I have been trying to find out more about this guitar and the person or company that made it. The best story I've found so far is the following text, found in a search on Yahoo for "T Haruo Luthier:"

Posted by Charles (from: ) on June 26, 2002 at 00:22:59:

In Reply to: Re: T. Haruo acoustic guitars posted by Peter on June 16, 2002 at 23:46:16:

I have a T. Haruo acoustic which I purchased in a small guitar shop in Tucson, AZ about 1983, but I can't recall the name of the store. I do, however, still have the warranty card that came with the guitar; the listed USA distributer was Pennino Music Co. in Westminster, CA. I tried looking it up on the web, but there is no listing for the company. I wish i could find out more info about the brand, also. I enjoy the quality of my guitar, which is a very close copy of the Martin D-45.

\: Here is the rumor I have heard. Granted, this may be apocryphal, but it’s the only thing I have heard that sounds remotely plausible. I have found T. Haruo ads from guitar magazines in the 70’s and I heard about these guitars when I was a kid. The ad indicates that there were a number of guitar stores – a lot of them on the West Coast (McCabe’s was on there as I remember) listed as carrying them and they were marketed as a quality guitar at a reasonable price. I now have a Model 80 12-string and a model 100 6-string. I have seen a model 50 (at least I think I am remembering that right – it was not all that great sounding a guitar, poorer quality than either the 80 or the 100 which are quite good). There was also a model 150 which is pretty much a dead knock-off of a Martin D-45. Those are about the only facts I know for sure. What I have heard is that the fellow who made the T. Haruo guitars was a master luthier at Yamaha and left because he wanted to make higher end guitars. He did so with the T. Haruo line, but went bankrupt in the process. If anyone knows more or can either debunk or confirm any of the above, let me know. pberge@mm.com

: : i have a beautiful acoustic guitar that i bought about 15 years ago in california.
: : it is made by a japanese guitar co. called T. Haruo but i have been unable to find any info on the maker.
: : its a wonderful d-45 style acoustic with great inlay work.
: : any info anyone has on it would be great.
: : thanks

More from other newsgroup posts that Yahoo found for me:

>I bought my Haruo 6 string model 60 built in 1976 second hand in Reno's music shop in Manchester, England in 1985. It sings beautifully and the only problem I have is that I can't upgrade it because I can't afford the massive amount of money it would cost me to buy one better! I bumped into someone in Scotland this year with almost the same model, but built (I think) in 1980. He had bought his in New York. It seems incredible that someone can make such beautiful instruments and yet no one knows anything about them. Shouldn't they be a saint or something?>
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>good luck. i have same exact axe. nobody on earth knows anything about them.
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>>>In 1976 I received a T. Haruo 12-string as a gift from a family member(Model 80-12 with mother of pearl bindings and a vine up the fretboard). It sounds and feels great and a number of people I've shown it to agree that it's very well-built and has a great tone. Unfortunately, I've been unable to learn much about the maker, history, reputation, etc. of the guitar. I've been told that the builder used to work for Yamaha and was one of their finest builders. If anyone can help shed light on this mystery I would really appreciate it. Thanks!

All Pictures and Text (c) Copyright 2003 by Stephen Cyr Last updated January 30, 2003

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