Yamaha Corporation – Factory Tour
Yamaha corporation is one of the world’s leading musical instrument manufacturers. Founded in 1887 in Hamamatsu City, Yamaha started its journey as a piano and reed organ manufacturer through its founder Mr Torakusu Yamaha. Yamaha also manufactures high-quality audio and video equipment, semiconductors and other electronic components. The company is the largest shareholder of Yamaha Motor which started as an affiliated company but later became independent.

Corporate Information
- Company: Yamaha Corporation
- Foundation: 1887
- Location: Shizuoka Prefecture
- Main Business: Manufacturing of musical instruments, audio equipment and industrial machinery/components

Yamaha Corporation – Lean Characteristics
Quality Management, 5S, Visual Management
Yamaha Corporation is synonymous around the world for manufacturing quality musical instruments. The company has established a system to efficiently manufacture and supply products globally. Today, the company has its production and sales bases over 30 countries and regions around the world. Yamaha operates three factories in Japan for the production of musical instruments – all within Shizuoka Prefecture.
Yamaha is guided by the corporate philosophy of “Sharing Passion & Performance” and the company aspires to fulfil this mission by consistently providing high quality products and services that exceed their customers’ expectations.
The company controls the quality of its products based on its quality management system. The Quality Committee made up of quality control managers from different divisions including business and sales divisions deliberates on the corporate-wide quality policies, objectives and measures and deploys them to all business divisions as the directions of the president. Each division then sets its own quality objectives in line with the quality policies and objectives set by the president. The Corporation Quality Assurance Division checks the monthly quality reports submitted by each division and conducts quality audits to ensure every effort is made so that the target set by each division is fulfilled.
The company also has a good 5S implementation and visual management practices in place.

The Shinka Lean Management Tour was a great experience, with group members from across the globe. A combination of classroom, hands-on and site visit learning provided good insight into lean principles. The tour was very well organised, ran smoothly and was a pleasure to be a part of.
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Enriched by an exceptional experience in Japan with Shinka Management, I delved into the nuances of Japanese culture and etiquette while immersing myself in the heart of the Toyota Production System. From theoretical and practical courses to visits to Toyota’s final assembly site and their suppliers, each step shaped my understanding. The impeccable organization, meticulous…
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The Lean Japan Tour with Shinka Management was an inspiring and transformative experience. Seeing lean practices in action and learning from Japanese companies was truly eye-opening. This journey has motivated me to embrace lean principles in my own work. Big thanks to Shinka Management for such an enriching program — I highly recommend it!
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I wanted to take a moment to sincerely thank you for organizing such a fantastic tour. From the seamless logistics to the thoughtfully curated, authentic Japanese experience, everything was meticulously planned, making for an unforgettable trip. Your team’s professionalism, and passion for what you do really shone through, and it truly enhanced the entire experience. I appreciate…
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Learning 5S and TPS while experiencing and living the Japanese culture through communication, direct interaction and viewing various live examples from different perspectives, created a solid reference for us to understand the main reason behind the success of these systems. This is a complete lifestyle that involves human contribution, a continuous thrive for improvement, and…
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A great tour. Having spent over 20 years in manufacturing I now understand the true meaning of Kaizen.
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The Shinka Management Lean Japan Tour is a professional development program run several times annually. The program includes a mix of lean and kaizen seminars, hands-on lean training and visits to several benchmark lean companies. For further information and program dates, see the lean tour overview page.
Tour Inquiries
Interested in joining us in Japan? For additional information prior to registration please fill in the form provided or contact us.
The above form is for inquiries related to the Lean Japan Tour program, Shinka Management consulting and training services, and lean manufacturing software products. Shinka Management does not represent Yamaha. For Yamaha-related product and service inquiries, please contact Yamaha directly.
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