Japanese scissors are highly regarded around the world, and behind that reputation lie a long history of tools and blade-making skills that have always pursued precision. So why do Japanese scissors cut so well? Let's find out by looking at how scissors are built and at the history of Seki, Japan's renowned home of blades.
The History of Scissors Goes Back Before the Common Era
Early forms of scissors can be found among artifacts from Iron Age Greece, around 1000 BC. The main type at the time was the "spring scissors": a single piece of metal bent into a U shape. Squeezing them closes the blades, and relaxing your grip lets them spring open again. This is the same structure as the nigiri-basami (spring scissors) still used in Japan today for snipping thread.
Meanwhile, X-shaped scissors — closer to the scissors we use today, with two blades joined at a central pivot and crossing each other by the principle of the lever — have been found in ruins from the Roman Empire dating to 27 BC. Throughout its long history, humanity has kept improving the mechanism for moving two blades more efficiently to cut.
Scissors That Cut Well Require High Precision
Kitchen knives and other knives cut in a different way from scissors. A knife cuts by pressing a single blade against an object or moving it back and forth. Scissors, on the other hand, hold the object between two blades and cut by crossing them.
That is why the sharpness of scissors is not determined by "how sharp the blades are" alone. The shape of the blades, how the two blades meet, the adjustment of the pivot, the precision of the machining — only when these factors come together do you get scissors that cut well.
What's more, as scissors close, the cutting point moves from the pivot toward the tip. A good pair of scissors therefore needs to be machined and adjusted so that the two blades meet properly and cut consistently from the base of the blade all the way to the tip.
Japan Developed "Cutting Tools" for Every Purpose
Japan has made many kinds of blades since ancient times — not only Japanese swords. Sickles, saws, planes, razors, fabric shears, thread snips: there is a blade for each purpose.
Even among scissors alone, there are many types depending on their use — for cutting fabric, for snipping thread, for cutting paper, for trimming plants, and more. Rather than making "one blade that can cut anything," Japanese blade culture has made different tools depending on what is being cut, and how.
When it comes to this tradition of Japanese blade-making, one of the most important places is Seki, in Gifu Prefecture.
Traditional Japanese sword forging by the 26th-generation swordsmith Fujiwara Kanefusa, a modern master who carries on a name passed down in Seki, Gifu, since the Muromachi period.
Seki: A Town That Has Made Blades for Over 800 Years
Seki, in Gifu Prefecture, lies almost at the very center of the Japanese archipelago and is one of Japan's leading cutlery-producing regions. Its history goes back more than 800 years, to the Kamakura period. The origin of Seki's blade industry is said to be when the swordsmiths Motoshige and Kaneshige moved to Seki and began making swords there.
Why Seki? The area had everything sword-making required: high-quality clay for hardening blades (yakiba-tsuchi), pine charcoal, and an abundant supply of water. With such ideal conditions for swordsmithing, Seki gradually drew many swordsmiths and grew into one of Japan's great centers of sword production.
It was here that the sword-making tradition known as Seki-den, or Mino-den, developed. Seki swords became famous for being "unbreakable, unbending, and exceptionally sharp" — because they were not just keen-edged, but combined the strength to withstand real use with superb cutting performance.
Later, in the Muromachi period, Seki's sword-making reached its golden age, producing many outstanding swordsmiths, including the master Kanemoto, known as "Seki no Magoroku."
A sword from Seki. The Japanese sword is the origin of more than 800 years of blade-making in the region.
From Japanese Swords to Modern Blades
In the Edo period, as warfare became less frequent, demand for swords gradually declined. Some swordsmiths across Japan began putting the skills they had developed through sword-making to use in making scissors and other blades.
Sakai, Banshu, Echigo, Sanjo, Fushimi in Kyoto, Tanegashima, Mino and Seki, among others, became known as scissor-producing regions. In Seki in particular, the tradition of swordsmithing was carried on for a long time. However, when the Sword Abolishment Edict (Haitorei) was issued in the Meiji era, making blades other than Japanese swords became even more important as an industry.
Many scissors of that time were made by applying swordsmithing techniques, such as forge-welding hard steel onto soft iron. From there, the blade-making skills cultivated in Seki, along with a culture of craftsmanship devoted to sharpness, expanded into a wide range of products.
Today, Seki produces a wide variety of blades, including kitchen knives, pocket knives, scissors, nail clippers, medical instruments and industrial blades. Of course, Japanese swords and modern scissors are not made in the same way. From the 1950s onward, rust-resistant scissors made from cutlery-grade stainless steel became widespread, and both materials and manufacturing processes changed significantly.
Even so, Seki remains home to a concentrated industry specializing in blades. Over a long period of time, it has built up the skills and knowledge of cutting, and has evolved its blade industry to suit each era by adopting new materials and manufacturing technologies. That is one of the greatest strengths of Seki today.
A wide range of blades from Seki. Kitchen knives, scissors, knives and more, each made for its own purpose.
The Great Cutlery Bargain Market at the Seki Cutlery Festival, where a diverse array of Seki blades is on display.
The Precision Manufacturing Behind Seki
Today's scissors are expected not only to cut well, but also to deliver consistent quality from one product to the next. That is why Seki's blade industry today actively embraces modern production technology, such as computer-controlled machine tools and industrial robots, alongside the craftsmanship cultivated over many years.
The experience of skilled people and the precision of machines — combining both to create excellent blades. That is Seki today. Seki is known as one of the world's leading cutlery-producing regions, alongside Solingen in Germany and Sheffield in England.
A Damascus kitchen knife made in Seki — one example of the diverse blades that represent Seki today.
Why Japanese Scissors Cut So Well
So, once again: why do Japanese scissors cut so well? Of course, not every pair of scissors cuts well simply because it was made in Japan. Nor are Japanese swords and modern scissors made in the same way.
But behind them lies a shared way of thinking: the continuous pursuit of the function of "cutting." Scissors require high machining precision and adjustment skills to make two blades work together accurately.
And Japan has a long history of making different blades for different purposes, always seeking tools that cut better. In blade-making regions such as Seki, these skills and this knowledge have accumulated as an industry, and today they are combined with modern precision manufacturing technology.
The skill to make two blades work together accurately, and the accumulated experience of a blade industry that has kept making "tools that cut better." Together, these are what give Japanese scissors their sharpness.
Photos courtesy of Seki City Tourism Association
（写真提供：一般社団法人関市観光協会）
References
*Okamoto, Seishi. Scissors (Mono to Ningen no Bunka-shi 33) [in Japanese]. Hosei University Press, 1979.
*Nozawa, Matsuo. The History of Stationery: An Overview of the Development of Stationery [in Japanese]. Bunken-sha, 1994.