Horus

Japan Technology - Horus

Horus is the new signature model for 2014 Asian Champion, Jeon Ji Hwan!

Horus is Japan Technologies answers to Jeon Ji Hwan's prayers. JT took on the challenge to make Ji Hwan's ideal off string yo-yo, and spent a extensive amount of time in R&D, making prototype after prototype in the pursuit of perfection. Finally, a full year after Ji Hwan won his title, Japan Technology is proud to present a yo-yo that is worthy of "Horus," named for the highest god in Egyptian mythology.

>>From the Maker
Horus is Japan Technology's official signature model for Jeon Ji Hwan. We have been working on this model since the summer in 2014, when Ji Hwan became the Asian champion. At the time, he was using the Ultimate Eagle+S, which is an amazing yo-yo and close to perfect, as he put it. We took the challenge of tweaking the design to deliver to Ji Hwan the perfection he was looking for, and we've finally nailed it with the Horus.

As we were exploring the very extremes of off string yo-yo design, we found that even the slightest variation in specs, from the bearing, axle, and spacer to the stainless ring would cause unacceptable vibes, making it impossible to take our prototypes to mass production. It soon became apparent that we didn't just need a tweaked version of the Ultimate Eagle+S, we needed to break the design down to its bones and build it back up again, with fewer parts to improve our success rate when the yo-yo finally goes to production.

So we went back to the drawing board and spent several months trying to achieve that goal. We went through so many failed prototypes, we were starting to worry that Ji Hwan's ideal settings simply couldn't be realized in plastic... A small body, the ideal width, a sharp profile, stability, speed, light feeling, good for grinds and finger tricks... and lastly and his most difficult demand, to be able to shoot the moon with the flick of his wrist and get the yo-yo to fly up to 3 meters, even with very little spin... We continued to work diligently to hit this difficult target.

One day, the solution came from a most unexpected place. We were finalizing the design of the FiReal, and had a ton of prototypes piled up. I picked up a rough prototype that was used as a balance test and planed to about the right weight, and I was impressed with how light--yet stable--it felt in my hands, to the point that I asked myself "just how much did they cut off!?" When I went to weigh it myself, it was a startling 71.6 grams, totally unexpected considering how light it felt! It was at that moment that I realized that the impossible was possible, just not in the way we had been trying. I could create a yo-yo that felt light without actually being light, and we embarked on a new direction for the Horus.

But we couldn't do it on our own. We had to simulate the yo-yo digitally in order to explore the possibilities of this new design direction without going through another endless round of prototypes, so we enlisted the help of a research institution, and between ourselves, the engineers at our factory and the think tank, we cooperated to realize this impossible dream. After a year, the design was complete and ready to make a reality. The resulting yo-yo weighs in at 78 grams, but you would never guess that from playing with it. Even with this seemingly high weight, we were able to satisfy all of Ji Hwan's demands without even needing a rim weight. The elimination of the rim weight wasn't a ploy to lower our cost, but rather, to improve the yo-yo's performance to meet the demands of champions.

We named the yo-yo "Horus," after the supreme god of Egyptian Mythology, to reflect just how superior we felt this design was. We're sure you'll feel the same.

-Atsushi Yamada (JT)

>>Jeon Ji Hwan - Dusk(Horus clip)