Just making it clear: This thread isn't necessarily all about kendamas "Made in the US/China/Canada," but about kendamas not made in *mainland* China. I think Mr. @BrettFromTibet's sentiments are as much about principle as they are about the quality of the finished product. That being said, a lot of countries next to or near China have very strong manufacturing industries as well. Check out Thailand and Vietnam; just to illustrate, Samsung have completely moved their cellphone manufacturing out of mainland China and into these countries. Maybe other kendama companies can make similar moves if they so desire.
It isn't easy. Kendamas are a tricky thing to manufacture, because of the tolerances demanded by modern players, and the complexity of the piece itself. It obviously isn't the most difficult thing to make out there, but getting it right consistently takes a good process, tooling, and operator skill. There are exceptions, but broadly speaking, a lot of woodworking shops that do spindle-work make products that have fairly high dimensional tolerances (think: stairway bannisters, furniture legs, that sort of thing). So retooling to make a kendama isn't that simple for those shops. Think about the quality of a novelty-dama you'd find in a Japanese market for $4. Thats maybe about what we're talking about, despite being a N American shop.. they just serve markets with different demands. On the other end of the spectrum, you have specialty CNC shops, but usually shops like that will do metal-work pretty exclusively. Simply put: you can charge a lot more to the sort of clients you'll get for metal-working projects, and metal is a lot easier/less messy/more consistent of a material to work with in many ways. Wood makes a mess and defects can lead to broken machinery, so a lot of shops won't touch it. So its this tricky thing, where you have to find someone that has capability to hit the tolerances, cares enough to do so consistently, and has prices reasonable enough to still have a marketable product at the end of the day. Going the DIY route to build up your own shop is a more ambitious route, the real question there is whether the market can sustain such a thing. RWB made the first serious stab at it (within N America, of course, manufacturers like Yamagata Koubou have been going for decades), but they eventually decided to move on and close down shop. Craft is the current front runner for N American dama-specific production, outside of craftsmen and businesses that are hand-turning kens old-school style (ie, hand-held chisels). @Emil Apostol ah, actually I believe the krom deluxe series was all made in Vietnam, and then some of the earlier Sol hardwood stuff... the product name of which I'm forgetting now. Sol Flow? I don't believe anyone is manufacturing there now though
^^ I guess TL;DR: it is certainly possible, people just have to want it enough (ie, vote with their dollars)
Yes, those were the Sol Flows! Anyway, that might be a nice compromise for OP. Not necessarily in China nor the US/Canada, but countries who have strong manufacturing industries. Of course in terms of sheer volume, no one can beat China. Expect an increase in product price should a company move manufacturing to another country due to a lower level of supply, as well as the costs that come with changing parts of one's supply chain.
Yea, and additionally: trying to get a shop up to speed on the particulars that kendama players care about isn't easy. Working with a shop that already knows how to make a decent dama is a LOT easier than working with a shop that has never produced a kendama before. As a business, its a MUCH larger risk that you'll get something that fails QC checks, working with a brand new shop.
If anyone has not tried Legaxis kendamas, made in Japan, I would highly recommend checking them out. I have two of them and the quality of the maple wood, the woodworking, the laser cuts, the paint is all very fine. They have the real 'wabi sabi' zen of traditional Japanese design and quality. This one, the Sanshoku is a whirlwind machine and the tracking is incredible, a split w/ a ringed "bullseye" bevel. 71g ken, 77g tama.
Su Lab just announced that they switched production to Japan. I am a huge fan of their updated Sync shape. I agree that kendama deserves to have a great deal of attention put toward manufacturing, and that charging a lot for a mass produced kendama feels to go against the spirit of kendama. I will always support those companies who put the extra effort into making a quality product.
just to add a little here as someone who is from vancouver and i get a small privilege of being able to visit the Terra Shop regularly. You dont know how many busted or tossed aside or holey kendamas alex has laying around, hours wasted turning say a very nice exotic wood dama only to have it split or crack. You have to imagine the frustration and unfortunetly that also factors into price somewhat. That being said i think youd be hard pressed to find a better handturned kendama on the market today that isnt made by Terra. If you have the know how, the tools and the skill to make a kendama it doesnt necessarily mean that kendama will actually play well. Id wager that half the battle with handturning a kendama is picking the woods that will work together and being able to put them together in a beautiful way but also making it play well. IMO anyone can learn to slap some wood together and put it on a lathe (with time of course) but learning to cut them in a way that makes them play well is another matter entirely.
No. It’s not “rude” it’s absolutely 100% normal. You would have to be insane to support China in any way shape or form at this point in time. Everyone on earth should be 100 percent stopping any and all manufacturing sourced at all from the communist toilet bowl of China, who not only literally destroyed the entire world but has committed every grievous atrocity against humanity imaginable. You think it’s ok for a 7 year old girl to have her guts removed alive and awake ? Then sold to The highest bidder ? To hell with China. I like most other people want nothing from China. What’s rude and insane is defending people Manufacturing a Japanese toy in China.
Tough luck for Made in US fans: Sweets no longer makes homegrowns. Came straight out of the owner's mouth.
[QUOTE="htimSxelA : What does Nativ's solution look like? I haven't added one to my collection yet] Screenshots from Kendama France's recent "Nativ Dad Track Edit" on Youtube.
In connection with this, here is a list of kendama companies whose kendamas are hand-turned or custom made. Occult Kendama AKA kendama Terra Kendama (if indicated) Fuji Kendama EVO Kendama Special mention goes to Lofty Craft Inc. as well, as the owner Ray Deleon has his own clear coat formula for tamas and you can ask him to clear-coat your tamas for a price.
Seems su lab kendama are also made in japan, I haven’t tried one yet but I will totally agree with this original post. I always thought it was kind of sad that we took a Japanese toy and then started mass producing them In communist China.
I kindly ask you to leave poltics out of here. If you agree with foreign politics or not is not topic of this thread
Hey, the topic of the tread is kendamas not made in China. China is a communist country, end of discussion. Su lab kendama are made in japan, and seeing as it looks like there is about 5 active users still on Downspike unfortunately, good luck talking to yourself Then, however this is probably why there are no users left on here. First day back on DS in year and won’t be coming back anytime soon. Good job sparkles.
For those who are interested, Su Lab is transitioning from Chinese made Kendamas with in-house paint, to having everything manufactured in Japan.