I got it as a gift from Japan, and I am wondering if it's a normal natty, or maybe maple? It doesn't really look like beech wood and the box got me wondering haha.
Definitely maple. Beech natties come in the soft plastic packaging, selling for under 2,000 yen. The maples come in the new packaging intended for the Premium series and sells for the price in the photo. Also, the wood's too white to be beech.
For a while the Beech ken/Cherry tama natties came in plastic boxes; never understood why though. They were usually unmarked with no printing or sticker of any kind. In this case though I agree with the previous posts; Japanese Maple. Does it have the new hologram JKA seal?
Weren’t those the clear plastic boxes, with just one tiny sticker in front? The keyaki i bought sometime back has this. This doesn’t seem to be the new holo stickers - the one shown in the pic is JKA approved, while the new holos are JKA Recommended.
@azleonhart yeah my wife translated for me. She doesn't tend to elaborate but the first two characters differ on the new holo seal and the old recommended seals!
Nope, just a clear box, string, and instructions. All the rest of the colored Ozora came in bags which is why it was weird since at that time only "special" Ozora were boxed.
I'm pretty sure that it's an "Ozora Itayakaede"(Japanese Maple). http://www.kendama.co.jp/english/kyougi.html#kyougi07 Look on the back of the box and it should say イタヤカエデけん玉 on the sticker like this sample of Enjyu I've uplaoded. The Keyaki, Itayakaede and Enjyu are rare woods so are classified the same as Ozora premier kendama's which is why they come in the plastic box instead of the bags and also for the premier price.