HAGANE Takes Shimano Back To Its Roots

By Todd Ceisner
BassFan Editor


When Shozaburo Shimano established his namesake company in February 1921, he called it Shimano Iron Works. Over time, the name has changed – in 1991, it was rebranded as Shimano, Inc. – but the constant throughout its 90-plus years has been producing high quality, long-lasting products, whether its bicycle components or fishing tackle. Metal forging has always been at the center of Shimano’s success.

In Japan, the word “hagane” refers to the steel used to make samurai swords.

“Where Shimano is based in Sakai City in Osaka, there’s a long history of knife and sword making,” said Dan Thorburn, a lure product manager for Shimano. “It dates back to the 14th century.”

This year, Shimano has incorporated the HAGANE concept into its manufacturing process of reels and their internal parts. No, the company is not branching off into swords and knifes, but it is serious about building reels around the strongest core components possible.

“Basically, we start with a piece of aluminum that looks like a hockey puck,” Thorburn said. “It’s placed in a die set that’s machined to be the exact shape and size of the gear with the teeth and hub. The press comes down and stamps it and the gear is done. It doesn’t get touched again. It’s a process other companies aren’t able to do right now.”

The result transforms an angler’s actions directly into cranking power. It’s efficiency through strength and the body stiffness and impact resistance virtually eliminates body flexing.

While Shimano has been using the HAGANE concept in its flagship Stella spinning reel, the new Stradic FK spinning reel, which was named the Best New Spinning Reel in the New Product Showcase at ICAST in July, is Shimano’s first freshwater reel to carry the HAGANE label, which encompasses the design concept and components. On the saltwater side, the new Twin Power SW spinning reel, which also debuted at ICAST, is another reel that captures the HAGANE way of thinking.

“It’s all about having a rigid body to support the lightweight frame, which is made from aluminum or magnesium,” he said. “Any reels that use a metal body falls under this concept. There’s a need for it. With more anglers moving into braided line, we need higher drag settings, which demand stronger components. The first link in that is the gearing.”

Using cold-forged parts in reels is something Shimano has been doing since with some saltwater products since 1995, Thorburn said.

“We’ve been using cold-forged gears in spinning reels since 2005,” he said, “so we’ve been doing it for a while. We just recently labeled is as Hagane. That’s the main concept – strength and durability. It’s so you don’t have that worn gear feeling down the line. It’s going to feel good for several years.”

So far, feedback has been favorable on the Stradic FK, according to Thorburn, who said dealers are already starting to re-order the new reels.

“I think these products have been very well accepted, but I don’t think the average angler knows what HAGANE is,” he added. “When they buy a new reel, they want to know, ‘Is it strong? Will it last? Does it do what it needs to do?’ We want to take steps to make it more durable and better overall and keep with our reputation of building a strong product.”

To learn more about Shimano's HAGANE design concept, watch the embedded video below: