Design Niwaki
Made in Sanjo, Niigata, Japan
Dimensions 28cm total, 12cm head
Colour & Materiality Steel, ash handle
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.
