Learning How to Live with Blades, Starting from Their Roots

Blades are an indispensable tool in everyday life.

Blades have been made all over the world since ancient times, and because of differences in their roots,

each one carries its own diverse characteristics.

This time, we introduce blades made in one Japanese city and two cities around the world.

【From Household Blades: Ono City, Hyogo Prefecture】

The southwestern part of Hyogo Prefecture is known as Banshu, an area recognized since ancient times as a center of blade production.

Within the Banshu region, Ono City has continued to manufacture household blades such as scissors and sickles,

earning such a reputation for quality that the names "Ono no hasami" (Ono's scissors) and "Ono no kama" (Ono's sickles) became known throughout history.

With a history spanning over 230 years, Ono's blade craft began with razors, and

has since expanded to produce a variety of blades, including hand-held scissors and kitchen knives.

Prized for both their sharpness and design, these blades are still recognized today as tools for everyday use.

Banshu Hamono (Banshu blades) is a brand born from this history of metalwork in Ono,

with a vision to now share it with the world.

As if reflecting Ono's roots in focusing on household blades,

the brand manufactures blades meant for everyday use in daily life.

The tailoring scissors from Banshu Hamono have a beautifully clean, straightforward form.

These tailoring scissors were once called "rasha-kiri basami" (rasha-cutting scissors),

and are said to have been used since the Meiji era for cutting rasha (thick wool fabric).

Since then, they have been repeatedly refined to be easier for smaller-statured Japanese users to handle,

resulting in the current design, which pursues both sharpness and ease of use.

That said, the fine details of construction and materials used vary widely.

Banshu Hamono uses blades made of high-carbon steel for the cutting edge.

Compared to stainless steel, this material wears less and maintains an outstanding sharpness for a long time, keeping the cut surface beautifully clean.

Next up is Banshu Hamono's hand-held scissors.

These U-shaped hand-held scissors, true to their name, offer the simplicity of cutting just by gripping them.

These scissors, which conjure images of once being used for kimono tailoring,

are an indispensable tool for sewing, used for cutting loose threads and doing embroidery.

Like the tailoring scissors, Banshu Hamono's hand-held scissors are made from high-carbon steel,

and their simple design, stripped of all excess, is a classic form passed down through generations.

Easy for women to handle as well, they embody the very qualities that Ono's blade-making, with its focus on household tools, is known for.

Banshu Hamono also offers a wide range of scissors for flower arranging, in addition to sewing scissors.

These flower-arranging scissors are notable for the curled shape at the tip of the handle.

This shape resembles a warabi (bracken fern), giving them the name "warabi-de" (fern handle), a type of scissors used in ikebana (Japanese flower arranging).

The rounded form fits softly into the palm of the hand.

With a sharply angled blade and compact size, they allow you to make a clean cut through stems

without crushing the cross-section, even without applying much force.

【From Agricultural and Carpentry Tools: Sanjo City, Niigata Prefecture】

Sanjo City in Niigata Prefecture is also well known as a region with thriving blade production.

While the Banshu region's blade tradition began with household tools,

Sanjo's blade industry traces its roots to the production of wakugi (traditional Japanese nails) that began during the Edo period.

Wakugi production, originally a side business for farmers, later shifted toward blacksmithing,

and the manufacture of sickles, kitchen knives, nails, and rivets spread from there.

SUWADA, founded in Sanjo City, got its start manufacturing tools called "kuikiri,"

used for cutting hard materials such as nail heads and wire,

and today its nipper-style nail clippers have earned high acclaim.

The technique honed through kuikiri production—where the two blades meet with perfect precision—

has been passed down to their nail clippers as well, allowing them to cut through even hard materials with outstanding sharpness.

These nipper-style nail clippers contain a cylinder spring,

which allows firm pressure to be applied through the open handles,

and since the blades open wide, they make it easy to cut even thick, misshapen nails.

The ability to cut cleanly without splitting the nail is a hallmark unique to SUWADA's nail clippers.

It is proof that the blade-making techniques of Sanjo continue to be put to use in modern craftsmanship.

The metalworking culture of Sanjo City, which began with wakugi production, is said to have spurred the manufacture of various carpentry tools beyond nails.

Kanna (Japanese hand planes) were one of them.

At its peak, around 70 companies are said to have manufactured kanna blades.

However, amid the shifting tides of the postwar era, the number of companies producing only kanna blades gradually declined,

and today only about 10 companies remain.

Amid this trend, DAIYA, which started out in Sanjo City making kanna dai (plane bodies),

continues to make use of that craftsmanship today in a new product: the katsuobushi (dried bonito flake) shaver.

While packaged katsuobushi is the norm today,

there was once a time when katsuobushi was made by hand-shaving bonito, one piece at a time.

That tradition lives on today in DAIYA's katsuobushi shaver, which

draws on kanna dai production techniques while pursuing a shape better suited to modern use—compact and stylish.

The blade uses SK5 carbon steel made in Sanjo City, Niigata Prefecture.

With the seemingly contradictory qualities of being easy to sharpen yet holding its edge for a long time, the blade allows you to shave katsuobushi with minimal effort.

For the base wood, in addition to shirakashi (Japanese white oak), natural materials such as walnut and beech are used.

The freshness that comes only from freshly planed shavings can be enjoyed right in your own home.

【Germany's Famous Knife-Making Region: Solingen】

Next, let's turn to knives from around the world.

One of the towns renowned as a European center of cutlery is Solingen, Germany.

Solingen has thrived as a center of blacksmithing, including knife production, since the medieval era,

and even today more than 1,000 cutlery makers are based there.

Robert Herder is also a cutlery brand founded in Solingen in 1872.

What characterizes Robert Herder knives is

the blade-fitting method used, in which a thin, finely honed blade is fitted into the handle in a wedge shape.

This blade-fitting technique, still carried out by hand today, means there is no concern about the blade breaking,

and when a craftsman tests the blade against a ring worn on the finger, the blade—finished so thin that it bends—

is also known for its remarkable sharpness.

Robert Herder's Old German knives

have a rounded blade tip, making it easy not only to "cut" but also to "lay food on" the blade.

Spreading butter on bread, cutting fruit or soft vegetables, and other

such small tasks are made easy thanks to the thinly crafted blade.

It is a valuable item to have—not just as a knife for cooking, but as a piece of tableware in its own right.

・To use a blade for a long time, the first priority is to "maintain its sharpness."

By strictly using fabric scissors only for fabric and floral scissors only for plants—never for anything outside their intended use—

you can preserve their original sharpness.

・When a blade comes into contact with sticky tape, adhesive, or water,

it not only loses its sharpness but may also develop rust.

First and foremost, avoid using the blade on sticky substances and keep it away from water.

If it does come into contact with such substances, wipe it off immediately with a soft, dry cloth.

▽Repair Information

For products from the following brands purchased at ZUTTO, repairs are accepted directly by the manufacturer.

If you would like to request a repair, please contact our customer support.

ZUTTO Customer Support: support@zutto.co.jp

・Banshu Hamono: Resharpening, handle repair

・SUWADA: Nail clipper maintenance

・Daiya: Plane blade sharpening, plane body (wood) repair, walnut oil application, test planing