Mizuno

Mizuno Corporation is a world leader in sports equipment manufacturing. In particular, Mizuno's baseball equipment is considered one of the foremost brands, and the manufacturer's irons are the leading clubs used on the Professional Golf Association tour. As of 1997, six of the past ten Masters winners had played with Mizuno irons. The company produces its products in-house and maintains offices and dealers across the globe, including in Japan, France, Canada, Germany, England, Taiwan, and the United States. In 1906, a devoted fan of baseball--Rihachi Mizuno--started a sporting goods store that would grow into the international corporation of the 1990s. Rihachi Mizuno, a kimono shop worker, saw his first baseball game in Kyoto when he was 18 years old. He loved the game, which dated back to 1867 in Japan, and soon opened his own baseball equipment store, offering custom uniforms as well as sports clothing. Eventually, Rihachi Mizuno expanded into manufacturing sports equipment. His baseballs became the standard of excellence for the product in Japan; Rihachi Mizuno rejected any baseballs that did not bounce to his eye level--4 feet and 5 inches--when dropped 16.5 feet. During the 1920s, Mizuno supported the Olympic games and began to expand the operations of his company. In 1927, the company started manufacturing ski equipment; by 1933, Mizuno engaged in the manufacture of golf equipment. Mizuno opened a small factory based near Osaka, Japan, in 1934 for making baseball bats, balls, and uniforms, as well as for manufacturing golf clubs and skis. The company continued to expand into other areas of sports and began manufacturing tennis equipment in 1943. The purpose of the Osaka factory changed drastically during World War II. At the request of the Japanese government, Mizuno fitted its manufacturing facility for making military ordnance building gliders instead of bats and balls. After the war, Mizuno manufactured housewares such as furniture and kitchenware. Eventually, the company returned to producing baseball equipment, in particular sailcloth for gloves and wooden bats with resin added for longevity. By the mid-1900s, Mizuno was once again at the forefront of the sporting goods industry, supporting the 1964 Olympics and the Sapporo Winter Olympics in 1972. The company became known as an innovator in its field in 1977, creating customized gloves for major league baseball players. Nubuyoshi (Yoshi) Tsubota, a master craftsmen for Mizuno, began holding glove making workshops at the spring training camps of major league teams. On the spot, he would customize gloves and other equipment for the teams' players. Owing to his efforts, the number of professional baseball players using Mizuno equipment grew, with 29 percent opting for the company's merchandise. Despite the company's many past successes, the need to revitalize Mizuno became clear during the 1980s. The company suffered from a lagging corporate image, not to mention a sluggish Japanese economy, so in 1982 Mizuno launched an American division under the direction of Jack Curran. A sports equipment veteran, Curran worked at bowling's Brunswick Corporation for 18 years and headed golf's MacGregor Corporation until 1982. At the Masters golf tournament that year, Curran asked Mizuno executives to consider starting a U.S. operation. The company had been contemplating the idea for some time and decided Curran's timing was right. He began Mizuno Corporation of America from his home, with one other employee for support. "From the Japanese side," Curran explained to Industry Week, "we had strong R&D, a strong product line, and, initially, a strong sourcing base overseas. Within a relatively short time, Mizuno had catapulted into the American sporting-goods scene with several technologically advanced products and nationally known endorsers." The following year, the U.S. division launched the Black Turbo, a golf club with a graphite head. The company also offered its first mob