Design Niwaki
Made in Sanjo, Japan
Dimensions 80mm blades, 220mm long
Colour & Materiality KA70 carbon steel, rattan handle
Limited-edition garden clippers for snipping, clipping and light pruning. Hand lashed by craftsmen in Sanjo, in the north of Japan, with a single unbroken length of wisteria tendril rattan, they have a lovely warm quality that compliments the hard-wearing KA70 carbon steel. The 3" blades are shorter than Topiary Clippers but longer, and with a bit more clout, than regular snips, making them ideal as all-round garden shears. They come in a beautiful kiribako Paulownia wood box (yes—the one with the big leaves!) and make a most excellent gift.
As a natural material, rattan should be treated a step more carefully than regular tool handles—not bashed about, not left out in the rain overnight (not a good idea, for any tools, incidentally...) and generally looked after. In particular, don't fold the lock catch inside the handle, as this can wear the rattan.
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.
