I would wager a guess that YK is under contract to only produce kendamas under the JKA, so it wouldn't matter if it were GLOKEN, or any other business trying to contract them for work. I don't know this for sure, but I would be surprised if there wasn't an agreement like that set up.
The heavier one. The more I look at it though it appears it might just be a batch variation. The Mutant was much thicker near the ring stall location. Ah, I follow now. You're referring to contractual obligations not any possible underlying difficulties between the two groups. I'm not sure how that would work exactly since in the past a number of JKA makers/brands have created non-JKA related kendama. IIRC Tamiwa, Gentosha, and Hakushinsya all had/have non-JKA kendama in their catalogs at some point. A number of makers have also created JKA connected collaborations and marketed them successfully. One that comes to mind is the ASOBEAMS by Yamagata Koubou with the "special recommended/approved" (tokubetsu suishō) seal. Another was the Kawasaki TK16 with the "certified" (nintei) seal. Who knows there might be a way for a JKA/Gloken tie up in the future. That would be pretty interesting I think.
Hmm, some JKA manufacturers have produced non-JKA Damas, but I think they’ve always been fairly different in shape. The JKA holds Japanese patents around the exact shape and size of a JKA spec Dama, hence the reason I assume a JKA manufacturer cannot produce and sell a ‘legit’ dama (as opposed to a weird shape / novelty sort of dama). But with the takeover of larger-cup mid size Damas, maybe the shape someone would want to produce is far enough away from JKA-spec that it wouldn’t legally matter.. but it’s also not like the manufacturer needs to break the law to have their production licence pulled. But anyways, things change, so who knows what the future will hold. Re: the Kawasaki TK16s: from what I’ve heard from a Japanese friend in the know, Kawasaki painted those TK16s themselves (if you’ve seen one, the inside of the hole is all green too, they weren’t masked off first, so you can sorta tell it’s an aftermarket job). Apparently the JKA was upset because the paint job was not up to their standards, and they forbade Kawasaki from producing any more! So I don’t think those count in the same category as the ASOBEAMS.
At different times I remember some fairly similar non-JKA kendama being available from the various makers. However I don't have photos handy so here's a more recent sample from Ikeda; not that dissimilar I think. I'm not certain the JKA holds active patents on an entire kendama shape/size but it's worth investigating. IIRC they did receive a fairly recent patent on a specific feature but that's about the extent of my knowledge on it. As for the Kawasaki, good to know. I was trying to figure out how they got the nintei seal with all the promotional markings. Usually the JKA is pretty strict about that going so far as to the size and location a player can write their names. As for the JKA paint standards, I believe part is that they must withstand 10,000 strikes. I think there's a video out there with the test machine YK uses. Alternatively then, here's a Honda promotion. (Again, not sure how they pulled this one off to be able to get the nintei seal.)
Good info! The phots you included are closer to JKA spec, but one of them includes a 'tribute hole', which I believe falls outside of the currently held patent, and the striped-ken one of the right looks slightly undersized / novelty-ish. But definitely closer to spec overall. Hadn't seen the Honda one before, thats neat. It does look like more of an 'official' collab I just did a bit of digging, and found some of the Japanese patents. I can't seem to find a perma-link that I can share here, so for anyone interested: This link will take you to the Japan Patent Office's search page. Click the 'yes' under 'Patent Registration Document Search', and then enter ' けん玉 ' under 'keyword retrieval', in the top field (it should be searching the abstract, though if you do full body search you may get more results). You then click search, and then there is a 'view list of results' button to click after that.
@htimSxelA Thanks for the link. I didn't see anything specifically done by the JKA but there appears to be some by upper level board members (past or present). Some of the translations are . . . interesting. "Tribute" hole: I'm not certain how patents work but I wonder if making one change to an otherwise compliant patented item makes it no longer covered. I vaguely remember a case study or something like that back in school talking about how patents in Japan also covered color. e.g. patent the car in red but another company makes the same care in blue and it's patentable. The class was a long while back so my memories of it are a bit fuzzy. Edit: One more collab with Ozora.
Hey, i remember this one! Wasn't it where we first met in 2016? The JKA Festa event. Was part of the entrance package. I personally find this one weird. I mean, i get that it is a one-off for the event, but its green and smoke siblings eventually received the full certification. This, however.. hmmm I guess JKA wanted to showcase the new special rec stickers? As @goenKendama says, these are stickers for super special cases - event only stuff, or super rare woods that may never be made again, special collabs with non-JKA companies, and the lot. My speculation is that the Ozoras soon to be unveiled at KWC will sport this sticker.
Here's part of an earlier updated post: It's likely that they just wanted to show that this version of translucent kendama was different (event release only) than the black/green/red translucents that were eventually released with nintei seals. The photos I've seen of the "Reshape" Ozora have suishō not tokubetsu suishō seals. That of course might change by the release but since that's how the Taisei are tagged, and these too appear to be regular stocking items, it seems to be a likely outcome.
Some background info on patents for anyone interested: In Canada/US there are two types of patents: utility, and design. I have some experience with the Can/US patent system, so I mention them specifically, but afaik international commerce & law has largely standardized systems of patent, so I would suspect that Japan's system functions similarly, at least at a high level. Utility patents cover the *utility* or an invention, which more or less amounts to function of it, rather than the exact design. In contrast, a design function covers the exact design of an item, basically a more exact size, shape, ornamentation, artwork, etc. So I think you example of car colours would be a concern of a 'design patent', rather than utility (or whatever similar high-level concepts exist in their system to denote design vs utility). In other words, the utility of an automobile isn't patented, but the exact design is (and apparently in Japan that can include the colour!). Anyways, afaik the relevant Japanese kendama patents are quite specific, so I would assume they are more towards the design side of things, than the utility side. Years ago, I had some conversations with Kubota and Ishibashi from GLOKEN, and they mentioned that the Musou was designed in part to avoid infringing on patents used by the JKA (specifically, they made the ken slightly larger, and the sarado string hole was a slit, rather than a hole). Given that Iwatta has worked on patenting the Musou tip, I would wager that this info comes from a Japanese patent attorney, so it is probably accurate. Probably also worth mentioning, in the years since then, there have been many kendamas for sale in Japan that are not novelty, and not JKA-approved. So it seems like the patent-holders have not taken a hard stance to defend their IP, but obviously anyone with a commercial interest should consult with a IP lawyer if they're concerned about the specifics of all this!
hey bro I don't know much about dama yet, but I've been over here and fluent for 14years, with a good 10 years before that surrounded by the Japanese community back in Belgium, including martial art and consular circles, so I believe I have a good grasp on how modern Japanese minds work. The most probable cause for all the "wtf moments" happening Japan or with Japan-related things, is that the people in charge at the top are almost always old dudes from the last era. And when I say the last era, I don't mean the one we gaijins all like, back when Japan used to be emotionally cool, classy and graceful, but rather the post-WW2 era that produced a ton of weirdly broken Japanese males. Many of these guys found their way to the top of companies, governmental agencies and cultural organisations, and are kind of lost in the twilight zone that resulted from the decades following the war. They think they're "traditional" Japanese, but really they grew up in a repressed environment with parents who had lost many things, including pride in their pre-war culture. It took a long time for Japan to start watering the plants again, (a little bit like it took a very long time for hawaii natives to start teaching the local language to kids again), and right now, many important heads of corporations and whatnot are just people from that generation, who got old and have trouble keeping up with the modern pace of Change. Also many (MANY) of those people in charge should've retired at least a dozen years ago, but when you've spent your entire life working your ass off, never planning out for after retirement, they just find no haven at home, the wife is doing her own thing, the kids are grown up, and so they just choose to keep working, very often at less than half their original salary. So the top of the country is populated by people who should have retired a long time ago, but they just won't. There's gonna be a major change in how the country and big companies are run in the next 10-15 years, as aging forces them to just stay home and pass the baton. In such an environment, I imagine the JKA top is very possibly similar. To top it all, western players and brands have been revitalizing the kendama world, and that's both a blessing and curse I think. They're gonna have to "deal with it" and slowly but surely broaden their horizon and allow for more brands and less tight regulations. just my 2 cents. Maybe way off, but almost everything else over here is following this path, so....
Fresh one for the collection! Thanks to Junya Sato for this, keeping my red JKA collection alive! Going to have to post the full lineup pic sometime soon... Red Kodama White holo seal
That has to be the slickest paint in the biz. Out of the bag I'd lay money that it's slipperier than a fresh TK16 and doesn't seem to be as bombproof. I've only played the one example of it so it may vary.
Definitely super-slick, going to be a good one to hone lighthouses in on. Can't comment on the durability yet, but TK16 paint is a seriously high bar to live up to. Almost indestructible under normal play!
It is in fact good for lighthouse practice. I've been using one to practice for JKA Dan tests and it may replace my TK16/Meijin Takumi as my "5000 grit finishing stone" when I'm trying to hone a trick. As for the legendary/mythical reputation of a TK16's paint. . .
A lot of that sticker commotion I think is just random. I don't think they really have a big meetings about .. hmm should we use the rec sticker or the regulation sticker.. Those stickers are very valuable tho!