Best Japanese Golf Clubs of 2024: Top Picks & Buyer’s Guide

As a golf professional, I love looking into the new equipment releases that come to market. In recent years, some of these products have begun to include Japanese golf clubs.

The best Japanese golf clubs on the market are made under very strict manufacturing guidelines, and they are built for a wide range of players.

Whether you are a golfer seeking maximum forgiveness or need to work a bit more on feel around the greens, there are Japanese clubs that will work for you.

Since many of these brands are unfamiliar to the average golfer, we have pulled some of the best Japanese golf clubs on the market. There is an option on this list that will certainly work for your game.

Our Best Japanese Golf Clubs in 2024




Srixon Z 85

Best Hybrid



PROS

  • Soft landing on greens
  • Available in a few lofts
  • The very forgiving club face 
  • It comes with a Project X shaft

CONS

  • Not as impressive when it comes to feel and workability

Srixon is by far one of the most affordable Japanese brands on the market. If you are looking for some of that premium technology without having to take a loan out on your home, the Z85 is a great choice to consider. 

This is a very simple yet high performing hybrid that is available in several different lofts. The Z85 is considered to be for mid to high handicappers, so you are going to notice that it is slightly offset and relatively easy to launch. 

The Srixon Z85 has a soft feel as it comes off the clubface but also plenty of forgiveness. If you are a player who happens to miss the center of the clubface from time to time, this club could help you get better control over your golf game. 

The Srixon Z 85 has advanced shaping that also helps you get out of the rough when necessary. Whether you use this golf club from the fairway or the rough, you will notice that it has lots of impressive and long lasting performance. 




HONMA Beres Driver

Best Premium Golf Driver



PROS

  • High performing driver
  • Lightweight feel
  • Confidence enduing club head design

CONS

  • As high priced as you can find

If you remember us mentioning that the Japanese brands tend to get very expensive, this is exactly what we mean. The 2020 Honma Beres driver is easily one of the most expensive golf drivers that the market has ever seen. 

The 2020 Beres Driver is a 460cc club head, and it was produced with very strict guidelines and attention to detail. The Honma clubs are made with a star rating system. Although the clubs may look similar all under the name of one model, they will have different star ratings. 

The two start model is like the base model. When you move up to the three stars, it is going to be a very good looking club with a bit more technology incorporated. The two start and three stars are typically made with different materials. Finally, when you move to the four star, you will see very premium materials used. 

The four start golf clubs are going to have 24k gold accents and trim around the club head. These drivers are sometimes worth almost as much as jewelry; however, they will undoubtedly stand out from the crowd when you have them in your bag. 

This 2020 Honma driver’s benefits include lightweight material, lots of fast ball speed, and a very stable hit at impact.

You will notice that the club head does not rattle much when it is hit, and it has a very classic but premium look at the setup. You will see that the Honma does not have adjustability. A lot of the Japanese golf equipment will lack adjustability

The Japanese golf club manufacturers believe they have done their work and their research, and they will set the club exactly how it is intended to be played. 




Mizuno T20 Blue Ion

Best Japanese Golf Wedge



PROS

  • Blue Ion finish
  • CNC Milled groove
  • Hydro flow micro grooves
  • Classic blade shape design

CONS

  • It takes a little bit to get used to a blue wedge

Mizuno golf irons are known for their great feel, distance, and unbelievable spin. It is important to note that when you move from the Mizuno irons to the wedges, you will need that same feel and spin.

With the T20 Blue Ion Wedge, the performance that you get will be unmatched. With Grain Flow Forged faces for a soft and solid feel, this is a wedge that will make you fall in love with your short game again. 

The T20 also has some impressive Hydro Flow Micro Grooves. These grooves allow water to exit the face of the wedge and keep the club from losing spin when hitting out of the rough.

In other words, if you are playing in rainy or wet conditions, you will still be able to spin the ball. Certainly, this is a new technology and feature in a golf wedge. 




XXIO Fairway Wood

Best for Women



PROS

  • Lightweight built for women’s golf swing speeds
  • Long-distance golf clubs 
  • High-end materials 
  • Excellent quality fairway woods

CONS

  • Still priced a bit high compared to something like Callaway or TaylorMade

The XXIO products are starting to really increase in popularity. These clubs will appeal to a wider range of players in North America because the pricing is more in line with what golfers are accustomed to.

The XXIO fairway woods are an excellent choice for the female golfer looking for Japanese golf clubs. 

The high performing fairway woods are designed specifically for female golfers, and they have lots of speed and accuracy. Women golfers tend to need a bit of help when it comes to swing speed, and the XXIO brand knows how to get it back. 

The new Cannon Sole has a weighted pad that helps players to get extra speed and distance at the point of impact.

Women golfers will not feel like they are swinging hard to see more impressive results and feel the difference of these XXIO series fairway woods. 




Mizuno M Craft

Best Japanese Putter



PROS

  • Stable putter
  • CNC milled 
  • Tour inspired design 
  • Custom weighting

CONS

  • Mallet putters are not always ideal for the straight back straight through putting stroke

As we mentioned, the wedges that Mizuno makes are starting to really turn them into a short game leader. With the release of these new M Craft putter, the world of golf needs to be ready for the Mizuno impact in the short game.

For years the Mizuno irons were known as their best product. Although they make a great iron, this putter certainly gives some impressive results as well. 

The M Craft is a forged putter made from a single piece of 1025 Mild Carbon Steel. With this putter, you will have the ultimate feel and performance on the putting green. The CNC milled face helps to make sure that the roll is perfect every time. 

One of the best golf technology advancements that we are seeing is custom weighting in putters. The putters with moveable weights allow a golfer to get the exact quality and consistency they need on every stroke.

If you are have been searching for a great looking and high performing putter, this is the best we have seen in a long time. 




XXIO Men’s X Irons

Best Men’s Irons



PROS

  • Similar feel to Miura irons
  • Lots of high launch 
  • Plenty of forgiveness
  • LIghtweight graphite shaft

CONS

  • Not the best choice for higher swing speed players

Although many of the best Japanese irons on the market are made for the lower handicap golfer, there are still options out there, for those with is mid to high handicap.

These XXIO golf irons are built with graphite shafts and, titanium faces. This club is a progressive design that allows golfers to get a ton of forgivenss and loft with every swing. 

The club head is considered to be a Hi Energy Impact Head. This allows for golfers to get a very high MOI and much more ball speed. The face of the club is also made with titanium to get an even better jump off theface. 

Lastly the irons are extremely lightweight. These clubs are high quality but they are built for those that need golf clubs to help them get more speed and better control. If you are a player that needs extra distance from the fairway, the techonolgy incorporated into this iron set is going to help you to do it. 

The only real negative with the XXIO irons are going to be the price. You will only get a few irons and it will likely be the same price as a complete set from other manufacturers.

When it comes to Japanese golf clubs and Japanese forged irons like these, you are going to need to consider the performance verse the price. Sometimes the higher performance is going to be worth paying for. 




Mizuno ST 200 Driver

Best Value Japanese Golf Driver



PROS

  • Great choice for mid to high handicap players
  • Will help straighten out golf drives
  • High quality manufacturing 

CONS

  • Not as high ball speed as something like the Honma

The Mizuno ST200 is a club that you can add to your golf back without breaking the bank. As you can see for Japanese golf club brands this can be quite difficult to do.

The ST200 is a very easy to hit and high performing golf driver. 

The most impressive benefit of this Mizuno ST 200 Driver is the straight flight technology. If you are a player that tends to slice the golf ball, the low spin from the ST200 will certainly hep you to gain a bit more control and be able to send your golf ball down the fairway straighter. 

With a 460 cc club head the ST 200 driver also has a very clean looking and large club head that produces high launch as well. Most drivers that are extra forgiving like this one, don’t offer quite as low spin.

If you want something that is made according to Japanese manufacturing stipulations for the price of mainstream golf equipment, the Mizuno ST200 driver is agreat choice. 




Buyers Guide

Now that you have a better idea of the best Japanese golf clubs on the market, let’s look a bit more into the different types of options you have and some questions that come up about Japanese made golf clubs. 

What Are The Best Japanese Golf Club Brands? 

Japanese golf clubs make up a good portion of the premium market of golf clubs currently available for sale. Each of these companies will focus on different player types and therefore the product offerings become quite extensive.

These are the top Japanese Golf club brands. 

Miura

There is a large group of low handicap players that will swear that the Miura brand has better feel than any other golf club on the market.

This can be quite a difficult thing to argue with when you try out a Miura club. Of course, when looking at these high performing Japanese Miura clubs you are going to need to throw your budget out the window. 

Mizuno

Mizuno is probably the most well known Japanese golf club manufacturer. The Mizuno golf clubs have always been known as being high performing and having a great feel.

Although most of Mizunos club offerings are for the low handicap player, the mid handicappers are starting to enjoy the forged irons put out by Mizuno. 

Epon

The Epon products put a strong emphasis on forged feel and performance. The Epon products can be a bit difficult to find at times, but if you can get your hands on one, you will be very impressed.

The fairway woods from Epon seem to remain one of the best sellers.

Honma

The Honma brand is growing, and it is happening fast. What was once a club that was hardly ever heard of is no becoming a mainstream name.

When golfers start looking at the popular golf brands and considering them against TaylorMade or Callaway, that is a sure sign that the brand will make it.

The Honma clubs are quite expensive, but some will have performance that makes the price worth it. 

Srixon

Last but certainly not least is the Srixon brand products. Not only does Srixon make some nice golf equipment they also make great golf balls.

This company continues to fly slightly under the radar yet still offers very fairly priced products for a wide range of handicaps.

XXIO

Another up and coming Japanese golf brand is XXIO. If you are a woman golfer looking for an impressive set of golf clubs this year, the XXIO brand can be a great choice to consider.

The materials used are premium, the pricing is still a bit high but nothing like what you will see with the Honma. 

Why Are Japanese Golf Clubs So Expensive 

One common trend you may have noticed among these Japanese golf clubs is the pricing. The best Japanese golf clubs on the market can sometimes cost double the price of the competitors.

If you are looking for new golf clubs this season, it makes sense to understand why these Japanese clubs cost so much. 

One major reason that Japanese golf clubs are so expensive is that they are made with high quality materials. These materials are carefully used to construct very high-quality pieces.

In Japan, people are serious about their golf, and they don’t want to play with anything but the best. The Japanese golf clubs are going to be some of the best on the market. 

Between the expensive materials and the high production costs, the Japanese clubs get a rather high price tag. Of course, with the elite status of golfers in Japan, nobody seems to mind too much. This is just part of playing the game!

Conclusion

Hopefully, these golf clubs made in Japan have opened your eyes a bit to the world of golf equipment that is available to us. Many people become stuck on the major manufacturers and forget to look for solutions for their game from other golf companies.

Japanese clubs are known for feel and high quality craftsmanship. The Mizuno products tend to be some of our overall favorites.

With the new T20 wedge and M Craft putters, you can completely transform your short game. The Mizuno clubs also tend to have more fair pricing than other clubs from Japan.

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