Yonex Brandography

Yonex began its journey in 1946 as Yoneyama Co. Ltd, a producer of wooden floats for fishing nets. The company was founded by Minoru Yoneyama, who returned home to Japan after World War II to provide for his mother and five younger brothers. Yoneyama Co. Ltd. thrived until modern advancements in the fishing industry created plastic floats, making wooden floats obsolete and eventually forcing Yoneyama out of business. However, Yoneyama learned a very valuable lesson, one that shaped Yonex into the brand it has become today. He vowed to never again be left behind by technology and to commit himself and his company to the constant pursuit of innovation.

Yoneyama’s experience as a carpenter brought him to the world of sports, entering the badminton market in 1957. Yoneyama Sports Co. Ltd. was born. Years later, Yoneyama was shortened to Yonex, with the X signifying infinite possibilities.

True to his vow, Yoneyama continued to innovate and developed the world’s first “T-Joint” in 1968. Just one year later, Yonex expanded into the tennis industry with the aluminium T-7000 racquet. In the 1980s, Yonex introduced its iconic Isometric square-shaped racquet. That same year, Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova started using Yonex racquets. Today, Yonex has many sponsored players on the ATP and WTA tours, including Stan Wawrinka, Nick Kyrgios and Naomi Osaka.

Yonex is one of the world’s largest tennis brands with one thing, in particular, setting itself apart: It designs, develops and manufactures most of its products in Japan.

Yoneyama was born in Tsukayama, in the Niigata prefecture of Japan. This region is known for its sake, rugged landscape and snow. More importantly, it’s known for superb craftsmanship and monozukuri approach. Monozukuri is the art and science of crafting things and the dedication to quality and refinement. It is the true essence of Japanese craftsmanship.

It was important to Yoneyama — and to Yonex — to keep their factories in Niigata. For the past 70-plus years, Yonex has created consistent jobs and industry for this small, mountainous region of Japan. The employees at Yonex are known for their craftsmanship and dedication to quality, and it shows in the products that they make. By owning its factories, Yonex can control the quality and consistency and can maintain its monozukuri approach at each stage of the manufacturing process.

We were lucky enough to visit all of Yonex’s factories across Japan. The process for each product is unlike anything we have ever seen. The organization, cleanliness, meticulousness and dedication to quality is truly impressive.

Yonex has more than 50 inspection points throughout the racquet manufacturing process to ensure quality control. At Tennis Only, we measure many examples of every new racquet to check specifications, and Yonex is known as the brand with the tightest and most consistent spec tolerances. By owning its factories, Yonex is able to control the entire process, from design and development to the finished product that reaches our hands. It may cost Yonex more to do it this way, but the result is consistent, high-quality products that the company can be proud of. For you, it means a product you can trust.

Yonex’s constant strive for innovation, its monozukuri approach and its dedication and expertise have created an unrivaled quality in its products. We know the future of tennis is in good hands.