Japan · since 1923
Muramatsu serial numbers
Japan's handmade flute pioneer — records from 1995.
Muramatsu built Japan's first serious handmade flutes and today equips professionals worldwide. The maker keeps production records from April 1995 and answers date requests directly; no public table exists, and the archive says so.
The numbering
- muramatsu-lookup-1995-plus
Flute
Muramatsu answers serial enquiries from its own records, which begin in April 1995; the firm asks for photos (full flute, serial, a tone hole) and gives both the year and an appraisal.
Muramatsu keeps production records from April 1995 and answers date requests directly. Muramatsu America — contact →
Muramatsu publishes no serial table: the official FAQ (muramatsu-america.com/faq) explains that the firm keeps records from April 1995 and answers enquiries by e-mail if photos of the flute, the serial and a tone hole are sent. Muramatsu also comments on the instrument's value in that reply. For anything made before April 1995 the records do not reach, so date the flute by the model, the headjoint and the key mechanism.
Questions
Can this archive date Muramatsu instruments from the serial number?
Not from the number — no public serial chart exists for this maker, though the maker itself answers date requests (linked below), and the archive does not guess dates.
Where is the serial number on a Muramatsu instrument?
For Flutes the common location is on the barrel (head joint) and again on the body — the barrel number rules.
What if my Muramatsu serial number is not found?
Recheck the characters exactly as marked, including any letters. Letter prefixes often belong to student or stencil lines. Some periods may not be covered yet — every refusal here says why.