Boss headquarters is located
on the northern edge of
Hamamatsu, a city in Japan’s
western Shizuoka Prefecture
that’s home to about 800,000.
The complex isn’t nearly as big as
you’d expect for a multinational
corporation, but there, with
Lake Hamana a few miles to the
west and the Akaishi Mountains
serving as a majestic backdrop,
the Roland and Boss logos jut
from a sign in orange and blue,
giving way to a white, two-story
building behind it with about 50
engineers inside.
Their goal: Tone first. Always.
J
apanese custom dictates that
a man of his repute should be
referred to as Mr. Ikegami, but
the man behind the world’s
most recognized line of guitar pedals is
less traditional when it comes to things
like greetings and titles.
In fact, if you know him for any length of
time, referring to him formally may yield
a quizzical glance and a polite, if not
completely understated correction.
“Please, call me Yoshi.”
Stateside colleagues consider him one of
the most un-Japanese Japanese men
they’ve ever met. One that encourages
openness and wastes no time in making
you feel comfortable, as though you’ve
been known each other for a long time.
He’s approaching 60—but you’d never
guess. Tall and thin with a runner’s frame,
he refers to himself as vintage. He’s
funny. Sneaking little one-liners into
causal conversation is common; brief
interludes from the exacting nature in
which he speaks. His English is good—
but his pacing is slow and carefully
measured, ensuring that each word helps
to make his point unmistakably clear.
As a boy, he worked with his father—a
mechanic who ran a small auto repair
shop in Kyoto. As young as 10, Yoshi
would skip out on homework to help fix
flat tires. “Those were the good old
days. It might be a lawsuit today,” he
jokes, “but the customers didn’t
complain and would even bring me
ice cream.”
It was this time in the shop where he
learned the fundamentals of business—
something he still loves to talk about
today—but also lessons on money and
relationships.
“One day, we had no money at the end
of the month because [my father] had
paid the bills, but someone else hadn’t
paid him. That night, we had no food.”
Yoshi says that his parents never
encouraged formal education, but it isn’t
difficult to see the connection between
those formative years and the heights of
his current success.
During high school, his friends were into
folk music, he recalls, so he learned how
to play on a guitar that belonged to his
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