The Tokai company was set up in Hamamatsu, Japan (also the hometown of Yamaha) in 1947, by businessman Tadayouki Adachi.

Initially a harmonica manufacturer, it diversified into guitar production in the 1960s. By the mid-1970s, Tokai was producing a range of flat-tops and electrics whose designs closely resembled those of Gibson and Martin. Tokai also made replicas of 1950s-style Les Pauls.

The company’s guitars started to be sold in America around 1983, and soon scquired a reputation for quality and value. After a period out of the limelight, Tokai is underwent something of a renaissance, and this Flying V-like FV 40 comes from an extensive batch of electrics and acoustics that have debuted recently.