Japanese Audio


I've owned a few great low powered Japanese tube amps and wonder if anyone knows why this niche of low power class A and tube amps exists in Japan. Luxman, Leben, Airtight, Yamamoto, Almarro (no longer), SPEC, Accuphase to name a few. If your goal is building a low power amplifier, where does the inspiration come from? Did these brands spring up from western influence like other areas of Japanese culture or are there many unheard of Japanese high efficiency speakers?   
bjesien
@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 
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!
The japanese love vintage american high efficiency speakers and they make the low powered tube amps just for them also they voice their electronics and cartridges for the classic american designs. When you hear a system setup such as this you will never want to hear anything else.