Free delivery with orders over £60 (UK only) Free delivery with orders over £60 (UK only)

Mini Snips

£32.00

Traditional Nigiribasami snips. Ever eaten an onigiri? (rice balls, sometimes wrapped in seaweed, normally with something inside, like salmon.) Well, an onigiri is so called because it’s squeezed into shape in the palm of your hand, and these little beauties are so called because…you squeeze them in the palm of your hand. Nigiri = to squeeze.

Fantastic for bonsai, herbs and other jobs that call for minute precision, as well as fabric and sewing work, and fine paper cutting.

  • 19g
  • 100 x 13 x 12mm
  • 35mm blades
  • Stainless Steel
  • Made in Japan

Please note: By law, we are not permitted to sell a knife or blade to any person under the age of 18. By placing an order for one of these items you are declaring that you are 18 years of age or over. These items must be used responsibly and appropriately.

1997. Jake goes to Japan as a wannabe sculptor, to investigate the cultural phenomenon of the cherry blossom season, hanami. There he discovers the gardens, and the trees, and vows to learn more.

Back home in England, he trains as a TEFL teacher, meets Keiko, and drags her back to Japan. Year one is spent teaching, year two working at a traditional plant nursey in a rural part of Osaka, learning all about tree training, pruning and rootballing.

Back home again, Jake gets work at Architectural Plants in Sussex, where he is shocked to find people using FOUR LEGGED LADDERS (Can you imagine?) Brother-in-law Haruyasu is enrolled to ship over a couple of tripod ladders (still going strong today) which together with the robust secateurs and topiary clippers Jake insists on using, cause quite a stir.

And so begins the business.

What everyone starts to appreciate is that although these things are all Japanese, they work just as well in western gardens, and on a whole range of plants. Tripod ladders, it turns out, are just as useful for hedge trimming as they are for pine pruning; and of course topiary clippers work just as well on box topiary as they do on azalea karikomi.

You don’t need to grow bonsai to enjoy these tools.