What started out as an experiment nearly three years ago ended up being an ongoing project experimenting with woods and finishes. Like many players I did not like the uneven grunge that built up over time on my kendama so when I got a pair of Sol Kendama natties I decided to see what I […]

For many of us once we get past the basics of learning kendama we never look back.  When teaching others it can be hard to reconnect with the feelings of curiosity, determination, frustration, and “oh wow I got it” common to being a player starting out. I recently had the opportunity to become a beginner […]

This story has been repeated in various forms pretty much since we started getting more interest in kendama at go-en The Japanese Ramen Shoppe.  As we grow the story grows so we thought it would be good to put down the words for those unable to meet us and hear about how it all began, […]

We’ve been meaning to do this for a while but time always seems to sneak away. While not comprehensive it should give a good idea of how various kendama look all in one place. Most of these we carry at the shop but several we do not.  We include them here for reference.  Unless otherwise […]

We have created a performance team, KenetyK, and a skills group, TripStyk.  Both crews will have responsibilities that overlap and we’ll tell you a bit more about each below. KenetyK will be our main performance crew.  We will call on them to get up on stage, as we did at the recent Animax Carnival, and […]

Sometimes we all need a little help so after exhaustive materials research and countless hours field testing we introduce to the kendama community . . . Kendama Bumpers™.   These training aids will help if you’re having trouble with tricks like Bird, Nightingale, Over the Valley, Cliff Top, Slip Grip Special, etc. You’ve been going at […]

We have received a number of messages and calls about the payment and shipping options on our site so we thought we would try to clear things up a bit. In an effort to keep things simple we’ve chosen to use direct bank deposit through PNB and delivery by LBC as the preferred methods on […]

Here we will cover the Kyu Level Waza (basic level tricks). The Japan Kendama Association (JKA) structures their tricks similar to karate levels with Kyu levels similar to the colored belts and Dan levels equivalent to black belt levels. The first and most basic trick level is 10 kyu: Ōzara/big cup. The hardest of the […]

You’ve probably seen videos of guys doing these amazing tricks or maybe your buddies were where you first saw kendama in action. Well none of them started doing tricks like that right away. They needed some basic instruction (from a friend, video, etc.) before they started on the long road to kendama superstar. Here we […]

Well you have a new kendama, now what?  If you’ve already gone through our article, How to pick your first kendama, then you are ready for the next stage.  Here are some tips for kendama preparation prior to playing. If you start playing with your new kendama you will notice that the tip of the […]