Shimada Golf KK is one of only two companies in Japan which manufactures steel shafts. Its rival, Nippon, is a subsidiary of a large company, while Shimada is a dedicated family business, passionate about golf and the pursuit of the perfect golf shaft.
In 1951 Shimada Products KK was established as a shaft factory, also producing parts for skis. The company grew and the present factory "Mizuno" was built in 1967. It is located in its original founding place of Osaka and was opened by Mr Hayashi, now executive of Mizuno. Mr Hayashi noticed the new factory of Shimada and he aimed to adopt made-in Japan shafts for Mizuno Irons. But Shimada did not want to ship their shafts as far as Osaka due to the poor logistic transportation system at that time. Mr Hayashi decided to ride his small motorbike for over 700km from Osaka to the Shimada factory carrying a courtesy souvenir bottle of sake. However, he was dissapointed on arrival, he unfortunately arrived at the wrong side of the river and could see the factory accross the river! He couldn't wait to go around and find the nearest bridge and decided to take of his shoes and cross the river! Shimada was so impressed with his passion that he gave him handful's of Shimada Shafts (amazingly 100pcs for each hand), so that he could successfully carry them back to Osaka on his motorbike. Mr Hayashi was rewarded with his dedicated efforts and promoted to an officer. Sadly Mr Hayashi is no longer with Mizuno.
Shimada could barely keep up with the demand for golf shafts. Despite being a successful business, Shimada is also committed to the welfare of its employees and their families. The company's philosophy is not to "get rich quick" but to look at the long term, be consistent, and yet strive to continually improve. Shimada now only makes Steel shafts and with good reason.Since then, Shimada preferentially share their production for Mizuno so that Mizuno irons are widely accepted in the Japanese Golf market.
To maximize its properties, each shaft is heated to 880°C and then reheated to 295°C. Other factors are trade secrets but result in Shimada shafts returning to their natural state quicker than its competitors. The end result is a shaft that feels strong but with a soft feel.
There is a Shimada shaft for every golfer from the slow swing speed and high launch shafts right through to the heavier shafts demanded by many of the worlds leading players.
