About Shimamura Music Company

Shimamura Music was founded in 1962,starting with launching music school business.With up to 179 locations in Japan,Shimamura Music has become the largest general musical instruments retailer of Japan,and also the 4th largest general musical instruments retailer in the world. Each store includes a music school and rehearsal studio rooms and sponsors events for enriching the community’s appreciation of music. We believe customer care is vital for developing effective strategies and do not offer discounts.Our stores are readily accessible in major shopping centers so that our main customers, from beginners to intermediate level players, can fulfill their dreams.

Our Strength

Having been founded for more than 50 years since 1962,Shimamura Music has become the largest general musical instruments retailer in Japan and also the 4th largest musical instruments retailer in the world.There are up to 179 stores with rehearsal studio rooms and music school located in 39 prefectures in Japan.So you can get musical goods you want at Shimamura Music store almost everywhere in Japan.

As the most important management principle of our company----”Create the people who love music as many as we can by providing the enjoyment of music”,has been rooted in everywhere of our company.We have been working hard on providing the best musical experience to our customers all the time.

In Shimamura Music stores,there are not only the famous Japanese brand products such as Yamaha,Roland,Takamine,Muramatsu,SANKYO,KAWAI,Casio,TOMBO,and more,but also many famous brands of well-known musical instrument manufactures around the world,such as Selmer,Buffer Crampon,AZUMI,Altus,Martin,Taylor,Gibson,Fender,etc.In addition,We provide amount kinds of products popular among international customers which are ”Made In Japan”featuring high quality,including not only the products from other companies like Yamaha,Roland,Takamine,Muramatsu,but many of products made in Japan from Shimamura Music’s original brand,such as History,CoolZ,Ka’ala and more.

About Tax-Free Shopping at Shimamura Music Store

What kinds of products are TaxFree? Who can shop TaxFree? How to shop TaxFree? Is there anything I should caution when shopping TaxFree?

What kinds of products are TaxFree?

There are two kinds of TaxFree item(s) in Shimamura Music TaxFree shop,which are general instrument and consumables.
Please confirm the following instructions and limitation of these two kinds of TaxFree item(s).

General Instrument	Total spending of over 5,000yen(before-tax).For example,guitar,saxphone,keyboard,etc... You can not combine spending with consumables.The staff will take a copy of your passport for spending of over 1million yen.
Consumables	The spending of over 5,000yen but no greater than 500,000(before-tax).For example,pick,polish,reed etc... You can not combine spending with general instrument.The shop will pack consumables so that it can not be consumed in Japan.

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Who can shop TaxFree?

"Non-resident" is eligiable for TaxFree shopping in Shimamura Music TaxFreestore.

According to Japanese Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act,"Non-resident" means that persons not having their domicile or residence in Japan and judicial persons not having their principal office in Japan.

The following customer is eligiable for TaxFree shopping.

Customer with foreign nationality

The customer who has a permission to stay within 6 months in Japan. For example:Short-term stay visa,Landing permission for crew members,etc.

Customer with Japanese nationality

The customer who is staying in foreign country for the purpose of working at the office based abroard. The customer who has been staying in foreign country for more than 2 years for the purpose of staying. Besides 1 and 2,the customer who has been staying in foreign country for over 2 years since left Japan. The customer who corresponts to 1 to 3 and return to Japan temporarily for staying for less than 6 months.

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How to shop TaxFree?

When you shop TaxFree in Shimamura Music TaxFree store,the following TaxFree procedure will be required.

Required documents

1. Passport(The TaxFree shopping without submitting the passport will be denied.)
2. In the case of a passport without being attached with a sheet of permission to stay in Japan or landing permission,a document on which prints the status of resident will be required.
   • For example,the Landing Permission for Crew Members,Multiple Landing Permission for Crew Members,etc..
3. If you have a coupon for international customer which is published by the shopping center you visit,please also show that with your passport.

TaxFree shopping procedure

Before you make a payment in our TaxFree shop,please confirm that if you are eligible for TaxFree shopping from the staff.If you are,the following TaxFree procedure will be processed.

If the item(s) you want to buy is in stock	Check.(Before-Tax Price) Fill in the purchase proof document and sign. Affix the purchase proof document to your passport and return it to you. Pack the item(s) and give it to you.
If the item(s) you want to buy is out of stock and you wish to back-order that	Check.(Before-Tax Price) Pay the postage and provide the necessary information.The good(s) will be shipped as soon as arrive. The customer will receive the item(s) you bought.

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Is there anything I should caution when shopping TaxFree?

Before purchasing item(s) at our store,the following caution is required.Please read carefully.

Before Buying

1. “TAX FREE SHOP” means that the store at which the 10% consumption tax will be exempted for international customers.This is different from the “DUTY FREE”, which is the import tax you should pay when you import the foreign products into Japan.
2. Please confirm that whether the item(s) you purchased at our store or your carrying package can be brought into the airplane or other means of Transportation or not by yourself.
3. We do not provide the information about custom duty and import requirements of foreign countries.In addition,there are probably prohibited and restricted imports in some countries, we do not have these information.
4. We do not precisely have the information about the country of origin or the material of our goods.
5. We do not ship our goods abroad.But the shippment for the back-order goods is acceptable.
   In that case,the customer will pay for the freight cost and custom duty.
6. TaxFree procedures will be processed at the shop where you purchase the goods and cannot be processed together with goods purchased in other shops.
7. TaxFree procedures will be on the day you purchase the goods.TaxFree procedure of goods purchased on a different day is not possible.
8. The warranty of the item(s) that you bought in Japan is valid only in Japan.When item(s) need warrant repair, you should send that to makers in Japan, via us.Shipping cost and necessary repairing cost of item will be your burden.

When departing from Japan

1. Be careful not to open the package.You may have to pay tax at the time of departure.
   You must take the fax-free goods out of Jpan within 30 days of purchase.
2. Please do not remove or misplace the purchase proof document.It will be collected by Customs at the time of departure.
3. You may be subject to pay consumption tax if you do not carry the item(s) you purchased at the time of departure.

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Contact Us

If you have any questions ,please feel free to contact us via E-Mail before visiting our store.According to your E-Mail,we also can smoothly prepare the instrument you want to play or to buy for you in advance.