Shozaburo Shears and Scissors
The World's Best Forged Scissors
When I lived and worked as a village bladesmith in Japan for 18 years, I had occasion to sharpen and repair several hundred pairs of scissors of all kinds, shapes and sizes. Over the years, one brand of scissors left a lasting impression on me as being of the very finest quality. No matter what condition they were in when the customer brought them to me for refurbishing, they always cleaned up the best, and always got "scary sharp" when I was finished working on them. The brand that cut and performed better than all the others was and remains to this day, TOKYO SHOZABURO TOBASAMI.
Before heading to Japan in December 2009, I made a "cold" sales phone call to Shozaburo and introduced myself in my best Japanese. After a few tense moments, not knowing whether they would take me seriously or not (it is not Japanese custom to call on a company with no prior introduction from someone who personally knows the staff), the conversation became very friendly. They were open to the idea that I come visit their factory office while I was in Japan. I was encouraged that, so far, things seemed to be going very well indeed.
When the day came to pay them a visit, I summoned my best formal Japanese language skills and mentally reviewed business etiquette, so as to not ruin a fantastic business opportunity by being too casual on the first meeting. I met with the president's son, who manages operations. He interviewed me for about 30 minutes, while his father, the president, sat at his desk within earshot. After talking about specific smithing processes and metallurgy, and about my specific techniques for disassembling and sharpening scissors, the president finally came over and introduced himself to me. That was a very good sign, and at this point, I gathered they realized I was very serious about responsibly representing their prestigious product.
The rest of the two-hour long meeting was very friendly and both the president and his son gladly accepted my proposal to be Shozaburo's main dealer and repair technician for all of North America. I purchased a quantity of their finest products and brought them back to Oregon, where now you all will get to see them before everyone else. We parted on the understanding that as I gain a strong foothold in the high-end scissor market, they will have me back to their factory to spend a full day with their best craftsman to study their refurbishing process from start to finish, just to be sure I have mastered all the tricks there is to know about sharpening and repairing scissors.
Shozaburo & Company make the best Japanese fabric shears and every-day use scissors that we've found on the market. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes, including semi- and full-left-hand styles. What makes Shozaburo scissors stand out is their superior construction and their ability to maintain a tight blade mesh and sharpness. These production techniques date back to the 1800's. You can learn more about the company and their production process by clicking on their company link above.
In October of 2010, Murray and four guests traveled to Japan where, in addition to seeing a perspective of Japan very few can imagine, they were taken on a fascinating tour of the Shozaburo Scissor Factory in Tokyo, Japan. You can find the rest of the tour, plus so much more on our YouTube Channel - Carter Cutlery. See you there!
Standard ShearsSTS $80.50 | Standard Shears - DeluxeSTSD$176.75 |
Left-Hand Shears - FullLHS-F $204.75 | Left-Hand Shears - SemiLHS-S $127.75 |
Round Tip ShearsRTS $140.00 | Hard Blade ShearsHBS$154.00 |
Stainless Smoother ShearsSSS $131.60 | HomeStar Sewing ScissorsHSSS $71.75 |
Curved ShearsCS $168.00 | Thread CuttersTC $45.00 |
Kitchen ScissorsKS200 $54.25 |
