Why the World Buys Japanese Golf Clubs

Why would a golfer in Dallas or Dublin look to Japan for a set of irons? The reasons are a mixture of craft, fit, scarcity and story, and some of them are better supported than others. This closing chapter of The Atlas of Japanese Golf sets out the case, as plainly as the evidence allows, and ends with a checklist.

Feel

The most common reason given is feel. Reviewers describe Mizuno and Miura irons as having a buttery, dense, firm and responsive character, and the practice of forging, with its careful control of the steel, is the usual explanation. It is fair to add that feel is a judgement and not a measurement: even Mizuno’s own Grain Flow Forging was assessed by one reviewer as more a matter of feel than of performance. Many buyers consider that a sufficient reason.

Fit

Several Japanese makers say plainly that they design for the moderate swing: XXIO describes its range as made for players of moderate swing speed, and PRGR’s Red line is aimed at older golfers. Weight Plus and Head Speed Theory are both designs that start from swing speed. Our buying guide notes that a Japanese R flex is often lighter and softer than an R from the same maker abroad, which may simply fit a golfer with a moderate swing better. The buying guide explains how to match flex to head speed.

Craft and finish

Honma’s star grades price tighter tolerances, newer technology and precious metals; Majesty’s flagship driver was finished by hand; Epon takes a week to grind and file a single iron head. Where a Western brand sells a performance claim, a Japanese brand often sells the work.

Scarcity by design

• Mizuno Pro is sold in Japan only, through fitting locations, and is never discounted.
• Epon’s partner network was expected to stay below 135 worldwide in 2018.
• Onoff’s Labospec series is not restocked once sold.
• Miura-Giken clubs were made for the home market alone.
• PRGR’s Egg designs are non-conforming and sold for a premium in Japan.

Scarcity of this kind is built into the way the clubs are sold, which is why a complete, original example matters more than it does in a mass-produced range.

Story

A club has a history if its maker does. Mizuno dates itself to 1906, Honma to a 1950s Yokohama workshop, Miura to a boy who started as a golf club craftsman at sixteen and died in 2025 as the founder of a family company. Yonex began with floats for nets, Bridgestone with work sandals, Endo with screwdrivers. The unusual origins make better stories than most golf equipment can offer, and they are, for the most part, true.

Status

A 2017 profile put Honma’s sales in Asia at $250 million in the previous year, and a driver of the Beres line was reported to have been a prime-ministerial gift to a US president. Golf Monthly wrote in 2009 that Japanese golf is treated as a lifestyle instead of a game, and that some Japanese buyers will pay upwards of ten thousand pounds for a set of irons. The writer called the world’s following of Japanese equipment a cult. Cults, however, include both devotion and exaggeration, and this atlas has tried to say which is which.

Matching club to player

A buyer’s checklist

• The stamp. Check where the head says it was made. Honma’s Sakata stamp, for example, is not on every Tour World head, and part of that line is forged and assembled in China.
• The grade. Stars on every shaft of a Honma set should match and agree with the description.
• The specification. Ask for loft, lie, length, swing weight and flex as built. Japanese flexes run lighter and softer than their labels may suggest.
• The shaft. Original or replaced? A rebuilt club is not a fault, but it should be said. See the shaft chapter.
• The rules. If you will play competitions, ask whether the model conforms. See JDM Golf Clubs and the Rule Book.
• The condition. Faces, grooves, soles, hosels and ferrules. Our condition ranks are explained in full.
• The set. Count the clubs. Matching headcovers, original grips and the bag add to a complete set.
• The assurance. Premium Japanese clubs are counterfeited. Each piece we offer is examined in Japan and carries our authenticity guarantee.
• The delivery. Clubs travel boxed, insured and tracked; duties vary by destination, and Import Duties on Luxury Goods from Japan explains how.

The sets themselves are in Japanese Golf. For a luxury accessory from the same world, see the PING 1-A 50th Anniversary gold putter, number 0183 of 1,000 or the Louis Vuitton vintage Monogram golf caddy bag.

In the archive now

• Honma Beres IS-06 2-Star irons, ten clubs · Honma Beres IE-05 3-Star irons, new · Majesty Prestigio 14 iron set, unused

Continue reading

• The Atlas of Japanese Golf: Makers, Methods and Why the World Collects Them
• Why Japan Became Golf's Great Workshop
• Mizuno and the Chuo Forge: Feel as Engineering
• Miura Golf: A Himeji Family Forge
• Epon and Endo: The Forging House Behind Other Names
• Honma Golf: Stars, Gold and the Sakata Workshop
• XXIO, PRGR and Yonex: Clubs Built for Ease and Speed
• Directory of Japanese Golf Brands
• Buying Golf Equipment from Japan
• All collector guides

After a particular set, grade or specification? Our Hunting Salon™ searches across Japan's private collector circles on your behalf.

Index terms: why buy japanese golf clubs · japanese golf clubs worth it · best japanese golf brands · japanese golf clubs for slow swing speed · japanese golf club collectors · buying japanese golf clubs checklist · honma vs miura vs mizuno · japanese golf cult following

References

Dates and figures in this chapter were checked against these pages. Where accounts differ, the text says so.

• Golf Monthly, Japanese golf brands (26 November 2009)
• MyGolfSpy, Know Your Japanese Brands: Honma (6 June 2017)
• MyGolfSpy, Know Your Japanese Brands: Mizuno (16 August 2018)
• MyGolfSpy, Know Your Japanese Brands: Epon (2018)