Design Niwaki
Made in Yamagata, Japan
Dimensions 110mm blades, 270mm length, 312g
Colour & Materiality S58C carbon steel
Hard-wearing, heavy-duty clippers for box clipping, topiary and other jobs in the garden where double-handed shears are too large or clumsy. Don’t overdo it - they’re not for hard woody cuts, but are absolutely indispensable for small box balls, and finishing off larger topiary work, reaching around the back and into gaps.
Hand-forged in Yamagata, deep in the mountains in northern Japan, from high carbon steel, with a solid, chunky catch at the bottom and a robust spring. Yellow grips show up in the undergrowth and on the compost heap - and they look great. The tips cross over a bit when fully closed, to allow for years and years of use and sharpening.
New Shears and Clippers do tend to stick a bit at first - rather like a good frying pan, they can take a bit of wearing in. Clean them regularly and oil with Camellia Oil until they settle down.
Niwaki means garden tree, but implies far more—Japanese gardens are landscapes, microcosms of nature, and the trees are all shaped to fit into those landscapes. Niwaki was founded by Jake Hobson, who through a thoughtful collection of shears, secateurs, and sickles, has created a strong community of gardeners who appreciate the superb quality of Japanese craftsmanship. Originally trained as a sculptor at The Slade School of Art, Hobson looks to his hedges like a sculptor looks to a block of stone, anticipating the form waiting to reveal itself from under the deep mass of foliage. Beyond his natural skill with shears, it is his unique eye that has given Jake Hobson international acclaim. Shaping shrubs into rolling waves and pines into billows of clouds—these Japanese forms, in harmony amidst the English countryside, are a sight to behold. Read our interview with Jake Hobson in Volume II of MINKA.
