The Clock is Ticking in Japan

Update:
Looks like musical instruments might be exempt.
http://www.nikkei.co.jp/news/shakai/20060314AT1G1401414032006.html
"The economic industrial ministry on the 14th, decided that the used electronic musical instrument and the photograph baking machine etc are designated as outside the object of electric supplies safe method. Including the used item, it shows safety, sale of the electric product which does not have the “PSE mark” is prohibited from April 1st. Assuming, that as for the electronic musical instrument and the photograph baking machine etc during electric leakage inspecting there is danger where the equipment breaks down, it makes outside the object, also after of the April continues and can transact in the old market."

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Title link takes you to an article on the impending date of April 1, 2006; the date when the sale of vintage synths will become illegal in Japan. Previously posted here.

"Hardest hit will be Japan’s vibrant trade in electrical instruments — a trade which has given thousands of young musicians their start in life, and without which, say furious veterans of the music industry, artistic expression will die.

The draconian law has been roundly attacked by Ryuichi Sakamoto, the Oscar-winning composer who has led a petition of 74,500 enraged musicians and tradesmen demanding that the law be toned down and the critical trade in old recording equipment, amplifiers and synthesisers continue.

Hideki Matsutake, another composer and chairman of the Japan Synthesizer Programmers Association said: “Most musicians start with very little money. The second-hand instrument is absolutely vital. This law will destroy the ambitions of young people and young musicians.”

A retailer will be allowed to pay to have items officially stamped with the PSE seal (like the British Kitemark). But the test can cost anywhere from £30 for a simple item such as a kettle to £300. Dealers will face up to a year in prison and a fine of about £500,000 if caught selling an un-tested vintage Les Paul guitar or a Space Invaders machine that has not passed its PSE. The Government’s abject failure to publicise the law has fuelled the public’s anger. Although it was passed in 2001 very few retailers of second-hand goods, let alone shoppers, knew until last week what it entailed."