Fender Japan Takashi Kato Paradise Blue Stratocaster
Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra guitarist gets signature Strat
4,2 / 5,0 | 
The new Fender Japan Takashi Kato signature is a Strat based on his 1965 Stratocaster that is known as “Dreki”. The Ska guitarist has been touring the world with the Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra for over 30 years, and his new signature model looks great in the Paradise Blue finish.
Fender Japan Takashi Kato
This Fender Japan Takashi Kato signature Stratocaster looks pretty stunning in the Paradise Blue nitrocellulose lacquer finish. The guitar itself is based on a mid-1960s Strat and has an alder body. It has a maple 1965 “C” profile neck with a 7.25″ radius rosewood fretboard, which has white Pearloid inlays and is fitted with 21 narrow-tall frets and a bone nut. The neck itself has a satin nitrocellulose lacquer finish. Then finally, the headstock has a transition logo of the patent pattern, which was used from late 1964 to mid-1965. A nice touch and just adds to the attention to detail for this signature guitar.
Paradise Blue · Source: Fender
Hardware
Befitting a guitar of this era, the hardware includes a 6-Saddle Pure Vintage synchronized tremolo and a set of Pure Vintage single-line Fender Deluxe tuners. These will certainly look the part and suit the model nicely.
Takashi Kato Strat · Source: Fender
The three Fender Custom Wired Vintage Style single-coil Strat pickups are fitted to a 3-ply parchment pickguard and the standard Strat control layout is used. The controls themselves have aged white knobs, that match the aged white pickup covers.
A great looking mid-’60s style Strat · Source: Fender
Release Date
The Fender Japan Takashi Kato is due for release at 9:00 AM on Tuesday, September 20, 2022. It looks to be an exclusive for the Japanese market, however, you may still find one out in the wild eventually. It looks like a great specification for a mid-60s Stratocaster and that Paradise Blue, which is essentially a slightly deeper Lake Placid Blue, looks great.
I found an unofficial video, below, which has some shots of the gutiar from a few angles and shows off some of the details. My Japanese is non-existent and so I cannot vouch for the commentary given throughout the video.
MSRP – YEN 217,800
More Information
Video
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3 responses to “Fender Japan Takashi Kato Paradise Blue Stratocaster”
Imagine getting something like this in Europe for about 1500 EUR. Looks great, lucky japanese!
It would be great if we did. Instead, we get boring colours, ‘Road Worn’ finishes and naff reissues of the same old guitars.
Why do you think that is? It seems like Fender saves the most interesting guitars for the Japanese market.