Tools of the Trade: Japanese Garden Snippers from Tajika Haruo Ironworks

Garden tool or art? Both. At Tajika Haruo Ironworks in northeast Japan, father‑son duo Takeo and Daisuke Tajika continue a 1928 family tradition, hand‑forging, shaping, and sharpening each pair of garden clippers.

The Clippers

Hand‑forged Iron Garden Clippers. $136.72 from Analogue Life; $145 from Nalata Nalata.

Father and son work side by side in their Ono factory.

Leather strap secures handles for storage.

Hand‑sharpened steel blades. Daisuke: “Hand manufacturing allows fine‑tuning a machine can’t achieve.”