Vintage synths to be banned in Japan?

I'll be in Tokyo for a month or so this summer. Does anyone know when this law comes into effect? Hopefully not before I get a chance to "liberate" a few synths!
 

Oh Precious LORD!! The Day We Prayed for is UPON US!!
 

This law is supposed to take effect on 1st of April. I'm little sad about this stupid law which is only for bureaucrats and not for Japanese citizens. BTW, I hope you will find what you want for a reasonable price.
 

hey! i'd love to throw down some cash to help the Analog Synth Liberation Front. (ASLF)
 

'Banned to be sold' doesn't seem to mean the same thing as 'outlawed.'

Wondering if maybe it's just a misinterpretation- it seems more likely that you'd be able to keep those pre-2000 electronics you already own ('grandfather clause') but are not able to trade them within the country nor bring them in.

In which case the opposite would be true- vintage gear wouldn't be leaving the country, it would stay there.
 

Hmmm. Where have I seen this before? A recreational product used by many people is made illegal to sell, possibly with heavy criminal penalties. So the price should go down, right? Let me check...bud, scag, acid, x,...no, they're still more expensive when they're illegal than when they're legal.

Remember, when you buy illegal synths, you're supporting terrorism.
 

... sounds like an opportunity for some industrious person to provide a conversion/testing service. If I understand correctly, compliance can be achieved if the plug, linecord, and transformer (or complete power supply, or wall-wart) were confirmed to meet the new spec, or were replaced with compliant parts.
 

read the original article please! it went into effect 2001 and is not specifically targetting synths. go to fiveg's web site (or better yet go there in person! they're great guys there and always helpful + there's lots to play around with in the shop) and you'll see lots for sale still and no reduction in prices. i lived in tokyo for 8 years up until 2 years ago, and trust me, there's no "great" deals on old synths there (except the yamaha cs70 i bought for 1000 yen at a recycle shop....) since the law went into effect.
 

it's all abunch of bullshit imposed by the super-corperations of japan to try to boost their economy. they basically own people over there.
 

The electronics industry has been migrating away from lead-based electronics for a while now. Environmental policies don't want the equipment in their land-fills (which is good). I'm sure it won't be Japan alone in the years to come. Customs may deny items at the border for their toxicity. I can see a funny future where countries lacking strong environmental laws will suddenly start making hit vintage electronica.

More seriously, there are a lot of big issues with the lead-free solder and component manufacture side of things. A good friend of mine is in charge of migrating his companies products to these new processes, and he's found that many of these new components have new and unpredictable failure characteristics over time. Also, that components don't tend to 'stick' as well to the PCB's, so jarring a device could cause a component to 'pop off' -- and he thinks this might get worse over time as the materials being tested now are just that -- being tested. Unlike well known behaviors of lead-based components, these new components (many still with traces of lead as they are migrating towards compliance) will certainly have more variation (failure?) until people figure out how to build them reliably for the long haul. An interesting problem.

hehe
 

>> This law is supposed to take effect on 1st of April <<

Hmm... What day is that?
 

I don't know if you have noticed, but the EU has imposed a similar statute, which goes into effect in MARCH of this year - effectively banning the sale of electronics with lead-content solder.

It has meant the redesign of many existing electronic music devices, or, in some cases, the discontinuing of sales of a device to Europe....

Many of the new Japanese devices are SMT, so they already pass the lead content statute.
 

i've lived in japan for 7 years, and haven't seen any decline in the sales or prices of vintage synths.

but who's to say what might happen after april fool's day?

i've been (probably unreliably) informed that thsi law WON'T affect yahoo auction sales (japan's answer to ebay, but don't get too excited, no one on yahoo auctions will ship outside japan), so i am happy and poking my tongue out at you all!!!

btw, i think 5g are a ripoff. what are they doing putting such high prices on synths, that the same 8 ppg wave 2.3's have been there gathering rust and dust for the last 7 years. i mean COME ON!!! these beasties should be in a home or studio where they are truly loved. i won't buy any second hand gear from 5g, they are evil! and their modular patch cables are shit too.
 

Even if commercial sales of vintage equipment would be banned, I suspect most vintage gear changes hands outside of commercial enterprises (e.g. ads on advertising sites or classifieds in the music mags). So I shouldn't imagine the law having a major impact in practice.
 

when are we going to have a new BLOG post!!!

WTF!
 

I wonder if anyone could give me a -reliable- source that can give me a solidly based explanation of the link between the DENAN law and vintage synths being banned and disposed in Japan. I'll give you time till April 1.
 

What difference will this law make to any of us? You still arent going to get shit from Japan, other than YMO and Schoolgirls panties.
 

FOLLOW THE MONEY!
This law will have nothing to do with public safty from lead poisoning...PLEASE!
If you can't buy pre DRM hardware you will have no choice but to assimilate,
Buy new technology that the industry can drive (in their best interest not yours)
Trivial? NOT! Make no mistake the end is neigh
 

Beginning to suspect that's it's an April Fool's joke.

Anybody else?
 

There's been a lot of confusion on the internet about this law. Here's what's up with it.

For electronics to be sold in Japan, they have to have a sticker on them saying that they've been inspected for safety. This isn't weird, it's fairly standard worldwide. The 2001 law changed the logo on this sticker, so all electronics manufactured since then have the new logo. Older electronics have the old one.

Now, you have two different logos in the marketplace for the same thing. This can lead to consumer confusion. To prevent consumer confusion, starting April 1st, it is no longer permitted to sell electronics with the OLD logo within Japan. Only the new logo is allowed.

I believe that, for a fee, you could have your item re-inspected, and get the new sticker, thus making it sellable in Japan again.

Possession of old electronics is not illegal, but selling them with the old sticker is. Don't expect it to be too harshly enforced though.

Of course, these things are still available for export, no matter what, so look for them on auction sites like yahoo auctions (of course, the Japanese sites version).
 

actually,
don't expect any cheap gear anytime soon:

http://technology.guardian.co.uk/weekly/story/0,,1742110,00.html