Mizuno Golf Clubs
Corporate Philosophy: "Contributing to society through the advancement of sporting goods and the promotion of sports."
The Mizuno Company was founded by Rihachi Mizuno in 1906 as a family run sporting goods store. The Mizuno store specialised in the supply of baseball and golf equipment imported from the USA.
Rihachi Mizuno became frustrated with the quality of imported products and sought local Japanese factories who could manufacture to higher specifications. The domestic made products were labelled under the family name, giving birth to the Mizuno brand.
In 1935 Mizuno opened its first sales headquarters in Osaka. 'Yodoyabashi' was the tallest building in its area and became a symbol of Mizuno's progressive nature. When Mizuno moved to its current office in 1992, Yodoyabashi was converted into Mizuno's flagship store at the heart of the city that grew around it.
The company's unique family management allowed a focus on research, design and development, creating highly sophisticated technical products. The performance of Mizuno's equipment came to the attention of America and Europe's leading sportsmen as they sought every means to set new sporting boundaries. Mizuno's popularity amongst these sporting icons initiated the export of Mizuno products and the start of Mizuno's global business. Mizuno's current international status is reflected with staff in offices at Tokyo, Paris, Munich, Atlanta, Shanghai, Hong Kong and London.
Mizuno's now has a permanent place in sporting history. Carl Lewis, Ivan Lendl, Severiano Ballesteros, Nick Faldo, Rivaldo, and the New Zealand All Blacks all reached the pinnacle of their sports with Mizuno equipment. Mizuno is a keen supporter of the Olympic movement since its involvement in the 1964 Tokyo games. In 1972 Mizuno was an official supplier at Sapporo and again for the winter games in Nagano. The company run the Official workshop to the PGA European Tour in golf and host The Mizuno Open, a golf tournament in Japan that qualifies its winner directly to The Open.
Mizuno has emerged unscathed from its first 100 years, still family managed with its core beliefs unchanged. Persistence with precision manufacturing and an preference for performance over fashion.
