The Argus brand was introduced in 1980 by the Japanese distributor Kyowa. This was Kyowa's attempt to launch a high end guitar brand (they had "Super Excellent" on the peghead) and they involved Mr. Shiino of Vestax / H.S. Anderson as a consultant. Their Les Paul "Live Road" copy sold for over ¥100,000 (around $420 at the time) and their strat copy was around ¥80,000. An acoustic was also available.

Source: Argus information at musictrade.jp