Boss banks on kanji to reignite its rock n' roll brand

Japanese company tries to echo its guitar accessories skills overseas

20200305 Roland WAZA-AIR

If you can read the writing on this guitar amplification headphone, you probably do not live in one of the target markets. (Psst -- it says "waza.")

AKIRA KITADO, Nikkei staff writer

TOKYO -- Electronic musical instrument maker Roland's Boss line of guitar accessories, coveted by rock 'n' rollers of past decades, is leaning on its Japanese heritage in an attempt to regain sales overseas.

That heritage takes the form of something most Americans and Europeans cannot read, kanji, prominently emblazoned on new products.

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