Matsujiro Hoshino founded the Hoshino company in 1908 initially as the Hoshino Shoten book shop. The shop which also sold sheet music gradually started to import and sell musical instruments. Yoshitaro Hoshino took over the company and in the late 1920s Hoshino began importing classical guitars made by Salvador Ibáñez é Hijos of Valencia. By 1935, Hoshino were making their their own stringed instruments in Nagoya, at first using the brand name Ibanez Salvador which was later shortened to just Ibanez.

The company was focused mainly on the Japanese domestic market, but in 1962, Junpei Hoshino, Yoshitaro's son, opened the Tama Seisakusho factory to make electric guitars and amplifiers. Tama Seisakusho Inc became Hoshino Gakki Manufacturing Company Ltd and made electric and acoustic guitars based on the popular American designs.  Hoshino Gakki stopped making guitars at the Tama Seisakusho factory in 1966 but carried on making TAMA drums - the other major Hoshino brand. From then on contracted outside OEM factories to make Ibanez instruments. From the mid 1960s Guyatone were the main OEM supplier for Ibanez but in the 1970s they were supplanted by FujiGen Gakki.

Source: Hoshino Gakki website