Makino 88-B3: A New Generation of Japanese Forged Irons

The global market for golf equipment is a vast repository, with as many different brands as wind directions on Augusta’s 12th tee. 

And the situation could be just as confounding.

PING, Titleist, Callaway and TaylorMade dominate the news cycle and every meaningful market share report. But the story doesn’t end there.

Some of us have a penchant for manufacturers whose financial status can only be represented by “other” in any comprehensive market share graphic. In a macro sense, these companies don’t matter – economically speaking.

But for me and anyone who wants to join my merry band of miscreants, these smaller brands serve as a vestige of an industry segment that frankly isn’t interested in a mass market launch or appeasing board members and shareholders. 

Do they want to sell clubs? Of course. But not at the rate or for the same reasons you might think.

With that, let’s turn the page and broach another chapter in the annals of JDM (Japanese Domestic Market) equipment manufacturers.

Enter Makino Golf.

What (or who) is Makino?

Shohei Nomura started Makino Golf after leaving his job as an industrial designer in Tokyo to start a new career more in line with his passion of metal work.  Nomura landed in Hyogo Prefecture, a region in Japan known for its cultural history and artisan-friendly environment.

(Think of it a bit like Dutchess County, N.Y., or the Raleigh-Durham area in North Carolina. If that reference helps, great. If not, disregard it.)

We tend to associate JDM brands as deeply rooted entities with historical ties and lineage to bygone Japanese eras (has anyone watched Shogun?).

Comparatively, Makino is a relative newcomer. However, Nomura’s reputation and club designs show a maturity and acumen that are anything but novice.

“Makino” embodies the spirit of craftsmanship, merging elements of “Nomura” and “Makita” (the Japanese company known for its high-quality power tools and innovative solutions for DIY enthusiasts and professionals). By combining these influences, the brand honors Japanese heritage and construction, producing golf clubs that are functional and artistically crafted.

I asked Nomura what sets Makino apart from more recognizable JDM brands (e.g., Miura, Epon). 

“Makino stands out by blending artistry with craftsmanship, creating clubs that feel truly personal,” he told me. “While established brands like Miura and Epon are known for precision and consistency, we take a different approach, focusing on small-batch, hand-finished clubs where individuality comes first. As a boutique brand, we prioritize creative expression over mass production, allowing us to experiment and push the boundaries of traditional golf craftsmanship.”

This leads me to believe that Nomura’s objective aligns with the spirit of Katsuhiro Miura and Tamaki Sakamoto (Kyoei) – at least insofar as Makino sees itself as a brand that can provide golfers with a more personalized experience by limiting production to fill a market void. Again, many of these terms are relative. Plenty of golfers have never heard of Miura or Epon, let alone Makino or Fujimoto.

It’s an arduous task – to balance the basic needs of revenue and responsible growth while maintaining the brand ethos. Sell enough, but not too much. Become known and appreciated for what you do, but not so much so that you risk losing the essence of what makes you different.

It’s a Ferrari and Bugatti problem, not a Honda or Toyota issue.

How many people get to know about a secret fishing hole before it’s no longer a secret?

The Makino BB-83

In time, if done correctly, brands create a piece of equipment that serves as a signature. The Makino 88-B2 player’s cavity-back served as a template which Makino refined slightly in creating the 88-B3.

Hallmark pieces with meaningful differentiation serve as a living testament to the craftsmanship  and design that consumers come to associate as the DNA of a brand. My sense is that while the 88-B3 embodies all the requisite DNA of a Makino iron, clubs like the CB-1 Two-Tone and Modal Architex putters are what will get golfers to stop scrolling on social media and say, “Damn, what’s that?”

Comparatively, what the 88-B3 offers are subtle refinements and design cues that many will miss. That’s OK. It’s not meant to be ornate as much as it is understated. The 88-B3 is less Bananas Foster and more crème brulee.

Forged from S20C (which is the same as 1020) carbon steel, the thin topline and muscle-back shaping suggest an iron geared towards elite ball strikers. But a slightly wider sole, marginally longer scoreline width (55 millimeters compared to 50 in the 88-B2) and semi-hollow cavity provide sufficient forgiveness for the 10-15 handicap crowd.

88-B3 Performance

How any of us evaluates iron performance is relative to our skill set. Iron play is the weakest part of my game yet I’d categorize myself as a fairly standard “better” player consumer. Minimal offset, thin-ish topline and compact heel-toe footprint are the non-negotiable characteristics. 

The 88-B3 favors consistency and feel over all-out distance which, thankfully, is becoming less of a primary selling point. Makino states that up to 15-handicap golfers can play the 88-B3 but I’m not wild about equating handicap ranges with a single model. 

It feels a bit restrictive and fails to acknowledge that all handicaps aren’t created equally. Yes, I’m looking at you Mr. “bombs it 300-plus yards off the tee but struggles around the green.”

That aside, my GPR (Gut Performance Recommendation) would be that the 88-B3 best suits golfers with a single-digit iron game. If you struggle to make consistent contact or prefer an iron with more offset and a larger profile but still want a high-quality Japanese forging, I’d suggest you peruse NNRG. 

Makino 88-B3 REPORT CARD

Every player is unique and data is probably best viewed as directional rather than absolute. That said, I compared the 88-B3 to my Mizuno Pro S3 irons (5i, 7i, PW).  

Ball Speed – The 88-B3 were 1 mph faster on average, likely due to its semi-hollow construction. That said, no one should be making a purchasing decision on a set of irons due to a couple of miles per hour of ball speed. If you’re starved for iron distance, it’s best to look at pure player’s distance or game-improvement irons.

Spin – Even as a performance characteristic, spin is relative. It has to match the trajectory and ball speed to deliver optimal carry distance. I’m not a natively high-spin player, so any iron that features mass properties geared to produce a high-lauch/low-spin combo can be an issue for me. The 88-B3 sits right on the edge of “playable spin,” meaning if I bag these permanently, I’d likely bend them 1° weak or switch to a softer shaft. 

Trajectory – I tend to hit the ball high so, if anything, I struggle to bring ball flight down, particularly in short irons. I’m happy to report that it wasn’t much of an issue with the 88-B3 although I’d still give the nod to the Mizuno Pro S3 in this department. Likely, the 88-B3 has a marginally lower center of gravity which is probably better for most golfers.

Feel – Yeah, this one has the potential to get a little spicy. There’s no doubt that plating, design and sole grind can all contribute to the overall feel of a club so we’re going to hold those variables constant for the moment. In my world of JDM forgings, Mizuno is very soft (like a dense marshmallow) and Endo (Epon, Proto Concept and others) is firm but powerful. Kyoei forgings (Makino, NNRG, Vega) sit right in the middle: Kyoei is the Goldilocks of premium forgings. And because someone is going to ask, SEVEN is 100-percent CNC milled, so it sits in an entirely different category. (Teaser: SEVEN CB review is in the queue.) 

Playability – I don’t often try to “work” the ball much. If anything, I play a little draw with my irons and a cut with my driver. When I manipulate the ball, it’s to bring the flight down on short irons. At times, with certain designs, notably lower CG with hollow cavities and thin faces, the mass properties make it difficult to hit the ball lower which, as noted previously, is a very minor critique.

Where the 88-B3 pulls slightly ahead of the Pro S3 is on off-center strikes. With a slightly longer blade length and more perimeter mass, the 88-B3 performed a bit better for me on thin shots. As a shallow player who doesn’t take deep divots, my predominant miss is to catch the first or second groove more often than the desirable third to fifth grooves (aka the sweet spot). 

With this class of irons, performance isn’t a race of who can post the fastest 0-60 time but the entirety of the driving experience. 

The Makino 88-B3 offers consistent performance, sufficient distance and a centerfold gorgeous curbside appeal. 

My $0.05

The cynic who is battered by 12-month product cycles is likely going to struggle with a lot of JDM products. Dropping $2,500 on a set of irons isn’t the sort of value proposition that many North American buyers are seeking but, again, the JDM world is different. If you consider how well a club is going to hold its value in the resale market, you’re already several steps down the wrong path.

The JDM of the early 2000s isn’t what it is today. At some point Miura didn’t exist. Neither did Fujimoto, PRGR, OnOff or others. With that, Makino is making an argument that it deserves to be recognized as a founding member of the next generation of JDM (or maybe we label it neo-JDM because it feels like a term I just made up and I like it). 

While some old heads may not be ready to admit that the NKOTB is a worthy competitor, I don’t see a weakness in Makino’s current approach. If anything, playing the 88-B3 felt a bit like what it must have been like to hear The Ramones playing in your neighbor’s garage. You knew it was different …and good … but you didn’t know where it all would lead. 

If you’re into JDM gear, let me know which brand we should dig into next!

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