electronic Blacksmith, Fender Bassman ’67 (AB165), Ampeg cabs, and the Line6 HX Stomp when it calls for quick and compact.
Instagram · More about Henrik
Explore basses in unexpected locations or The Bass Vault Playlist.
