Yeah, everybody in Asia knows buying flute in Japan is really cheaper! But for some famous handmade brands like Muramatsu, you need to order, they take 2-3 months to make.
My cousin and many of my friends went to Japan for travel, and they ordered GX and EX, and then 3-5 months later they went back there again to collect the flute, much cheaper there in Japan! and better quality too according to them (they suspect they made better quality for local market, but they are not too sure)
One of my friends bought a demo EX from Muramatsu show room in Kyoto very very cheap.
They said there is a 5% tax return at the airport too, if you go into the music shop and ask for tax return form, and then you can collect the money at airport. This is a wide-spreaded rumour here, we are not 100% sure, becoz all of my friends didn't bother to do that, and my cousin forgot to ask the shop.
I'm going to Japan with our youth orchestra this summer and I'll look for some good flute too myself. But I heard the Japanese Yen is very very high now
But even if the Yen is crazy high, then the export price will still be higher, so it is still cheaper in Japan right? lol.
<Added>You can also check out Miyazawa, Sankyo, Altus (higher end, I think lower end flutes were made in Taiwan?), and of course Yamaha.
One of my teachers bought a high end Yamaha in Japan when he travelled to Japan last time, he said it's really cheap, and with many stocks and combinations.
<Added>Japanese flutes are known for their good mechanism, lightness, and sweet tone.
