TourSpecGolfer

I don't think there are rankings per say, more so reviews of the restaurants. I highly suggest : http://tabelog.com/ + google translate Next time you can show me the real deal at Shima! Sure and these are all great spots that use Wagyu in different ways. Shabu Shabu - Zakuro Sukiyaki - Ningyocho imahan Yakiniku - Nikugatou & Cossott'e SP & Ushigoro Bambina Ebisu Hilltop Horumon for the brave - Manten Yoyogi 1 person Yakiniku - Hitori & Jiromaru & Oonishi Teppanyaki - Teppanyaji Grow Steak - Shima & New York Grill & Pound Ya Burgers - Tsubameya & Blacows Tacos - Ryukyu Chinese Tama Sushi - Ozaki Yukitaka Nabe - Janomeya in Yokohama

I want to start this off in the JDM forum to gain a few more eyes for those who don't read the OB. You may have read the recent controversy that what many restaurants are saying is Kobe Beef are not actually serving the real thing. In fact based on these articles only 8 restaurants are serving the real deal to their customers while the rest are BS'ing us in some way shape or form. This recent bruhaha as led me to write this post. Every photo in this blog post is 100% Authentic Japanese! According to the Kobe Beef Association only 400lbs are allowed to be imported every month. If the restaurant you are eating at says they serve Kobe Beef ask them to see the their certification from the KBA. Here are the 8 restaurants that are authorized to sell real Kobe Beef ( credit to Inside Edition ) 1. 212 Steakhouse Restaurant, New York, NY 2. Alexander's Steakhouse-Cupertino, Cupertino, CA 3. Alexander's Steakhouse-San Francisco Restaurant, San Francisco, CA 4. SLS Las Vegas - Bazaar Meat by José Andrés Restaurant, Las Vegas, NV 5. Jean Georges Steakhouse, Aria Resort and Casino, Las Vegas, NV 6. Nick & Sam's Restaurant, Dallas, TX 7. Wynn Las Vegas – SW Steakhouse Restaurant, Las Vegas, NV 8. Teppanyaki Ginza Onodera, Honolulu, HI Ok next let's talk about Japanese Beef because it's all very subjective and a matter of preference. My personal opinion is that Kobe is not the best of Japanese Beef, it's simply the most popular. If you live in Japan you will find you have a preference of the grade level and location the cow is from. One thing is for sure is that Japanese beef is really about Japan's tradition of the highest quality. I used to think that Japanese Wagyu cows are served a beer each day, listening to relaxing music and getting massages. I've even told my friends this and while it's true in some cases (very few) it's pretty much a myth and not a normally used method to create the best beef. The quality comes from the cows heritage and genetics passed down from previous generations. Each cow farmer over decades evolves the lineage through many ways creating many shapes and characteristics of their cow. The average cow used for it's beef in the U.S lives 15-22 months while in Japan it's 30 and sometimes even longer. This has an incredible impact on the flavor and tenderness of the beef. The marbling and fattiness of the beef is the main distinction. The farmer experiments and fine tunes their feed mix to create their idea of the perfect flavor. Even the way the fat tastes can be different you can also just take the extra fat to cook different dishes. The fat is butter like and can melt at very low temperatures. A lot of westerners visit Japan and simply want the highest grade they can buy just to say they have had the best. Not realizing that the highest grade may not equal the best tasting to the individual person. It's similar to how westerners view Tuna, They jump to 0toro while most Japanese prefer Chu-Toro and even maguro as over time the less fat content in maguro allows you to taste a variety of flavors better vs the fat just taking over for a decadent melt in the mouth. I'm in this boat as well, I started going to Japan and loving 0toro, then realized I like chutoro because otoro is too fatty and after many years I began to learn and notice new things and became to prefer maguro. Anyway back to the beef... There are different grades, A5 is the highest rating yet many believe it goes beyond that into uncharted territory. A5 can be the same quality as A4 it's just the use may be different. The application does matter for how you eat it and your preference. The rating itself is based all around the fat marbling not the flavor or quality. Wagyu is the cow and there are various of amazing farmers and locations they come from, right now we are just going to focus on Japanese Wagyu but there is also American, German, Australian and even other bred Wagyu that is sometimes mixed with their local cows. Wa means Japanese and Gyu means cow so it translates into Japanese cow and technically if it's called Wagyu outside of Japan it isn't real. Fancy restaurants with expensive steak will try to argue otherwise. My advice is to ask them if they know what Wagyu means and that you would like to see the ID # and certificate of that particular cow they are serving you. A Wagyu farmer in Japan only has about 10-15 cows each and they have photos, records and every cows linage all charted very carefully even better than most humans know their own ancestry. If it's real Japanese Beef from Japan that is good the restaurant will be able to show you the ID number of the cow. Some interesting stats obtained from Tokyo Timeout Wagyu Guide: 5.5kg per year is what the average Japanese person eats each year - There are 250 brands of authentic wagyu on the Japanese market - there are 200 wagyu farmers in Kobe and most are over the age of 70 - Kobe is a region not a breed and there are only 4 breeds of wagyu ( Kuroge (black), Akage (red) , Mukaku (polled) , and Nihon Tankaku (shorthorn) Washu. So why does everyone only recognize Kobe Beef? Kobe Beef is the Kuroge Black breed known as Tajima-gyu. They are bred in Hyogo prefecture ( Yes same place as Himeji and many of our handmade Japanese golf clubs on TSG! ) Kobe is the capitol of Hyogo. To be Kobe Beef the cows must always live and be slaughtered in Hyogo with a grade of 4 or 5. - Only 0.6% of the beef in Japan is Kobe Beef. There are also various cuts like the tongue, skirt steak, kalbo, aitchbone, and rock. It's also somewhat healthy as wagyu is mostly unsaturated fat with far more omega 3 and 6 while never ever given antibiotics. With so many different ways to enjoy it I have had it as Shabu Shabu, Sukiyaki, Yakiniku, Horumon-yaki, Teppan yaki, Steak, Burgers, Tacos, in Ramen, on rice as Sushi, as Nabe. There are many locations that amazing Wagyu is produced of course Kobe which has extremely high standards with buttery melty fat, Matsusaka is also very popular made of black bulls that are over 900 days old, Hokkaido beef that is raised on the best water and high quality grass, Kyoto, Ishigaki, Ozaki, Hida, Yonezawa, and Omi just to name the most famous ones. Each has it's own subtle nuances so get out there and empty your wallets to find out what you prefer. If you are visiting Tokyo and looking for a top place to eat one of the many preparations of Wagyu feel free to drop me an email at [email protected] and I will make some recommendations. Thank you for reading this post I'd like to give credit to our friends at Time Out Tokyo and Inside Edition for providing us the inspiration and extra added knowledge to write this. Below Wagyu Sushi

A friend has the new model Tesla. It's the P75D not the silly fast 100D. same thing just different range and 1/4 mile time. He took me and my family to the airport and we were able to load a ton of luggage in the back, it had more space than my X5 and S Class and that wasn't even using the front trunk. Inside was nice too, he showed us the basic features of auto pilot and I was just overall impressed with it. Any of you drive one? The windshield on the Model X is cool too. Wish they had the HUD display though as that is an option I can't live without anymore.

You should have received a head cover with it. If you did not and purchased this from TSG please email me at [email protected]

Dont forget shaft and build.. We cant pass final judgment of any club without making sure It has at least 2 of my favorite go to shafts and especially in the length, swing weight, grip size that works best.

Do you guys really have the time or desire to take pics of your bags and post them? Forum members are a rare breed especially for high end gear as it's made up of professionals who are often well off and very busy. Cleaning your clubs, taking photos, uploading them online seems like a lot to ask...? input appreciated.

This is for sure Ryoma's version of this driver. straighter not as squirly better feel looks better launch is lower than previous less side spin = longer for me.

Need even more distance & forgiveness than the RS Forged? I consider these semi-game improvement. The full GI set would be in the Red Series I will post next week. Stainless Body + Titanium Face, they remind me of the Labo RB-247G irons with a bit better materials and tech.

Will do sir, I have not taken complete photo's yet. I only have 2 with me where I'm at. The rest are in storage in Vegas.

Both ZY 7 & the 11 are for their long drive guy Yamazaki. You do not need even a 100mph to get everything out of it, that just depends on your shaft. The black out is actually the more demanding head. Go with the new blackout 535 if you want a blend of forgiveness and distance. We sell many drivers and we also sell a decent amount of Jbeams so I get to hear lots of feedback. The people who love any clubs often luck out with the right shaft off the start and this is the case with Jbeam as well. Guys who go AAA and 7D tend to be blown away. Right now I'm seeing 7D + 2016 Maxima Combo as the golden ticket and for you Mjr D. The V with handpicked lowest loft and a 7D shaft that goes very low and reduces spin + battles your bad shot is a good possibility.

Im even higher now, the last 9 months have been hectic and injuries abundant. Im back in the states hope to get back to single in 2017.

#2 is a great one! keep um coming!

I got some great gear to give away, what type of contest and rules would you like to see?

I just want to remind everyone in order to purchase: 1. TSG staff must meet you in Tokyo or Kyoto for a fitting in english. If you choose Kyoto we will give you factory tour. It requires a commitment of at least $1000 purchase for any english fitting. 2. You buy one off my personal collection which I may never sell :) Not the easiest way to get a putter at all.

This is a form of black IP which likely feels and looks better than DLC yet is not as durable. The inner cavity and up and around undercut area is likely a durable paint. official pics:

No not at all,. I love that guy!

Here is the latest SEVEN Cavity Blade Prototype - Only 2 sets produced hand made of Forged SS400 in Ichikawa Japan. We have released multiple variants of this cavity design adjusting the grind and shape along the way. It is an Original CAD design that we are able to transfer to various head molds which allows for flexibility in manufacturing. The cavity design itself allows for enough center mass to aid in forgiveness and feel yet not so much that it reduces workability. By keeping the areas besides the center steps free of metal and slightly reducing perimeter weighting we have been able to blend the best attributes of a blade together with the forgiveness of a players cavity. Now SEVEN is able to add this cavity design to various raw heads letting different grinders produce their own iteration of this cavity back. Never before has this been done. 1 design through the eyes of multiple artisans. It took a lot of negotiations and explanations to get our idea across to these crafters. They are a proud group with different personalities some easy going while others at times stubborn. In the end we have arranged our first 3 craftsmen to produce. These photos are not by any of those 3 men, we are using this prototype to get an idea of how different one person is to the next. When this project officially releases SEVEN will not dictate what they do, this is a blank canvas for the crafter to express their grind philosophy. Some of the craftsmen will do custom options and grind to the customers requests, others will not allow any deviation. We will announce the names of the grinders and there will of course be visual distinctions between each version. How will the customer process this type of project? My apologies for being so bold and arrogant but we do not care. If we listen to the mass market a project like would never exist. If our goal is to reach the masses we wouldn't be producing Japanese handmade forged irons. We wouldn't be marketing the man we would be pushing the brand. There are hundreds of Japanese golf artisans and engineers that brands would rather you not know about, the people who design, test, and craft the amazing clubs we know and love. It's my goal to give these people some love and show our customers that in a sea saturated of low cost mass produced golf clubs there is still a another more human segment to be explored. So enough of my idiotic rambling lets talk about this iron. A member of TSG reached out with his favorite blade requesting a similar shape but made by hand. This customer is a die hard SEVEN fan and wanted to see if we could make him something special. We had a single prototype iron made to test it's shape and performance and I thought it was beautiful and needed a set for myself, 2 were produced one for my bag and one for his. It's basically a blade that is slightly longer heel to toe. It is more forgiving due to the cavity, it's feel is soft and pure due to the material we selected and it's still workable. Both sets were produced in Black Boron. As you can see in the photo above it's got beautiful trailing and leading edge grinds so that the sole sits a bit more narrow and it plays better with less digging. We will be listing it in the TSG ProShop shortly, it's first come first get on this one. Thanks for reading!

Next Week on TSG! My Personal Okuda Putters by Benock.

More good photos for you gents:

Forged S20C 365 gram head weight Deep Milled Face Custom Options Included in Price

Not attached to score, I guess I should say athlete player. Someone who can hit a deep faced wood easily and high, has a faster swing speed and consistently hits the center more often than most people.

I've got a Bennock Collection! Shall I post it? You can't buy it from any stores. You MUST get fit in person in Tokyo or Kyoto. Each putter is original using a brand new CAD design. He's got 4 cad designers who can produce only 8 designs each day. Putters range from 1k - 10k+ It's like 7D of putters, the fitting is so important.

Seven is not made at Endo but I can provide you insight on this one because I own it :) Year 1 was all about testing different foundries, grinders, cnc shops and finishers. That is why we have so many prototypes. I'm still not satisfied with the results. We have a new 100% made in Japan manufacturer for all the 2017 products expect everything to be completely different with a huge jump in quality.

I've been to Mizuno HQ in Osaka, It's correct they partnered with Chuo industries that does make trains, that forging press only does one thing make Mizuno's clubs. Mizuno owns it and the staff working the machine are employees of Mizuno. And they also do forgings in China as well, it's not only castings. Mizuno's factory is amazing. Possibly the best grinders anywhere, I wish we could get permission to tell each of their personal stories.