It’s hard to tell the difference these days between “Made In Japan” and “Made in Asia from Japanese steel”
The Japanese produce some wonderful – and expensive – salon and barber shears. They also produce most of the finest – and costliest –scissor steel in the world, Hitachi ATS 314 and VG-10 Gold SuperSteel. So they have a monopoly on high-quality, right? Wrong! Today they are faced with increasing competition in the top-of-the-line market segment from companies outside Japan.
There are two elements that make up the cost to produce high-end hair shears.
- The cost of the 314 and VG-10 steel alloys.
- The cost of the skilled labor to hand forge, sharpen and polish the shears and individually weld the handles to the blades.
There are two reasons why “Made in Asia of Japanese steel” is becoming an accepted alternative to shears made entirely in Japan.
- Hitachi 314 or VG-10 steel is readily available.
- Talented craftsmen in Taiwan, Korea, China and Singapore use the same Japanese steel and production techniques as they do in Japan. Because of their county’s economy, they are not as highly paid as their counterparts in Japan – reducing the cost, but not necessarily the quality, of the finished product.
All this adds up to the fact that some companies outside Japan are now producing superb hairdressing shears made of Japanese steel – and doing so at prices that make them a very attractive alternative.
In fact, much of the craftsmanship in Japanese salon shears is now done outside of Japan. And some of the shears labeled “Made In Japan” seems to refer only to the steel. TopEdge Shears are made exclusively from VG-10 Gold and Hitachi ATS 314 steel. So when the time comes to buy new shears, compare feature for feature and get value for your dollar.
