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"Chakkou Hizukuri" is a unique Japanese forge welding method that, it is said, was established in the Heian Era (794-1192) for making samurai swords.
The manufacturing technique for making shears came from China to Japan in the Muromachi Era (1338-1573).
Most of the cutlery in the world is made from hard steel, but Japanese cutleries are made with soft iron steel for the main body and hard steel, forge welded, for the cutting edge. This crafting method is called “Chakkou".
The main stream of the Japanese cutleries using the manufacturing process "Chakkou" results in soft handling, sharp cutting, and hard to break characteristics. Steel has a characteristic of sharper cutting but less endurance when it is soft. If it is hard, it has longer endurance with less sharpness.
"Chakkou" takes advantage of the good points of both soft and hard steels.
For the barber/beauty salon shears, we pick the optimum steel materials and through heat treatment processes, such as annealing, quenching, and tempering, make a final product that is sharp and long lasting.
Our mission in Utsumi Co., Ltd is to ensure the traditional manufacturing technique is kept alive by performing an annual, traditional, ritual in the Osaka plant and to continue making the hand crafted shears using only experienced craftsmen.
Chimaki Utsumi,
Utsumi Co., Ltd. |
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