Kasuga was one of the oldest Japanese guitar makers - established in 1935 in Nagoya by Kazuyuki Kasuga. By the 1960s the Kasuga factory was making acoustic and electric guitars as well as mandolins and banjos. Kasuga exported instruments under the Kasuga brand name in the 1960s and 1970s but usually the instruments they made were badged as other brands - like K Country for acoustic guitars. Kasuga made their own RK Herby and Heerby brand guitars and also OEM instruments for other companies. By the 1980s Kasuga was completely an OEM brand manufacturer making instruments for ESP, Burny, Headway, Saga and Yamaha. The movement of OEM guitar production to Taiwan in the 1990s led to a sharp downturn in business but Kasuga carried on for a while producing violins and bouzoukis. In 1996 production finally stopped at Kasuga's Nagoya factory.

Source: translation of Kasuga history

Source: Kasuga catalogs 1970s-1980s

Source: RK Herby catalogs