Kendama.net
Kendama.net
Kendama.net is the online kendama store of Nevada-based Kendama, Inc., a kendama importer and distributor. Kendama.net stocks all models of current production Japan Kendama Association certified competition kendamas as well as several models of so-called clone kendamas, kendamas mostly identical to JKA kendamas but without the seal.
Kendama.net also sells various novelty kendamas and kendama accessories.
Kendama.net has also sold out-of production kendamas, such as Mugens, Shin Sakuras, Mamekens and Digikens, but stock for these varies, and prices are high when they show up. In Spring 2009 Kendama.net negotiated to acquire all the remaining kendama-related stock of Hiroshima-based Iwata Mokko, the maker of the discontinued Mugen kendama, including accessory items such as T-shirts and leather kendama holsters.
Kendama.net has produced videos showing the Yamagata Koubou kendama factory and the staff of Yamagata Koubou demonstrating kendama maintenance procedures.
The competitive kendama, also called the "official kendama," is a concept that dates back to the founding of the JKA. Before that kendamas were considered toys, and each maker produced different designs. An inventor associated with the JKA came up with a design that the JKA approved as its official design for competitions. Although most of the the core design elements are now in the public domain, the JKA still licenses its approved design to kendama makers, who are then permitted to affix a JKA seal the to base of the kendama handle. At present only two companies produce JKA official kendamas.
Two companies that produced JKA licensed kendamas recently stopped production. Art Yoshii was the manufacturer of the late, lamented Shin Sakura and its predecessor the Sakura, but the company went belly-up. The people behind Art Yoshii later resurfaced in the form of H Alpha, cutting costs by moving production offshore. Iwata Mokko produced the 