Mizuno

Rihachi Mizuno, a kimono shop worker from Osaka Japan, saw his first baseball game in Kyoto when he was 18 years old. He loved the game and in 1906 with his younger brother Rizo opened his own baseball equipment store selling western products. In 1913 the firm began to manufacture its own products in a quest to improve quality and performance.In 1933, Mizuno engaged in the manufacture of mizuno golf equipment – its first products named Starline. 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. Mizuno’s international reputation for producing the finest quality sports equipment was established in the 1970s’ when it started to export its golf clubs to Europe.