Site Products
100th Anniversary of the Birth of Hikosuke Tamasu - The founder of Butterfly

100th Anniversary of the Birth of Hikosuke Tamasu – The founder of Butterfly

Hikosuke Tamasu was born exactly one hundred years ago on August 20, 1920, in Yanai, Japan, as the eldest son of the Tamasu family.

Hikosuke began to devote himself to table tennis, a sport for which there were few competitors at the time. Later, as he further honed his skills, he won prizes in all events at the All Japan Table Tennis Championships.

His passion for table tennis did not stop even after his career as a player had ended, therefore in 1950 he established Tamasu Co. Ltd. in order to create table tennis equipment. His pioneering activities went beyond the bounds of being a simple equipment manufacturer.

These ventures included developing in-house production of high-quality products, the first issue of the instructional magazine “Table Tennis Report”, and the construction of the training facility “Butterfly Table Tennis Dojo”, which attracted thousands of table tennis players from far and wide.

He passed away in July 2004 after witnessing the exponential growth of the Butterfly brand and the meteoric rise of the sport of table tennis. Goals which he had worked so tirelessly for.

Hikosuke was quoted as saying:
“Players are flowers in the table tennis world, and they are the very enchantment of table tennis; we would like to be butterflies flying around the flowers providing them the essential needs in the table tennis world”

Hikosuke’s passion for the Butterfly brand has been passed on to his successors, even 16 years after his death.

Stay “In The Loop” with Butterfly professional table tennis equipment, table tennis news, table tennis technology, tournament results, and We Are Butterfly players, coaches, clubs and more.

Latest News

MLTT Week 4 Recap: Chicago Wind Steady at Home, New York Slice Make Their Mark

October 26, 2025
(by Steve Hopkins, photo MLTT) The Fourth Major League Table Tennis (MLTT) event was played in Bensenville, Illinois… Read More

WAB CLUB FEATURE: Joyous Table Tennis Club

October 26, 2025
(By Steve Hopkins) Joyous Table Tennis Club provides 8 professional tables in one of the largest professional table… Read More

France takes Gold in Euro Team Championships

October 26, 2025
(by Steve Hopkins, photo ETTU) The French team with the Lebrun brothers, Simon Gauzy, Thibault Poret, and Flavien… Read More

Jha to Face Calderano as Draws for Montpellier are Posted

October 26, 2025
(by Steve Hopkins) USA’s Kanak Jha will see action on Wednesday, on the second day of the WTT… Read More

Dang Qiu Wins WTT London

October 26, 2025
(by Steve Hopkins) Dang Qiu benefitted from some upsets in his half of the draw at this week’s… Read More

Sanuka Herath – 2025 Canadian Senior Table Tennis Championships

October 26, 2025
(by: Bowmar Sports) In this Bowmar Sports Tournament Highlights, Sanuka Herath is in action at the 2025 Canadian… Read More

Taiwo Adeyinka – Backhand Loop from underspin

October 25, 2025
(by: Bowmar Sports) In this Butterfly Training Tips,  Taiwo Adeyinka is in action at the Atlanta Open https://youtu.be/TQQMo7vKMqU… Read More

Put Your Whole Bodyweight Into The Table

October 24, 2025
Serve, short game, flip with defense to offense (wait function) Jhon serves short backspin, robot plays short backspin… Read More
View All News

Get the latest from Butterfly

Stay “In The Loop” with Butterfly professional table tennis equipment, table tennis news, table tennis technology, tournament results, and We Are Butterfly players, coaches, clubs and more.