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Product Description
The Oozora official JKA kendama made by Yamagata Koubou uses the wood of a kind of birch for the ken and sarado, and cherry wood for the ball. These are fine hardwoods, but they are not the most expensive of hardwoods.
As lovers of fine woods the people at Yamagata Koubou felt compelled to create their Premium Hardwoods Collection, a series of deluxe versions of its competition kendamas using more exotic and expensive hardwoods. This version is made from "keyaki," or the wood of the Japanese zelkova tree, a elm tree with the biological classification zelkowa serrata. The wood used has been aged for 15 to 20 years by Yamagata Koubou itself, which means that the wood has a low moisture content and is less susceptible to warping or distortion than "greener" woods.
Keyaki is the the hardest of the hardwoods used by Yamagata Koubou in its kendamas, and because of that this kendama makes a very satisfying clackety-clack sound when catching the ball. Keyaki is frequently used in expensive Japanese handcrafted trays, vases and other handcrafted products. It has a slightly cedar-like smell to it, the only wood used in kendamas that has a distinct aroma.
The harder wood results in less noticeable ball denting and spike smashing, so these retain their appearance better than Oozoras do. In addition the spike seems to slide in easier to the ball hole than on Oozoras.
These are offered in unpainted versions only, in order to show off the wood and its grain.
These kendamas are made by Yamagata Koubou on the same production line as the Oozoras, to the same dimensions, using the same tooling and jigs. They differ from Oozoras only in the wood used.
These kendamas are not official JKA competition kendamas. This is because the JKA enforces a price range for kendamas that carry its official seal in order to keep them affordable and fairly available to competitors of all budgets and ages. But the Yamagata Koubou Premium Hardwoods Collection has been approved by the JKA to carry its "Recommended Product" seal, which is affixed to the base of the ken.
Note: The Premium Hardwoods kendamas do not include a spare string and bead. Spares can be ordered separately.
As lovers of fine woods the people at Yamagata Koubou felt compelled to create their Premium Hardwoods Collection, a series of deluxe versions of its competition kendamas using more exotic and expensive hardwoods. This version is made from "keyaki," or the wood of the Japanese zelkova tree, a elm tree with the biological classification zelkowa serrata. The wood used has been aged for 15 to 20 years by Yamagata Koubou itself, which means that the wood has a low moisture content and is less susceptible to warping or distortion than "greener" woods.
Keyaki is the the hardest of the hardwoods used by Yamagata Koubou in its kendamas, and because of that this kendama makes a very satisfying clackety-clack sound when catching the ball. Keyaki is frequently used in expensive Japanese handcrafted trays, vases and other handcrafted products. It has a slightly cedar-like smell to it, the only wood used in kendamas that has a distinct aroma.
The harder wood results in less noticeable ball denting and spike smashing, so these retain their appearance better than Oozoras do. In addition the spike seems to slide in easier to the ball hole than on Oozoras.
These are offered in unpainted versions only, in order to show off the wood and its grain.
These kendamas are made by Yamagata Koubou on the same production line as the Oozoras, to the same dimensions, using the same tooling and jigs. They differ from Oozoras only in the wood used.
These kendamas are not official JKA competition kendamas. This is because the JKA enforces a price range for kendamas that carry its official seal in order to keep them affordable and fairly available to competitors of all budgets and ages. But the Yamagata Koubou Premium Hardwoods Collection has been approved by the JKA to carry its "Recommended Product" seal, which is affixed to the base of the ken.
Note: The Premium Hardwoods kendamas do not include a spare string and bead. Spares can be ordered separately.
Additional Information
| Manufacturer | Yamagata Kobo |
| Ball Color | Unpainted |
| JKA Certification | Uncertified JKA clone |
| JKA Seal Color | N.A. |
| Country of Origin | Japan |
| SKU | keyaki17 |
