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Japanese Garden Tools

A field guide to makers and regions

Where Japan’s pruning shears, saws, whetstones, palm-fibre rope and akadama come from, town by town, with a map.

makers
44
tool towns
6
places on the map
16

Find a tool See the map

By Isaki Kasahara, arborist in Tokyo · Updated

Not advertising — no maker paid to be listed. Details at the end.

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Makers by region

Where each tool comes from

Each dot is the city or town office of a place where makers are based, not a workshop. Click a dot to jump to that place. Click the map once to zoom with the scroll wheel.

Tool town · Osaka

Sakai

2 makers

Sakai has made blades since the 16th century, when its smiths began forging knives for cutting tobacco leaves. Its forged blades, Sakai uchihamono, were designated a national Traditional Craft in 1982. Both makers below have their head offices in Sakai.

Read more in the Journal: Japanese Pruning Shear Makers: How Region and Steel Decide Which Pair You Need

Source for this note: Sakai City, Sakai uchihamono

Tool town · Niigata

Sanjo & Tsubame

4 makers

Sanjo and Tsubame are neighbouring cities in Niigata Prefecture. Around 1650, the blacksmiths of the Sanjo area were filling heavy demand for nails, and they later widened into sickles, scissors and carpentry tools.

Read more in the Journal: Japanese Pruning Shear Makers: How Region and Steel Decide Which Pair You Need

Source for this note: Japan Tourism Agency, Blacksmiths and Merchants in Sanjō

Kikuwa

株式会社喜久和

Sanjo, Niigata

  • Bonsai pruning shears
  • Branch cutters
  • Root cutters
  • Saws
  • Care tools

Official site (kikuwa.com)

A brand without a factory of its own: the company says it has no manufacturing department and develops its products with partner makers.

Tool town · Hyogo

Miki

4 makers

Miki’s forged blades, Banshu Miki uchihamono, were designated a national Traditional Craft on 8 April 1996. The craft is known for saws, chisels, planes and knives. The four makers below have their head offices in Miki.

Read more in the Journal: Japanese Pruning Saws — Why They Pull, How to Choose One

Source for this note: Kougeihin.jp, Banshu Miki Uchihamono

Razorsawbrand

玉鳥産業株式会社

Miki, Hyogo

  • Replaceable-blade saws
  • Pruning saws

Official site (gyokucho.co.jp)

Gyokucho is the sales company. Its manufacturing affiliate is in Ono.

Tool town · Hyogo

Ono & Kakogawa

5 makers

Banshu is the old name for the western part of Hyogo. Its sickles and garden shears are made in several cities, including Ono, Miki and Kakogawa. Four of the makers below are in Ono and one is in Kakogawa.

Read more in the Journal: Japanese Pruning Shear Makers: How Region and Steel Decide Which Pair You Need · Japanese Pruning Saws — Why They Pull, How to Choose One

Tool town · Yamagata

Yamagata

1 maker

Yamagata City, in the north, has a forged-blade tradition known as Yamagata uchihamono. The maker below has its workshop in the city, and I have visited it.

Read more in the Journal: Tobisho Pruning Shears — Inside the Yamagata Workshop · Japanese Pruning Shear Makers: How Region and Steel Decide Which Pair You Need

Tool town · Kochi

Tosa

1 maker

Tosa uchihamono are hammer-forged blades made in the east and centre of Kochi Prefecture, in places including Kami, Nankoku, Tosa and Susaki. The craft was designated a national Traditional Craft on 6 May 1998.

Source for this note: Kogei Japan, Tosa Uchihamono

Whetstones · Tochigi · Osaka

Sharpening stones

3 makers

Three makers of whetstones are listed here. The places on the map are head offices: Shapton in Mashiko, Tochigi, and Naniwa and Matsunaga in Osaka. A head office is not necessarily where the stones are made.

Palm fibre · Wakayama

Kainan

1 maker

Kainan’s household-goods industry began as a palm (shuro) industry. According to the city, ropes, nets, brooms and scrubbing brushes were already being made from palm fibre in the Edo period. The maker below makes shuro rope, the black rope used in Japanese garden work.

Read more in the Journal: Japanese Tree Staking — Torii Supports vs Western Advice

Source for this note: Kainan City, household goods and furniture

Soil · Ibaraki · Tochigi · Tokyo · Aichi · Gunma

Akadama & garden soils

5 makers

Akadama is a red volcanic-ash subsoil from the Kanto Loam, and kanuma is a pumice layer around Kanuma in Tochigi. Two of the makers below sell hard akadama made in Ibaraki Prefecture. The other three sell bagged garden soils and growing media. The map shows head offices.

Read more in the Journal: Akadama, Kanuma, Kuroboku: Why Japanese Soils Come as Grains

Plantation Iwamoto Co., Ltd.

株式会社プランティーションイワモト

Hokota, Ibaraki · Founded 1967

  • Hard akadama from Ibaraki
  • Fired akadama

Official site (p-iwamoto.com) English company page

The company says direct exports are for business orders, normally by the container, and that it does not handle small private orders.

株式会社瀬戸ヶ原花苑

Kiryu, Gunma

  • Garden soils
  • Agricultural growing media
  • Soils for commercial and public works

Official site (setogahara.co.jp)

Also has a plant in Iga, Mie.

Not hand tools

Also on Japanese job sites

Ladders, climbing and safety gear, power equipment and landscape materials are made across Japan rather than in one craft district, so they are listed by name only.

Ladders 4

Climbing gear 4

Tree Climbing World

株式会社ツリークライミングワールド

Climbing ropes, processed ropes and rigging gear under the TREEPRO brand

Nagoya, Aichi

Official site (tcw.co.jp)

Power tools 7

Zenoahbrand

ハスクバーナ・ゼノア株式会社

Chainsaws, brush cutters, blowers, hedge trimmers

Kawagoe, Saitama

A Japanese brand; the company is now part of the Husqvarna group.

Official site (zenoah.com)

Koki Holdings Co., Ltd.

工機ホールディングス株式会社

Cordless chainsaws, brush cutters, blowers and hedge trimmers, under the HiKOKI brand

Minato, Tokyo

Official site (koki-holdings.com) English text on the page

Materials 3

Questions

Quick answers

Where are Japanese pruning shears made?

The twelve shear makers in this guide are based in six towns: Sakai in Osaka, Sanjo in Niigata, Miki, Ono and Kakogawa in Hyogo, and Yamagata. Each is linked to its own website. The Journal article on shear makers also covers Okatsune of Innoshima, which this guide does not list.

What is the difference between Sakai, Sanjo and Miki?

They are three separate blade towns with different histories. Sakai began with tobacco knives in the 16th century, and its forged blades were designated a national Traditional Craft in 1982. Sanjo grew from nail-making around 1650 into sickles, scissors and carpentry tools. Miki’s forged blades, designated in 1996, are known for saws, chisels, planes and knives.

Why do Japanese saws cut on the pull stroke?

Japanese saws cut on the pull stroke because pulling keeps the blade in tension, and a blade in tension can be far thinner than one that must survive being pushed. A thin blade removes less wood per stroke, so it cuts green branches with less effort. This guide lists seven makers of pruning saws; see the article on pruning saws.

Which makers of akadama and garden soil are listed?

Five makers of akadama and garden soils are listed, based in Ibaraki, Tochigi, Tokyo, Aichi and Gunma. Akadama is a red volcanic-ash subsoil from the Kanto Loam, sold in grades by grain size. Plantation Iwamoto Co., Ltd. and 長浜商店 sell hard akadama made in Ibaraki Prefecture; the other three sell bagged garden soils. See the soil makers.

How were the makers in this guide chosen?

A maker is listed only if its own official website confirmed the company, the town and the products on 25 October 2026. That gave 44 makers: 26 that make hand tools and materials, grouped by town, and 18 that make ladders, climbing gear, power tools and landscape materials. A maker that is missing was simply not confirmed.

Is this guide sponsored?

No. No maker has paid for a place in this guide or given the author anything in return for one. There are no affiliate links, and every link goes to the maker’s own website. The author is Isaki Kasahara, an arborist in Tokyo, and being listed here is neither an endorsement nor an advertisement.

About this guideHow the list was made, sources, how to cite

What is listed

This guide lists 44 makers that I could confirm on their own official websites on 25 October 2026. 26 of them make hand tools and materials, grouped by region. The other 18 are listed by name under “Also on Japanese job sites”. It is a field guide, not a ranking: a maker missing here is not a judgement, it only means I could not confirm it.

Not advertising

No maker has paid for a place in this guide or given me anything in return for one, and there are no affiliate links. Every link goes to the maker’s own site.

Names, places and dates

Where a maker’s English name could not be confirmed, only the Japanese name is shown. A name marked “brand” is the brand, not necessarily the company. The place is the head office, which is not always where the products are made; each point on the map is the city or town office of that place. Founding years are given only where the maker states a single year.

Sources

Companies, products, places and years come from each maker’s own official website, checked on 25 October 2026. The notes on regions are sourced under each note (Sakai City, the Japan Tourism Agency, the Association for the Promotion of Traditional Craft Industries, Kogei Japan, Kainan City). Map points come from the address search of the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (GSI); the source of each point is recorded in the data. Background map: GSI Tiles, modified. Map display: Leaflet. Words in romaji, such as sentei-basami, link to the Japanese Tree & Garden Glossary.

How to cite this guide

Kasahara, I. (2026). Japanese Garden Tools — A Field Guide to Makers and Regions. Japan Blue Arborist. https://japanbluearborist.com/japanese-garden-tools/

To cite a single maker, add its link, for example https://japanbluearborist.com/japanese-garden-tools/#maker-ars.

Corrections

Last updated . Companies move, merge and change their products. If you find a mistake or a missing maker, please tell me through the contact form.