Mobtown Midranger
Newbie
I'm new to the sport and the forum. I was introduced to the sport here, in Japan, where I live and work. I'm originally a native of Baltimore where I'm sure there are considerably more places to play.
The Covid player influx mostly missed Japan but there does seems to be a handful of new players.
The sport has a relatively long history here and seems to have had some popularity in the 70s and 80s. There are a ton of problems here but the two major ones are availability of courses (my closest is an hour away), and the cost of disc golf related merchandise is insanely overpriced.
Concerning places to play, I'm currently trying to negotiate the addition of a 9 Hole course in an already established park in my town. Nothing is ever done simply in Japan so this is definitely a work in progress but I can't complain about it if I'm not willing to do something about it.
The problem of obtaining goods (especially discs) is by and large out of my power. If there are any industry people reading here, we really need your help.
Disc manufacturers in general have really let us players in Japan (and I'm assuming other Far East countries) down in terms of distribution and availability. Small shops try to assuage the cost of importing here... but we still end up paying at least twice as much on average for discs.
Using Japanese Amazon is out of the question... discs, baskets and anything else can be as much as 4, 5, 6x the manufacturer's retail price. Literally (don't get me started on post-Covid shipping prices to Japan).
If you want a good laugh, consider that I recently saw a $420 Kastaplast Kaxe (closer to $600, when you consider the exchange rate of the extremely weak yen to the dollar) posted on Amazon. Third Party vendors sure are trying to get their money's worth.
Does anyone have any idea how to make discs more reasonably obtainable? Any help or SUGGESTIONS would be greatly appreciated.
To be clear, this is a widespread problem among all manufacturers as far as pricing and availability is concerned... in Japan. I can't speak to any other parts of Asia (I'm just assuming).
My only real concern here is that I want to be a positive catalyst in helping to "grow the sport." I fell in love with the game from the first time I played and I want to others to love it as much as do.
However, it is extremely hard to do so if no one can afford to play!
Sorry for the long rant. As you can imagine, there aren't many chances to vent in English, living in rural Japan. Thanks for taking the time to read this.
The Covid player influx mostly missed Japan but there does seems to be a handful of new players.
The sport has a relatively long history here and seems to have had some popularity in the 70s and 80s. There are a ton of problems here but the two major ones are availability of courses (my closest is an hour away), and the cost of disc golf related merchandise is insanely overpriced.
Concerning places to play, I'm currently trying to negotiate the addition of a 9 Hole course in an already established park in my town. Nothing is ever done simply in Japan so this is definitely a work in progress but I can't complain about it if I'm not willing to do something about it.
The problem of obtaining goods (especially discs) is by and large out of my power. If there are any industry people reading here, we really need your help.
Disc manufacturers in general have really let us players in Japan (and I'm assuming other Far East countries) down in terms of distribution and availability. Small shops try to assuage the cost of importing here... but we still end up paying at least twice as much on average for discs.
Using Japanese Amazon is out of the question... discs, baskets and anything else can be as much as 4, 5, 6x the manufacturer's retail price. Literally (don't get me started on post-Covid shipping prices to Japan).
If you want a good laugh, consider that I recently saw a $420 Kastaplast Kaxe (closer to $600, when you consider the exchange rate of the extremely weak yen to the dollar) posted on Amazon. Third Party vendors sure are trying to get their money's worth.
Does anyone have any idea how to make discs more reasonably obtainable? Any help or SUGGESTIONS would be greatly appreciated.
To be clear, this is a widespread problem among all manufacturers as far as pricing and availability is concerned... in Japan. I can't speak to any other parts of Asia (I'm just assuming).
My only real concern here is that I want to be a positive catalyst in helping to "grow the sport." I fell in love with the game from the first time I played and I want to others to love it as much as do.
However, it is extremely hard to do so if no one can afford to play!
Sorry for the long rant. As you can imagine, there aren't many chances to vent in English, living in rural Japan. Thanks for taking the time to read this.
