White to the eye; red, purple and blazing when it glows. Three Aka-Samurai 15th anniversary colours — Red Glow, Purple Glow and Super Glow — made to order
Fifteen years since the Aka-Samurai colours first appeared. Going back to the origin — “Aka-Samurai means glow” — three anniversary colours share a white back and come on EgiSharp sizes 3.5 and 3.8 and EgiSharp Alpha size 4.3. Red Glow glows red over a red base, Purple Glow gives a faint glow over a Mexico Rainbow base, and Super Glow blazes over a Crush Gold base. The special paint, about five times the price of the usual, looks white and glows for a long time. Made to order only: orders open from 20:00 on 4 September 2026 until 23:59 on 10 September (JST).
The Aka-Samurai 15th anniversary colours
EgiSharp’s Aka-Samurai colours turn fifteen in 2026. As the first event, three anniversary colours — Aka-Samurai 15th Red Glow, Purple Glow and Super Glow — are released on a made-to-order basis. All three have a white back: a return to the origin. The paint is a special one costing about five times the usual. It looks white, yet Red Glow glows red, Purple Glow glows purplish, and Super Glow glows intensely. The same three colours come on EgiSharp sizes 3.5 and 3.8 and EgiSharp Alpha size 4.3.
How to order is explained here. Orders close at 23:59 (JST) on Thursday 10 September 2026.
Fifteen years of light, and a return to white
First, why the Aka-Samurai colours are glow colours. Back in 2011 few people knew there are three kinds of bigfin reef squid (white-type, red-type and kuwa), and almost every colour on the market was made for the white type. In Okinawa, where both red-type and white-type squid live, Aka-Samurai had been targeting each of the three in its own way, and approached Keystone wanting a colour made purely for red-type squid at night. That was the start. While UV (keimura) colours were driving the market, he insisted that “glow definitely works on red-type squid at night” — and chose not an ordinary glow but a soft pink glow. Two colours were born: Pink Full Glow and Marble Pink Glow. Pink Full Glow worked wherever red-type squid live, from Okinawa to Kagoshima, and the Aka-Samurai colours became known. In the fifteen years since, the King colours and Meteor Glow followed — many of them firsts for the industry. All three anniversary colours have a white back. A return to the origin.
Aka-Samurai 15th Red Glow
Base: redGlows redGlow strength: medium
A red glow over a red base. As Aka-Samurai says, “not even Keystone has released this yet” — a glow that shines red is a first. One for showing an autumn night in red light.
Aka-Samurai 15th Purple Glow
Base: Mexico RainbowGlows purplishGlow strength: low (faint glow)
A purplish glow over a Mexico Rainbow base. The glow is faint, so it also works as a normal colour, and it is the one to reach for when glow is not working — a weak light for a targeted approach. Mexico Rainbow is a rainbow-patterned base, chosen for its slick, wet look.
Aka-Samurai 15th Super Glow
Base: Crush GoldGlows intenselyGlow strength: high
An intense glow over a Crush Gold base. The strongest light of the three — it shows itself by sheer presence. Keystone has been making egi for 27 years, and the luminance decay characteristic of this colour is, without question, the best glow we have ever produced. Truly special.
The paint shared by the three colours is a special one with extremely fine particles, and it looks white. Only when charged does the difference show: red, purple, or an intense white. Its other feature is long-lasting glow — it keeps shining far longer than an ordinary glow paint. So on a night when you do not want a strong glow, charge it once, then fish it without recharging and find out at which brightness the squid hit as the light slowly fades.
| V0 | V0+ | V1 | V2 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Size 3.5 | 15g | 16g | 17g | 20g |
| Size 3.8 | 17g | 18g | 19g | 24g |
| Size 4.3 (Alpha) | 22g | 23g | 24g | — |
Made to order only. Orders are taken from 20:00 on Friday 4 September 2026 until 23:59 on Thursday 10 September (JST), with delivery expected between late September and late November. You can order from the online shop or from a Keystone dealer. Aka-Samurai Meteor Glow Orange and Green, joining EgiSharp Alpha the same September, are covered in another record.
How to order is explained here. Orders close at 23:59 (JST) on Thursday 10 September 2026.
See the three colours on EgiSharp See the three colours on EgiSharp Alpha 4.3
The Lure's Role
EgiSharp
EgiSharp is Keystone’s core egi: a sharp rigid-polyurethane-foam body paired with the KS06 hook. Sizes 3.5 and 3.8 each come in four sink rates — V0, V0+, V1 and V2 — and the size 4.3 EgiSharp Alpha keeps its large body under 25 g in three rates, V0, V0+ and V1. The three anniversary colours come on all three sizes in the same pattern. Choose how it sinks by size and rate; choose how it glows by colour.
The axis is glow strength. For red-type squid at night, glow comes first. Super Glow to draw them in by presence, Red Glow to show them a red light, and when they are slow to respond to glow, the faint Purple Glow for a targeted approach. With the long-lasting glow, one egi lets you step the brightness down and probe the response. For Aka-Samurai himself, it was fishing Okinawa that showed him how effective V0 is, and the squid that set his personal record that year came on an Aka-Samurai colour. For the anniversary, he is asking anglers to post their own memorable catches on Aka-Samurai colours — with a photo — on Instagram or in the online shop reviews.
From the Workshop in Arita
These anniversary colours are made to order only. The day after orders close, we start making them one by one at Keystone’s own factory in Arita, Saga Prefecture — the town of Arita porcelain. Genuinely made in Japan. From here, every single egi is finished with our soul in it, and delivered between late September and late November. The special light of year fifteen. Let us begin!
MADE TODAY IN ARITA
Everything above is told in this video.
If it will not play, watch it on YouTube.
How to order is explained here. Orders close at 23:59 (JST) on Thursday 10 September 2026.
