Japanese Audio

Moving away from cultural topics, in the early days NHK (Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai) like RCA sourced tubes from Telefunken, RCA, Western Electric. Meanwhile Shuguang supplied tubes for Broadcasting Corporation of China. The supply chain fed departments of national defense and communication which later ended-up in audio, just like in the US, hence the manufacturing leveraged the supply.

@lukaske,

Many good Japanese lower power tube brands, in addition to the Wavac, there's Zanden and Reimyo to add to the initial list.  Very high quality. 
Charles 

Play what you LIKE!!!!

Having an all Shindo rig I can speak to the Japanese desire towards striving towards perfection. Watch Jiro dreams of sushi if you’re unfamiliar with the concept. 
As far as small space constraints go I’m not so sure. My 604’s are HUGE space eating monsters.

Hello bjesien.  I hope you have noticed that no one has pointed out that Japanese music is played with plucked string and flute like instruments. It is not loud and has lots of "character" in the sound of the instruments. Reproducing such music requires amps that can accurately reproduce such sounds. Such amps need very low distortion and very high transparency, not a lot of power. Traditional Japanese homes have thin walls and polite occupants who do not want to annoy their neighbors. Hence the concentration on the needs of the customers on the part of the Japanese manufacturers. Accuracy - delicacy come first. One must be able to hear the samisen vs the koto, and who is playing. Enjoy!