Mork

Company Background

Mork Scissors is based in Ono City, Hyogo Prefecture (小野市, 兵庫県), a region known as “the city of scissors” (はさみの町). Ono’s scissor heritage spans over 250 years, originally rooted in agricultural tool production. The company itself traces back to 1893, when first generation founder Eiji Kawashima began manufacturing Japanese grip scissors during the Meiji era.

The business has passed through four generations of the Kawashima family. The second generation, Yoshikazu, transitioned from traditional Japanese grip scissors to Western tailoring scissors as Japan’s clothing shifted from kimono to Western dress. He pioneered mass production techniques using cast iron handle parts. The third generation, Yukio, focused on steel research and introduced numerically controlled heat treatment equipment, a technology that eventually spread to over 50 companies in the region. The current fourth generation leader, Reichi Kawashima, shifted the company’s focus to professional hair cutting shears, building on 130 years of scissor specific knowledge.

Integrated Production

What sets Mork apart from many Japanese shear makers is their fully integrated production model. In the Seki City manufacturing region, it is common for different stages of production to be handled by different specialist workshops. One shop forges the blanks, another grinds the blades, another assembles the final product. Mork does everything under one roof.

According to Mork, they build specialized machines for each process in their own factory, handling every step from raw material to finished shears. This allows them to customize individual pairs to exact specifications. A stylist can choose their preferred combination of materials, blade shape, blade length, blade thickness, handle shape, handle length, screw type, finger hole size, finger rest dimensions, and even sound dampener colors. Each pair gets a product number and its data is stored, which means maintenance and resharpening can be done with full knowledge of how that specific pair was originally built.

Awards and Innovation

Mork won the 50th Hyogo Prefecture Technical Merit Award for their contactless double-bearing system. This screw mechanism reduces friction between the blades without direct metal on metal contact at the pivot point. According to professionals who have used it, the result is significantly less hand fatigue during long cutting sessions. Mork reports that stylists suffering from arm fatigue and tendinitis have found relief using shears with this system.

The company also developed an original “propeller blade” (プロペラ刃) design. According to Mork, this blade geometry prevents hair from escaping during the cut, keeping strands captured from root to tip. This is a concept that does not really have an equivalent in Western scissor manufacturing.

Furusato Nozei Availability

Mork shears are available through Japan’s Furusato Nozei (ふるさと納税) hometown tax system. This is a uniquely Japanese purchasing channel where taxpayers can redirect a portion of their local taxes to a municipality of their choice and receive local products in return. For Ono City, professional scissors are one of the signature offerings. This is not a typical retail channel, but it reflects Mork’s deep connection to their home region.

Beyond Hairdressing

Mork has obtained medical device manufacturing and repair business licenses. The company applies their multi-generational scissor expertise to developing surgical instruments, including tools for artificial blood vessels and ventricular assist devices. They also handle maintenance and partial processing for other manufacturers’ products, including jobs that other companies have turned down as impossible.

Sources

• Mork official website: mork.co.jp
• Ono City Furusato Nozei product listings
• 50th Hyogo Prefecture Technical Merit Award records