The game of golf is a global sport is enjoyed in all areas. Sports brands from every level are involved in designing the most playable and competitive equipment for golfers around the golf.
Renowned and specialized brands
While there are brands that are fully specialized in golf like Callaway and Ping, there are also names that are already established brands in the sporting industry. This includes players like Nike, Spalding and Wilson that besides golf are hugely successful brands in their own markets.
Why golfers prefer Japanese brands?
Characteristics of Japanese clubs are what drive golfers (mostly the pros) to use these clubs. It has a solid but soft feel when the golfer hits the right spot which is what any golfer seeks out to do. The pricing of Japanese golf brands is slightly higher which means that the clubs are more expensive as compared to the other mainstream brands like TaylorMade and Callaway. But when you pay a premium, you will enjoy quality. While Japanese clubs are more expensive, they are a lot more durable. Some of the shafts are known to last for more than 40 years. This is mostly attributed to the traditional manufacturing process often associated with the forging techniques used in making Samurai swords. It is no wonder now as to why Tiger Woods once used a Japanese golf brand but had to cover it due to his obligations to Nike.
Golf by Japanese manufacturers
Even if there are so many brands in the golf sport, it is not a sport that is dominated by those names as Japanese golf brands are highly successful as well. In many of these cases, golf is the Japanese brands are renowned for their own unique purposes, some for certain clubs while others have their own line of apparel as well. Below are some of the top Japanese golf brands.
Ryoma Golf
Ryoma Golf is one of the newer Japanese golf brands introduced in recent years. The name came from a low-ranking Samurai Ryoma Sakamoto where the company was established in 2000. What is so significant about this historical figure is his drive to change Japan into a unified nation. To date, Ryoma Golf is known for making some of the longest drivers in the country where among its most popular club is the Ryoma D-1 Driver.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhH2QedtmTk
XXI0 Golf
This Japanese brand has a truly unique name. XXIO is part of the golf and tennis equipment brand Dunlop Sports Co Ltd which is a company under the Sumitomo Rubber Industries or SRI. XXIO is actually one of the more recent Japanese golf brands that have been creating headlines all around the world. The brand was started in 2000 intended to create clubs that give more forgiveness and distance. In Japan, XXIO has been the top-selling golf brand there, a position it enjoys until the present day.
Mizuno Golf Japan
Mizuno is a brand founded by the Mizuno brothers and is more than a hundred years old. The brand started out in the sporting apparel market when it was established in 1906 before venturing into golf in 1993 and has no looked back since. Mizuno Golf is actually one of the most successful Japanese brands in this sport. The brand is associated with sponsorship of golfers such as Luke Donald, Chris Kirk, and Keith Mitchell, to name a few.
To date, Mizuno’s irons are among their most successful products while the brand is also known for being affordable and value-for-money. One highlight about Mizuno is:
Former World No.1 Tiger Woods, prior to turning pro is known to have association with this brand
Mizuno’s clubs are designed for players at every level where it has all types of clubs including putters, drivers, woods as well as a full range of golf balls, footwear and apparel too. In a recent survey, it was found that 5 out of 7 finishers at the Dunhill Links Championships had Mizuno irons in their bags. Another survey found that 36% of respondents would use a Mizuno if they were not sponsored by another golf brand.
Miura Golf Japan
Miura Golf was founded in 1957 by Katsuhiro Miura when he started forging irons. What makes Miura so significant is its birthplace which is Himeji. That is the place where the famed samurai sword was traditionally made. Later on, Miura’s 2 sons joined him where together they designed some of the best clubs in the world but this information was to be kept confidential due to contractual reasons.
The unique feature of Miura clubs is in quality. It has been said that Miura had the most perfect and impeccable club-heads in the market. The founder has been referred by the Japanese media to have the ‘hands of God’ which is what each of the clubs is made from. The design and manufacturing quality of Miura clubs are simple excellent because Miura clubs are for those who know what real quality is. The brand does not use marketing messaging to sell their clubs. Instead, only those who seek a performance-driven club will use a Miura. In fact, some of the best golfers used Miura clubs but are not allowed to show their association with the brand as they are sponsored by other brands.
Vega Japan
Like Miura, Vega is another Japanese brand with an association with Samurai sword making. But that is as far as the similarities are. Vega clubs have a rustic and classic outlook with a modern touch to it. It was the brainchild of a former Samurai sword maker about a hundred years ago when the first golf course in Japan was built in Kobe, driving about the manufacturing of golfing equipment. Being the first to make forged cavity-backed irons, Vega has since flourished into offering a full range of golf clubs and equipment. In 2012, the company change management and Miura have since been actively involved in equipment for performance improvement.
Honma Golf
In 1958, a driving range was opened by the Honma brothers who decided to start making their own clubs and apparel some 5 years after that. The Japanese brand has been making headlines across the golfing community despite being taken over by a China-based company recently. As such, it is very focused in the Asian market, most notably China where it is associated with golfers such as Bo-Mee Lee, Ha-Neul Kim, Katsunari Takahashi, Tze-Ming Chen and Keng-Chi Lin. To date, Honma markets a full range of golf clubs that include apparel and accessories too.
Bridgestone Golf
Bridgestone Golf is a subsidiary of parent company Bridgestone, famed for producing some of the best vehicle wheels in the world. The company was actually established in 1931 by Japanese Shojiro Ishibashi. In 1935, the company had ventured into producing golf balls and that was very much what it was doing for about 40 years before expanding its range into the golf club product lines. Today, Bridgestone Golf is involved in a complete range of golf equipment. It is still one of the major names for golf balls and clubs as well as other related accessories.
Maruman Golf
One of the premium golf equipment brands to come from Japan is Maruman. This brand was established in 1971 where it has been used by some of the top players in golf. In fact, Maruman golf clubs have been famed to go more than 100 PGA Tour wins to date and this number continues to rise. Among its most popular range are the Majesty driver and fairway woods. The Majesty series includes clubs that have been enhanced through Maruman’s own engineering technology dating back to more than 35 years now which include its Nano-Technology Titanium Face and Fullerene Composite Shaft, the first brand to introduce this.
Yamaha Golf
While the Yamaha brand is renowned for its musical instruments, the Japanese brand’s golf business is among its flagships too. The brainchild of former Yamaha president Mr Genichi Kawakami, the golf business under Yamaha started many years ago. This was aligned with the idea of people enjoying ‘rich pastimes’ through music and sports. Besides golf, Yamaha produces equipment used in archery, skiing and tennis rackets influenced by Yamaha’s metal processing technology refined by its musical instrument business. Yamaha golf would later become the first brand to introduce carbon composite clubheads.
Other Japanese Golf Brands
Jbeam Golf is famed for its drivers which has been their signature product dating back to more than 30 years ago.
Srixon is a popular Japanese golf brand with penetration into American market
PRGR The brand responsible for the head speed standard in the power of the golf swing, this brand is known for its exclusive clubheads that has been around for more than 3 decades now.
A-Grind is a Japanese club brand with a broad range of clubs for both left and right-handed golfers.
Kyoei was founded by Tamaki Sakamoto with the range of clubs made from forging technologies inspired through his forestry roots.
Crazy is a popular Japanese golf brand that makes some of the most popular shafts known for durability and reliability.
Yururi Golf is a Japanese golf brand whose golf heads are known to come from a forging house where the popular Mr Miura learned this technique.
Epon golf clubs has been known for its top-notch design and high quality manufactured clubs since 1977.
Baldo is a luxurious Japanese golf brand that produces very sleek looking and dark-coloured club heads like the Competizione range.
Modart Golf is a Japanese brand known for its meticulous design that includes their MA01H hybrid, one of their most popular clubs to date.
Eon Sports’ from Japan is known for its forged irons made from the best quality to deliver the best gameplay for golfers.
SEVEN Golf produces golf clubs that are fully made in Japan using their proprietary and unique 360CNC Milling and Pure Tempered Technology platforms.
Benock is a golf name from Japan with a strong reputation of making some of the most precise putters in this game.
Basileus shafts is possibly one of the major mainstays in the game among the pros and golfers who use their broad range of products like fairway wood shafts and others.
Mitsubishi is a Japanese golf brand that specializes in manufacturing world-standard shafts like their Diamana, Kuro Kago and Fubuki series, to name a few.
Fujikura Golf has been a Japanese golf brand synonymous with graphite shafts for more than 30 years now where it has been involved a lot in the OEM market as well.
The Iomic brand is known and very famed for its foray into the golf grips segment through its breakthrough technology used in producing product lines in the wood and iron clubs as well as in putters.
Elite is a name very established for making the best grips for golfers at all levels.
Zroz (Grip)
Perfect (Grip)
Tour (Grip)
Ref Sites
https://www.fairwaygolfusa.com/japan/xxio-golf-clubs.html
https://www.tourspecgolf.com/brand/ryoma_golf
