We reached out to over 40 different kendama players of varying backgrounds and skill levels to get a more authentic feel for the state of modern kendama. To ensure genuineness and authenticity, players were promised complete anonymity. After all, we wanted them to be candid, despite how unpopular some of their opinions may be. So, without further ado, here is part one of Candid Kendama.

"If you had each kendama company owner in a room together, what would you say to them?"

•I’d say that there’s too many kendama owners and too many companies. I think a lot of people create their own company because it seems fun and cool the prospect of making money from it is exciting. The reality is that there’s no real money or innovations for new kendama companies to make. You really need to do something different if you want to succeed. A good example of someone doing something different is kendamanomics creating a kendama app, kanade’s aristic 1 of 1 Ken’s by soma, or Miguel’s squirrel tamas after creating a strong tiktok presence through years of community interaction. I think companies that pop up without creating someone “new” are doomed to fail and hurt growth in the community. The Kendama’s are usually more expensive than major companies, and smaller companies are much less likely to host big events, meetups, or competitions that involve the community. What I think players who have that itch to create their own space in kendama should do is create and support their own local weekly/monthly jam in their area. Some good examples of this is 303 kendama, mass Kendama, UW Kendama, Leiden Kendama community. Cultivating an online community of friends like Miguel, Kendama gent, Nomz and friends, or Skool (rip) is also a great way to meet friends and create connections through Kendama, as well as personally rewarding. If your goal is more artistic, then work with other companies to create designs like WDSMM customs or Kevin Wong designs etc.

•Stop beefing and work together more often.

•If all the kendama owners were in the same room together, I would say to them what’s the next big collaboration? Any plans for companies to work together to push the design and shape of Kendama? Also keeping the classics alive, shapes, different sizes to play, various skill toys that we all love, not just pushing for making tricks easier. Also any big event plans or ways to highlight Kendama for new players?

•I would probably thank them, because they helped produce products that have ultimately given me a lot of joy and made a ton of friends by proxy. More importantly, I would say to keep being adventurous. If you got an idea, or you want to collaborate, or if you really don’t want to do something just because it’s popular, then follow your heart.

•What can we all do to spark the next generation of future players? Or How can we maximize longevity?

•More of you need to be offering starter setups. I cannot get someone new to kendama to purchase one for 60+ when I could send them to sweets for a $20 setup out the door. And stop trying to market to kids so often. Market to teenagers and young adults. Use tiktok. You could be capitalizing on the kendanomics trend, we've had people in our local group get stopped in public because people had seen it from the kendanomics races. Offer cheap setups for people wanting to get into the kendanomics craze on tiktok. Also please treat your sponsored players better, I'm begging you. 2 years as a sponsored player and no care package is crazy work.

•Thank you guys first of all. You all have brought something to kendama that has put it into the hands of many of people who need it and needed a sense of community; also start working together more to branch out and push this community into larger fields like sweets and many of your smaller businesses owners have.

•Is kendama in your heart the same way as you first started? So why not go back to that feeling and thinking of basics to spread kendama? If we look back it is the presence we need from companies for jams or even just a toy show again. I know times are tough but the community supports yall!

•Nothing.

•Start focusing on the mid level player if you want to make money. Don’t steal ideas from people who support you. The new player needs to see you supporting those who are relatable, not those who can only impress by doing the unattainable.

•Plan events together.

•Thank you for doing what you do, first and foremost. Without people like them, there wouldn’t be a person like me who was impacted by Kendama so heavily. Please keep innovating shapes, keep encouraging players to film edits and short form content, keep engaging the user base to be inspired to try it themselves. Keep sponsoring events, keep asking questions to players, keep throwing giveaways, and keep listening. Do not forget the roots of how Kendama came to be. Dont forget the energy that it had when it first exploded into America in 2008ish. It was a tidal wave. Let’s get that back somehow.

•Holy fuck, there’s way too many of you.

•I would ask why each about why they started the company and problems they faced over the time.

•There needs to be more unity on what we are doing to get more people into kendama. If we formed a central plan for reaching new and consistent audiences we would all be more successful.

•Become more unique. By now most companies are producing in the same factory with the same woods using the same paints. This means except for the ken shape everything's the same. As a player I want diversity, I want to try out different stuff, not just collect tamas with different designs.

•I love you guys, but let’s brainstorm a ton of ways we can welcome more engagement from outside the industry. I don’t have all the answers myself, but these people understand the trajectory things can take on the internet and a lot of them/us have marketing experience on a very real level.

•What aspect for each companies business model isn’t working and how can we eliminate it and find common ground and work together to find a “universal” aspect that benefits all companies.

•We gotta with together more! Team kendama.

•Being more engaged in the community event less in the sell part. It’s hard for owner but in a long terme pushing the community it’s stronger than selling a lot for 1 month

•How can we work together to grow the community even more?

•There’s wayyyyy too many of you

•You are doing great keep doing what you’re doing.

•What are you doing to stay tapped in to the broader kendama community while also pushing for the growth of Kendama? What stops you from building collaboration proposals for larger companies (that offer things that are useful to preexisting kendama players) to showcase kendama on a larger scale?

•I think there is a better way to promote kendama (ex; youtube video titles, content on social media, etc)

•There’s enough money for everyone so let’s collab rather than compete.

•Bigger is not always better.

•Do more stuff yourself and stop being dependent on China.

•I would say hi, I personally don’t have any beef with them so I’ll probably say what’s up and hand out beer.

•Don’t go crazy.

•Nothing much tbh. We all have room in the game for everybody to do their own thing.

•Why aren’t more true nattys available anymore?

•Thanks for organizing all the big events and donating prizes to every small event!

•If I had to each Kendama company owner sitting in room together, I would suggest to organize more events around the United States. It’s really hard for a lot of player to compete in competition when they are far away. Expenses add up really fast and it’s unaffordable for most players. Online competition would be a small solution to that.

•Some companies should sell just kens and others just tamas.

•Where the 15$ kens at? Other companies can do it why not you?

•Stop producing in China.

•At this point, it’s pretty obvious that kendama isn’t going to grow to the level that you want it to. Unless there is a seismic shift in popularity, which I just don’t see happening, the game is destined to be a niche hobby for a small community. And that’s okay. Focus on that vision instead of trying to make kendama something it never will be.

•Focus more on beginners and overall flow of player coming in and leaving the industry. Don’t just over produce kendama for the small niche community we have. Focus on more content for all levels, including tutorials on stringflow, new style tricks and old school tricks.

•The world is bigger than the US, EU and Japan. Invest in growing kendama worldwide as you never know where the next hotspot is going to be.

•Thanks for all the work, keep it up folks but maybe don't sell 7$ factory made kens for 35$ or more.

•Why can’t we figure out global shipping? I’d love to buy more Dama’s from small companies but, paying 160% of the Dama cost for shipping is just not gonna happen.

•I would first ask them to explain how they perceive the kendama industry and the main goals of their companies. I would want to make sure that they understand how valuable our culture is and its actors. Make sure they appreciate who came before them. But most importantly what these people's situation is. How precarious it is to be a company owner. How even the perceived "big" companies are struggling. If the new companies didn't mention growing the pool of players as one of their main goals that is instantly a red flag for me. I can't endorse the creation of a new company if they're taking valuable resources away from the industry leaders who are pouring their efforts into growing the pie. That's counter productive to the movement ultimately, and unfortunately that's something happening right now. The industry is over saturated with companies, and missing enough customers to support its most valuable actors. I would also explain that in such a small industry, no one is your competitor. We are all allies. This game needs a more concentrated push. In other small subcultures, companies united under one banner to push together (Thrasher for example). It's vital we show a unified front and pool our resources.