Courtesy of Tim Boggan

The Nippon Takkyu Co., Ltd., established in 1920, is honored for its famous Nittaku ball that was first selected for the World Championships in 1971 and for many World’s thereafter. The first Topics ad for a Nittaku ball appeared from N.Y.’s Jaguar Products in the July-August, 1972 issue. However, in the Mar.-Apr., ‘73 USTTA Approved Equipment section of Topics, Michigan’s Dell Sweeris and U.S. Champion D-J Lee were listed, along with Jaguar, as distributors. On through the ‘70’s there was no exclusive U.S. distributor—though Nittaku balls were used in a U.S. Open as early as 1975 and then in practically every U.S. Closed in the late 1970’s and throughout the ‘80’s.

It wasn’t until the May-June, 1978 Topics that the Nippon Takkyu Co. was identified with Nittaku. However, as by now their factories in Japan had branched into manufacturing other items, especially rubber sheets and rackets, their ad that issue was not for balls but for Shake” and “Pen” Nittaku Carbon Rackets. Their improved Top-spin Rubbers such as Magic Carbon Soft and Milford Soft Rubber would become especially popular.