japanese and the karate gi

[cici118]

When I see photos or videos of karate classes in japan everyone is wearing tokaido or hirota even little kids. How is that possible? Is everyone rich or something?

[Wastelander]

No, everyone is not rich--those brands are simply much cheaper in Japan, because they are Japanese companies. Most of the people I know that live on Okinawa have bought every belt (white through black) from Shureido, which is a top brand, as well. Whenever people I know travel to Japan and Okinawa, they always bring back uniforms and belts because it's so much cheaper.

[cici118]

Is there someone that buys them in japan and then resell them on the internet? That way they would be cheaper than buying in tokaido's or shureido's online shop.

[ChrisHigashi]

Im sure you could befriend a japanese distributor but generally, they are such high price because of import and custom charges which you can't bypass

[Nidan Melbourne]

They are very cheap there in comparison to what they sell for here in Australia.

[JohnASE]

Tokaido and Hirota gi might cheaper in Japan than the USA, but I doubt it's a huge difference. What's more likely is that many of the gi you see in photos are a less expensive student gi that isn't readily available outside of Japan.

[JonathanR]

I located the Tōkaido shop in Shimbashi on a trip to Tōkyō last week, so went to get myself a karategi.

The shop is tiny, but the staff are very helpful & a lady helped me select a suitable gi for kumite. The top-of-the-line suits are all a cotton/rayon mix, so when I explained I wanted a 100% cotton suit, she got me out what they describe as their 'beginner's suit' (the style is called KTW, in 11oz canvas), which was ¥11,340 - or 96USD/63GBP. Embroidery was included, but I opted just to have the Tōkaido badge only sewn onto the gi.

This style (I think) is available in America, but nothing like it is available in Europe, that I have found.

[chiliphil1]

I located the Tōkaido shop in Shimbashi on a trip to Tōkyō last week, so went to get myself a karategi.

The shop is tiny, but the staff are very helpful & a lady helped me select a suitable gi for kumite. The top-of-the-line suits are all a cotton/rayon mix, so when I explained I wanted a 100% cotton suit, she got me out what they describe as their 'beginner's suit' (the style is called KTW, in 11oz canvas), which was ¥11,340 - or 96USD/63GBP. Embroidery was included, but I opted just to have the Tōkaido badge only sewn onto the gi.

This style (I think) is available in America, but nothing like it is available in Europe, that I have found.

I find that interesting. I know that these days most people seem to be going to the blended materials but I always thought that Tokaido's top of the line was the "ultimate" gi that they advertise and it is 12 duck canvas... I'm lost.

[JonathanR]

Hi,

The uniform styles in Japan all have 3-letter abbreviations. You can see them on their website, here:

http://www.toukaido.jp

If you don't have Google translate the page for you, the section on uniforms is the first blue menu option on the left.

If you compare them with the European equivalents, there are only a few that match on the German site (https://www.tokaido.de) - for example, their 'KATA YUKADO' suit is the 'TSA' uniform on the Japanese site. The difference is that suit is €202 in my size from Germany, but available in Japan for the equivalent of €140...

[JohnASE]

Unless I misunderstood, the blended material Tokaido gi mentioned above is a kumite gi. Every kumite gi I can think of is a blend, often poly/cotton, or 100% polyester.

The "Ultimate" gi are 100% cotton and about 12 oz. The name isn't being used so much anymore. We're old school, so we still use it. The TSA, or "Yakudo", is what they call the tournament cut version of the "Ultimate". I believe the code for the regular cut white gi is, or was, SAW. I don't know if there's a new name for it.