In our current era, a lot of baseball sporting goods manufacturing takes place outside of the United States. This is especially true of baseball gloves. By many accounts, the only glove company still manufacturing gloves in the USA is Nokona. Most manufacturers have taken their manufacturing to China. And within China, a fantastic ball glove can definitely be made.
However, over the years there have been whispers of the quality of baseball gloves that have the potential to be created in Japan. The quality of handcrafted goods that are produced in Japan are legendary. And when a glove is built in Japan under certain constraints, the finished product can be considered to be of the best quality in the world. Furthermore, gloves that are crafted under this set of guidelines are the ones that can earn the distinction of being “Japanese gloves”.
There is quite a bit of ambiguity when determining what truly can be called a “Japanese Glove”. For you to best understand, we think it will be valuable to explain the drive of Japanese craftsmen and women PLUS the demand coming from Japanese customers. Then we'll provide you with an answer for what qualifies as a Japanese Glove.
Overall, we hope to pull back the curtain on some of the mystery surrounding Japanese Gloves and provide you with the most information possible on the subject.
Let’s dive in!
Japanese Commitment To Craftsmanship
In Japan, work is viewed differently than it is in most cultures. For example, a prevailing thought in the United States is to just “get the job done”. Oftentimes on the States side, we believe that it doesn’t matter what happens between the start and finish so long as the end product is correct.
The culture of Japanese arts and crafts especially sits in contrast to the mantra of “just get it done”. The website Japan.Travel.com writes tribute to the attention to detail exhibited by Japanese craftsmen and women, mentioning that their processes often involve “hours to days and even months of labor”. For these artisans, the driving force isn’t completing the job, it is the “quest for perfection”.
The site goes even further to say that these individuals crafting with resources from the earth find a deep sense of “spirituality” as they realize humanity’s relationship with the natural world around it.
These craftsmen and women don’t treat the manner in which they earn a living as a “job”, but more like a “calling”. If they have been tasked with creating something, it is not going to be made hurriedly so that it can be completed. It is going to be put together with care so that its future owner may possibly refer to it as “perfect”.
The Demand Of Japanese Customers
The artists of Japan, certainly hold themselves to a higher standard. And they are pushed by their fellow compatriots. Consider the demands of Japan’s greatest baseball star, Ichiro Suzuki.
During his career, the expectations that Ichiro put on the technicians at Japanese ball glove maker, Mizuno, were otherworldly. When Suzuki talked about what he expected from the Glove Master at Mizuno, it was almost like he was speaking poetry. In 2008, The Seattle Times quoted Ichiro saying the following:
"The Master can only listen with his ears to my demands about my glove…So it’s this uncanny ability to so precisely craft an object from an image that exists only in my mind that makes him a true virtuoso.”
For the first part of his career, Ichiro enjoyed receiving his gloves from Mizuno’s Master, Nobuyoshi Tsubota. But in 2008, Tsubota retired from being Mizuno’s Master of Gloves. Fortunately, a succession plan had been in the works for multiple years. The new man taking over the title of “Master” at Mizuno was Kosaku Kishimoto.
But Kishimoto’s relationship with Japan’s most famous player did not start as he might have hoped. In 2006, Mizuno had Kishimoto craft gloves for Ichiro in preparation for Kosaku's eventual appointment as the Glove Master. Kosaku delivered a handful of gloves for Ichiro to inspect. The Seattle Times’ quotes from Kishimoto describe the scene:
“Ichiro decides in a matter of seconds after slipping his hand into a glove whether it has potential or not,” Kubota says with a chuckle. “He tried on the first glove, and within five seconds he said, ‘I can’t use this one.’ He picked up the next glove, slipped it on, and five seconds later said, ‘This one either.’ He tried on another and five seconds later declared, ‘No good.’ “
This scene is also told extremely well in this video produced by What Pros Wear…
You’ll be glad to know that Kishimoto did eventually deliver gloves that met Ichiro’s incredibly high standards.
Ichiro’s demands for his glove may present an extreme case. However, the quality he expected somewhat reflects what common Japanese ballplayers desire for their own gloves. When a youth player in Japan goes to purchase a glove, that glove won't become a piece of equipment that is lost in their garage in a few years. It will more likely be treated like an heirloom that's carried with them for the rest of their lives.
The Definition Of A Japanese Glove
If you’ve read this far, then you understand the quest of perfection that drives Japanese craftsmen and the demand of Japanese ball players when it comes to the equipment they use.
But you’re probably left wondering: What’s the secret formula that Japanese glove makers have concocted to meet the demands of their native market?
Lucky for you, we received the answer on the Beyond The Glove Podcast in 2024!
Matt Walden joined us for a couple of episodes and he is the owner/operator/founder of Walden Glove. The Walden Glove site specializes in creating the best break-in tools for gloves. And most of the tools on the site are inspired by what Matt has learned from Japanese ball glove culture.
Matt lived in Japan for close to a decade and while he lived there, he took note of the incredible detail employed by adult rec-level baseball players when it came to caring for their gloves. After moving back to the United States and getting into baseball coaching, Matt had the idea of starting a company that specialized in glove care. He has even taken return trips to Japan in order to fully understand their culture surrounding baseball gloves! Matt is one of the foremost experts in the US when it comes to understanding Japanese gloves.
Matt defined a Japanese glove as one that meets the following criteria:
- Made in the country of Japan
- Custom ordered (or made within a small batch)
- Assembled by one individual at the Japanese factory (this person selects the leather, cuts the leather into the pieces needed for the glove and oversees the rest of the glove-building process)
- Externals and internals of the glove are built from American Steerhide (or European Kip) that is tanned in Japan
It was cool to hear Matt’s answer and then compare it to what is accepted as a “crafted good” in Japan by the website, Obakki:
- It must be practical and durable enough for regular use in the home.
- It must be crafted by hand.
- It must be crafted using traditional techniques and methods. No machines, no chemicals.
- It must be crafted using natural materials.
- It must be crafted in one geographic location in Japan.
With the exception of the household use requirement, pretty much everything Matt mentioned in his answer to what defines a Japanese glove is in Obakki’s answer for what qualifies as a crafted good in Japan!
What Japanese Gloves are available in the United States?
If you are looking to grab a glove in the Unite States that can truly be labeled with the moniker "Japanese Glove", the selection is not vast.
Some customers will actually go through the trouble of ordering a Japanese Glove directly from a Japanese site. Doing this can obviously present some difficulties (payment processing, delivery times, etc...). However, there are some options available for purchase in the US that are easier to obtain.
The first option would come from Wilson. At intermittent times throughout the year, they will release their Wilson Staff Model gloves to the United States market. However, true to being Japanese Gloves, these Wilson Staffs are only made in small batches and inventory won't hang around for long. The landing page for Wilson Staff Model gloves remains on their site year-round, but the gloves are not always available for purchase.
The Japanese Gloves that appear to be the most consistently found in the United States at this time are from the company, Jax. Jax has been able to bring gloves to the US that meet the Japanese Glove requirements laid out by Matt Walden. These gloves are especially cool because when you put them on, they have a feel that is different than what most US players are accustomed to experiencing. However, it's a feeling that makes you want to use the glove even more. Check out our selection Jax below:
And if you're looking for even more variety, you could also consider the new brand of Japanese Gloves that has been launched recently by Matt Walden: Slaps Gloves. These are neat as they come with a certification tag that confirms their authenticity of being crafted in Japan.
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We hope that this blog post has brought clarity in defining a Japanese Glove. If you still have questions surrounding this topic, please send an email to our team of Glove Experts at experts@justgloves.com.
But if you've come this far and just need help making a purchase of your next glove, please call the Experts at 1-866-321-4568 or LIVE CHAT with them right now! They're trained in product info and would be more than happy to assist you!
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