Just "Officially" announced a couple of hours ago. Looks like it is sporting the "suishō" (recommended) seal which can be used for JKA testing up through Jun-shodan. See more info about the various JKA seals in this post. UPDATE Height - 181.5mm Ken - 160.50mm Small Cup ID - 40mm Big Cup ID - 43mm Base Cup ID - 38mm Sarado width - 73.9mm Tama Diameter - 60.50mm Tama hole top - 22.35mm Tama hole bottom - 12.88mm Tama hole top to bottom - 10.74mm Ken weight - 69g Tama weight - 79g Full Beechwood construction (tama and ken) because they wanted an overall heavier kendama (mfg comment) Paint is stickier and more durable than even the Ozora Premium (mfg claim) and will be available in two paint types sticky gloss and matte (different than current Ozora matte). They currently have 5 different paints used on production kendama. The one I picked up at WOF looks like this. (Yamagata Koubou pic) UPDATE: Reshape 2 has been released.
These look really interesting and I'm digging the fade colorways too. Would love to see a comparison with Pop or Prime cups.
Where and/or when will these be available? Also I think the base cup may be too big. It looks disproportional, like a catchy street. I'll have to see more pics and try one to be sure. I think OG style kens are going to go extinct soon. It seems like every week an OG company goes NG. Nothing wrong with that though, I'm glad for the progression of kendama. But I do hope they continue making classic ozoras as well as these. Edit: Actually looking at the rest of their pics it doesn't look too big. As long as it's smaller than the small cup I guess I'm good.
Since it's still wearing a JKA "suishō" (recommended) seal it's still likely Premium paint. I can ask them to be sure though. They told us that they'd be available around the end of the month give or take. I imagine KUSA will carry them in the US. It's unlikely that the OG JKA shape will go "extinct" any time soon since "nintei" (certified) kendama are still required for JKA level tests and competitions. That's not to say that the shape will never change but I don't see it as too likely in the near future. They've been doing their thing since 1975 and KWC and big cups have only been around for a few years so there is a bit of history behind their methods, kendama shape included. I should be able to check the measurements when I get back to Tokyo. I've actually got a Catch Street I could compare it too when the REShapes become available.
I don't know how to feel about this. On one hand, I still enjoy playing my pink Ozora a lot whenever I need a break from sticky paint and bigger cups, but I somewhat like the feel of new-gen shapes like the Kaizen 2.0 and the prime. I might need to try one and see if I like the OG Ozora shape better or not.
My only problem with this is that the basecup seems like it would feel weird in your hand, if looks disproportioned for some reason. I'd love to try one out if I get the chance to cause Ozoras are a classic
It looks hella matte to me though! From the lighting and all. On another note, can't wait to try this out! Also, if the JKA okays this completely, will this be officially called the 16-2.5 shape (as opposed to 16-2?)
Unlikely since it's not a nintei kendama, no changes should be needed to the model/description number. The Taisei is also not a nintei kendama so again it had no effect on the naming of the "official" series kendama. Down the road who knows.
Most definitely. 2 Years is probably realistic honestly. I just don't want to see cups get any bigger than they are already. Like the shift and the squab (along with the kaizen 3.0, it has really large cups) are now pushing the limits imo. If we get much bigger that might just be excessive.
Kaizen 3.0? I haven’t been able to find anything on it... ————- Oh and it appears to be grip paint (see screenshot from the next latest Instagram post by ozora)
Practicing for competition \=\ paling for fun, I came up with a concept for practicing for competition by issuing a Dama that forces you to be more honed in order to be more consistent, (F3’s, JKA, kusa classics), then about 2 weeks prior to the comp, switch into a fresh Kendama that has nice weight and your preferred paint, I haven’t been able to try it since the only major comp in my area is MKO and I came up with this idea after this past year (2017). If anyone ever tries this Hmu in the DM’s I’d be curious to see how this effects a persons play.