Meet the Makers

Meet the Japanese makers behind East West Tools. These are workshops and toolmakers whose secateurs, shears, knives and woodworking tools are selected for clean cutting, practical use and long service life in Australian gardens and workshops.

Use this page to learn who makes the tools, what each maker is known for, and which range best suits your work.

Tobisho Secateurs (株式会社飛庄)

Tobisho Secateurs (株式会社飛庄)

Tobisho is based in Yamagata City and is best known for hand-forged Japanese secateurs and pruning shears. The appeal is not just sharpness. These tools feel solid in the hand, cut cleanly, and can be maintained rather than thrown away.

Founded in 1930, Tobisho still leans on traditional forging and careful hand finishing. Some tools pass through more than 200 production steps, from forging and heat treatment through grinding, urasuki hollowing, fitting and final adjustment.

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Yoshioka Hamono

Yoshioka Hamono is a Japanese shear and edged-tool maker based in Ono City, Hyōgo Prefecture. Founded in 1946, the workshop began with dressmaking scissors before developing into garden shears, loppers, topiary shears and other practical cutting tools.

Today the Yoshioka range at East West Tools helps gardeners choose the right tool for the job: broad hedge trimming, rounded topiary work, heavier branch cutting, serrated green-wood cutting and specialist scissors.

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Tomita Higo

Tomita Higo

Tomita Higo knives are small-batch folding pocket knives handmade in Miki City, Japan by Shigeru Tomita san. Supplier information states that Shigeru Tomita san worked with his older brother, Osamu Tomita san, for around 60 years and now continues making these knives himself using the same traditional method.

This page is a maker story and buying guide for the current East West Tools Tomita Higo: a 75mm White Paper Steel friction folder with warikomi construction, an iron tsuchime handle and a wooden box.

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Takemoto Sickle MFG

Takemoto Sickle MFG

Takemoto Sickle MFG, listed in Japan as 竹本鎌製作所, is a Japanese sickle and garden-tool maker connected with the Miki Kajiya-Mura range. Rather than treating each tool as a novelty, this page explains where the range fits: cutting grass, harvesting stems, clearing weeds and controlled garden work.

The East West Tools Takemoto range brings together the Sakle, Banshu, Shozo and related garden tools so customers can understand the maker first, then choose the tool that suits the job.

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Hounen Kihan / Hon Norimitsu

Hon Norimitsu pruning tools are made by Hounen Kihan in Miki City, Hyōgo Prefecture, one of Japan’s long-standing toolmaking regions.

This range is built for precise, controlled garden work. Choose compact Type B secateurs for smaller hands and close work, full-size Type B secateurs for general pruning, Type A secateurs for finer bypass cuts, and pointed budding shears for detailed tip work.

The Hounen Kazakari sickle sits alongside the pruning range as a simple, longer-handled tool for controlled weeding, grass cutting and light garden work.

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Michi Hamono

Michi Hamono is a Miki City maker of Japanese wood carving tools, spoon carving tools and beginner-friendly project kits. Their range suits careful hand carving, hollowing, small craft work and anyone who wants a proper starting point for wood carving.

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Azui Seisakusho (安隨製作所)

Azui Seisakusho is a Japanese hand-tool maker based in Miki City, Hyōgo Prefecture. The workshop traces its start to 1970 and makes forged agricultural and cultivation tools for soil work, weeding, digging, planting and heavier garden preparation.

The range at East West Tools focuses on practical forged tools such as hoes, mattocks and hand hoes, chosen for useful weight, balance, head shape and long service life in Australian gardens.

Explore Azui