Most popular JDM irons

[Major Duffer]

I have read and subsequently learned so much about the JDM product since I found this site. Heck, when I first joined I knew NOTHING about the Japanese forged irons/woods. A little less than a year later and I'm actually playing them! I guess when my wife b*tches I can blame all of you for the $$ I've spent on golf equipment the past year! lol

 

While the Miura, Epon etc lines are valued so in the states, I'm wondering how these (and other) JDM brands are viewed in Asia? More specifically, what are the most played/popular irons, woods, wedges over there? Which are the ones that are viewed as "gold" in Asia?

 

If anyone has any insight that would be great. I have no specific reason for asking, I'm simply curious.

 

Thanks

[MizzyMan]

From what I understand, Miura is not that popular or highly thought of there. I think Yamaha, Tourstage, Honma, and some of the other big names are much more popular there. I think in general, the Japanese are more interested in quality and where and how their equipment is made than their American counterparts, that are more concerned with performance (hype) and price. Just my observations from some other JDM sites.

[Soloman1]

There aren't that many club builders in Japan, so Miura and Epon have very tiny market shares in Japan. I've yet to see a set of either in a player's bag after over 20 years of living in Japan.

Srixon (Dunlop), Tourstage (Bridgestone), Mizuno, Talyormade, Callaway, Titleist, Maruman, Honma, PRGR and Fourteen have the bulk of the market in irons in roughly that order.

[freehb]

haven't lived in Japan but have spent significant time there and golfed there... I think u pretty much nailed it solo, only correction I would make is putting the xxio brand ahead of srixon (parent Dunlop or SRI) they're the same company but I saw a lot more xxio than srixon branded gear over there...

[Soloman1]

Oops, you're right. I had xxio/srixon first then was rearranging the text around and the dog must have eaten it while I was on my first cup of coffee in the morning.
Of course there are other brands I didn't mention either, like OnOff (Daiwa), Yamaha, Yonex, Nike, Ping, Akira, Katana, etc., but none are close to market leaders in irons.

[chocolatte]

XXIO/Srixon is by far the most popular from what I've seen. Tourstage used to have a bigger market share, but have been in decline in recent years.

[Vegaman]

[quote name='Soloman1' timestamp='1383876693' post='8117528']
There aren't that many club builders in Japan, so Miura and Epon have very tiny market shares in Japan. I've yet to see a set of either in a player's bag after over 20 years of living in Japan.

Srixon (Dunlop), Tourstage (Bridgestone), Mizuno, Talyormade, Callaway, Titleist, Maruman, Honma, PRGR and Fourteen have the bulk of the market in irons in roughly that order.
[/quote]

This

[tsupo]

XXIO are the dominant brand here for sure now.
for GI irons they are peerless. and as most japanese golfers here are total choppers, and older guys in general. , XXIO kill it.

on the ladies clubs . XXIO by a county mile.

taylor made.....callaway....PR-GR......, titleist.... yamaha.......and , tousrtage, are all pretty simialrly positioned id think.
tourstage prob the next biggest.

miura are tiny, as is epon
u dont see many if any of them in bags on course here.
although everyone knows them as top quailty , bec of the size of thier operations, they everage golfer wont look to buy them they will go direct and get them custom mad if the ywant something specific.

[jming]

So from what I am hearing from everyone's comments, marketing $ wins over the average golfer in Japan just like in the US.

[Soloman1]

I would say that xxio and Tourstage are leaders because they are excellent quality clubs in terms of both performance and esthetics. Both brands have a broad product line that appeals to a wide spectrum of players.

The market dynamics and sensibilities are very different than the U.S. market in every product and service, as U.S. companies learn the hard way, or never learn at all.

[paul1406]

Are muira or epon considered higher quality or more custom than the major brands in Japan? or are they not well known like in the US? What is their point of view? Maybe this requires 2 answers as their is a general public in Japan, and some who focus on equipment (like the people who post on these forums).

[coops]

[quote name='paul1406' timestamp='1384236383' post='8135822']
Are muira or epon considered higher quality or more custom than the major brands in Japan? or are they not well known like in the US? What is their point of view? Maybe this requires 2 answers as their is a general public in Japan, and some who focus on equipment (like the people who post on these forums).
[/quote]

I think Epon has always intended to be and remain a niche or boutique brand - their parent company, Endo, has a great business forging and manufacturing steel and titanium items, and their Epon 'hobby' is there to produce what [b]they[/b] want to produce as opposed to working to the whims/ requirements of their customers like Tourstage, Mizuno, Srixon and others. And staying small means they don't threaten the parent business of being a major golf club designer and manufacturer for those big names...

Bettinardi in the US might be considered a little similair? His putter business is not the main, big business from what I understand.

The Epon AF301 is a good example - it was renamed , but was the same from 2004 to 2009 or so when the 302 replacement came out... still with no badges/ inserts/decals or doo-dads. They have the luxury of being in a position to not change something just for the sake of it.

Mizuno are great, but they still have to 'feed' the marketing machine - i had a set of cavity back Mizunos around 15 years ago that were very simlair design to the Epon 302, with a bulge or extra mass in the cavity behind the sweetspot... and now you can see Mizuno irons evolving back (!) to this idea again.... search for pics of the old Mizuno Comp EZ , another great set of irons from the old days.

[jming]

I have a friend who runs a golf shop in Taiwan and is an admin of a Chinese golf forum. He is familiar with Epon and Miura, but does not carry either as he's not an authorized dealer. He does know the guys that run the shops that do carry epon and miura. He carries some of the other brands - Romaro, Tourstage, XXIO, etc (can't remember them all). My buddy said that Miura recently opened an office in his building and he went over there to say hi and met one of the sons. He said that on the forums both are considered in high regard, Epon slightly more so than Miura. I try to scour their used forum for deals but found that second hand Epon has similar pricing to second hand Epon in the US. In both HK and Taiwan, it's similar to what the other guys have said on here the other brands are more popular to the general public over Epon or Miura.

When I went to HK, it was the same thought there Epon better than Miura. I've been to like 10+ golf shops in HK. There is a street in TST that has a bunch right next to each other. The biggest shop that I went to (which was in Causeway Bay) had all the bigger brands mentioned above but didn't have the smaller players like Epon or Miura or Romaro, mostly Tourstage, XXIO, Honma, PRGR, onoff, TM, Titleist, Callaway, etc. I had to specifically find the shops that carried either Epon or Miura, and they were more of the smaller boutique-y kind of shops.

One of the most popular in the Chinese speaking countries is probably Honma - which is old man bling. One of the guys in my club here in the states just got a set from his son as a bday gift. He was so excited. Said it'll be his last set ever. If you want "gold", the whole set was literally gold colored (I'm sure there's gold somewhere in the materials?).

[malelee21]

What about Ping? Are Ping clubs even available in Japan? Surprising that Srixon is that popular in Japan as I have yet to see someone play them in the states.

[jmvargas]

in my country the Honma/Maruman dealer has been around the longest(70s) followed by Mizuno....

now we have tourstage,bridgestone, and srixon well represented while epon and miura has only lately been represented by a lone store and is quite pricey..

for the other brands you can only get them from japan or thru ebay...

i don't have any figures but i'm guessing Honma and Mizuno are the 2 most popular japanese brand here..

[Soloman1]

Yes, PING are available. They have a subsidiary in Japan, but irons and woods are not as popular as I'm sure they'd like. PING still kind of equals putters in Japan.

I don't follow what clubs in the U.S. have to do with popular clubs in Japan. Japanese and Americans have different tastes in clothes, food, cars, drinks, furniture, music, television, movies, sports and almost everything you can think of. Toyota's made for the Japanese market look different than the Toyota's in America.

BTW, Honma is actually a Chinese company now.

[easylittle5wood]

Who owns Honma now? What about Maruman? I heard their ownership changed as well.

[tembolo1284]

This is a fascinating thread!

[malelee21]

I did not realize Honma is now owned by Chinese company.

[parpar41]

Unique and interesting thread.

Very cool that Golfwrx got a new member this year who has lived in Japan for the last 20 years ( but who was, presumably, born and raised in the USA).

The scope and insights of this discussion board are amazing!

Happy new year everybody.

[malelee21]

I just picked up a set of cheap Honma CL-606 +2 high powered irons on eBay.

[Soloman1]

Chinese-controlled Marlion Holdings acquired Honma Golf in 2010 after the company struggled with the financial problems of 2008.

Honma president Liu Jianguo runs the company from Shanghai. Manufacturing is still done in Japan and there is no plan to change that. Japanese manufacturing is the prime selling point of the brand, even in China. The Marlion buyout has allowed Honma to become a premier brand in the growing Chinese golf market.

The Honma shops in China are elegant, sophisticated places with wood paneling and gold trim, staffed by attractive young women. Golf clubs prices are high in China, about double the price of clubs in Japan.

Maybe I'll take some photos next trip and show you the world of golf in China. I'm busy traveling to the US PGA show in January, then back to the golf show in Tokyo in February, so it will be a few months until I go back to China. Unfortunately, I can't post anything from there because GolfWRX is blocked in China.

[malelee21]

My co-worker went to China on a business trip and picked up a set of high-end JDM iron set. Turned out that set was a counterfeit. I think he knowingly purchased them because he mentioned about an area where you can literally buy any kind of iron set (mostly counterfeit) for a fraction of cost.

[Soloman1]

There's an import tax in China of about US$400 on a set of irons (even used), so there are no real bargains there. ;-)

[tembolo1284]

[quote name='Soloman1' timestamp='1388722764' post='8388981']
There's an import tax in China of about US$400 on a set of irons (even used), so there are no real bargains there. ;-)
[/quote]

Holy crap that's insane!

[tembolo1284]

[quote name='malelee21' timestamp='1388502596' post='8373569']
I did not realize Honma is now owned by Chinese company.
[/quote]

Kinda worries me.

[signals678]

This is awesome, just the information that I wanted on the JDM market...Thanks all and Soloman

[swing981]

imo, epon overpriced...miura/fourteen/yamaha best of jdm

[tbowles411]

Epon is the Japanese Ping. They make great stuff, but they control their prices to the penny. Miura's are good, but there is better. I like Yonex but there are many to choose from.

[Bimb]

i am from malaysia. the most popular japanese brand here for irons is honma, yes its old man bling. mizuno, srixon, xxio, tourstage, onoff, and maruman are close second..miura and epon are held in very high regards but not commonly seen in golfbags as is the case all over the world - they are not very accessible like other off the rack stuff retailing at every golfstore.? i have hit a epon iron before and it was good, borrowed my friends 8 iron while we were playing. Over here, ping, titleist, taylormade and callaway are very common as well and titleist irons are the most sought after irons.

some of the jdm player irons designs are simply jaw dropping. asians are also influenced by market hype but are not so crazed about tinkering with new and different equipments like the Americans. if it works, it stays for a long time :)