Are Australia's "Japanese" Scissor Brands Actually Japanese? Osaka, Zen Master & the Others

Several of Australia's best-known hairdressing-scissor brands have Japanese-sounding names and sell on "Japanese steel" — while, in their own published words, naming American or Chinese steel grades under that Japanese label, or stating no country of manufacture at all, or being run by recent Australian companies rather than the heritage Japanese maker the name implies. A Japanese-sounding brand name is marketing. The grade in the fine print and the stated country of manufacture are the facts. This page reads the labels, verbatim, so you can tell them apart before you spend $300–$700.

I'm Matt Grumley — I design ShearGenius scissors and I've sharpened more than 100,000 pairs since 2007. I'm not going to tell you what metal is physically inside anyone's scissor from reading a website; only a lab test can do that, and where we've done it we've published the method. What I can show you is that the labels, again and again, don't hold up to their own claims.

How to read a "Japanese steel" claim in ten seconds

Steel grades are named by the country whose standards body defined them — this is public and checkable:

• Genuinely Japanese grades: VG10, ATS-314, ZA-18, and the JIS name SUS440C.
• American grade name: plain "440C" (AISI). On its own it names a class of steel, not a country.
• Chinese grade names: 9Cr13, 9Cr18, 8Cr13MoV (GB).

So "440C Japanese Steel" pairs an American grade name with a Japanese origin claim. And 9Cr-family steel is routinely sold worldwide under the "440C" and "Japanese steel" labels. If a seller answers "what steel?" with an adjective, a made-up word, or an American grade called Japanese — and won't name the mill and country — treat the Japanese claim as unverified. Full detail: is 9CR13 Japanese steel?

Osaka Scissors (passion-osaka.com.au)

Read verbatim from their live site, 5 September 2026:

• Which country? 36 of their product pages say "100% Made in Japan" — while their homepage says the company has "been crafting scissors in Australia." Japan and Australia can't both be where the scissor is made.
• Whose heritage? Their About page places the story in four different places at once: "Founded in partnership with PASSION Scissors, a leader in the UK market", "Our journey began amidst the vibrant hair fashion scene of Paris", "the superior quality of Japanese craftsmanship", and "crafting scissors in Australia."
• The steel name: many products name "Hitachi 440C" — Hitachi is a Japanese maker; 440C is the American grade name.
• Ownership: the site carries no ABN or registered company name — the footer names "Netsujou AU."

Zen Master Scissors (zenmasterscissors.com.au)

Read verbatim from their live site, 5 September 2026:

• The steel name: their homepage lists what the scissors are "made of" as "Cobalt, Japanese 44OC, VG10, Titanium, Damascus Steel", and a Galaxy 7" product page says "forged from premium Japanese 440C steel." VG10 is a genuine Japanese grade, but "Japanese 440C" isn't — 440C is an American (AISI) grade name; the Japanese name for that class is SUS440C. Calling 440C "Japanese" is the same mislabel you'll find on the others.
• The heritage: the brand borrows a personal hairdressing lineage — a general manager described on the About page as a "fifth-generation Hairdresser and Barber… dating back to 1878" when "his family opened their first Barbershop… in Dublin." That's a Dublin family of hairdressers, not a lineage of Japanese scissor makers — and no founding year for Zen Master itself is published anywhere.
• Inconsistent numbers: one product page (the Wolff Shear) states both "over 100 years" and "over 120 years" of combined industry experience — in the same description.
• The craftsman you can't check: Zen Master says its scissors are "Built by master Japanese craftsmen" — repeated across its homepage — but it never names one of them, never says which workshop or which Japanese town, and gives no way to contact a maker. A craftsmanship claim you can check names a real person, a real place and a way to reach them, the way we put Matt Grumley, Lake Wendouree and 0487 391 647 on every page. "Master Japanese craftsmen" is a phrase anyone can type.
• Who's behind it: their privacy policy states the brand is "a business of Business of Life Pty Ltd" — an Australian company whose ABN has only been active since October 2022. Zen Master markets its scissors as Japanese-made; whether that survives a mill name, a grade designation and a measured hardness is the test that settles it (see the three questions below).

The ones we've already documented

• Matsui and Scissor Tech — one Western Australian company (TNL Digital Pty Ltd) behind both "rival" brands; scissors titled "VG10" described as "Aichei 440C Japanese Steel" on the same page; no country of manufacture on the main range.
• Global Scissors — their own Our Story page lists "9CR13 Cobalt, 440C surgical grade or VG10" as "the Japanese metals" they use. 9CR13 is a Chinese designation.
• Japan Scissors and Scissor Hub — two storefronts, one Queensland trading trust.

The pattern rhymes every time: a Japanese-sounding name, an American or Chinese grade name in the fine print called "Japanese", and — behind it — a recent Australian owner rather than the old Japanese workshop the branding implies. This is exactly why so many of these scissors come across the bench soft, unable to hold the set, and not worth the sharpen. The name told the customer one story; the metal tells another.

The three questions that settle it

1. The exact grade designation — VG10, SUS440C, ATS-314, ZA-18 (Japanese); 440C (American); 9Cr13, 9Cr18 (Chinese). Not "premium Japanese steel", not a made-up word.
2. The mill and the country that produced the steel, and where the scissor was assembled and finished — in writing.
3. The measured hardness (HRC) for that model. A real spec has a number.

An honest maker answers all three in a day. A marketer changes the subject.

What ShearGenius publishes instead

Every ShearGenius scissor names its steel per model — genuine Japanese mill steels: ATS-314 and Japanese Cobalt Alloy across the range, with ZA-18 joining it — states a measured hardness, and tells you the truth about origin: forged from Japanese steel at the mill, then hand-finished, tensioned and inspected at my bench in Lake Wendouree, Victoria. I inspect every pair before it ships, and if a client's scissors don't need sharpening, I say so. See the range, or get fitted — free.

Frequently asked questions

Are Osaka scissors made in Japan?

Osaka Scissors (passion-osaka.com.au) states "100% Made in Japan" on many product pages while its homepage says the company has "been crafting scissors in Australia." The two claims aren't reconciled on the site, and no ABN or registered company name is published. Ask for the mill and a single, consistent country of manufacture in writing.

Are Zen Master scissors Japanese?

Zen Master says its scissors are "Built by master Japanese craftsmen" — without naming one of them or which workshop — and it names genuine Japanese grades like VG10 — but it also calls 440C, an American grade, "Japanese 440C", and the brand is run by Business of Life Pty Ltd, an Australian company whose ABN has only been active since October 2022. The "fifth-generation… 1878" heritage on its About page belongs to the general manager's Dublin hairdressing family, not the scissor brand. Ask for the steel mill, the grade designation and a measured hardness before taking the Japanese claim on trust.

Is "440C Japanese steel" a real thing?

440C is an American (AISI) grade designation. The Japanese name for that class of steel is SUS440C. So "440C Japanese steel" mixes an American grade name with a Japanese origin claim — and steel called "440C" can be milled anywhere, including China. On its own the phrase doesn't prove Japanese origin.

Why do so many Australian scissor brands sound Japanese?

A Japanese-sounding name evokes a reputation for steel and craft. It's a marketing choice, and it's legal. What it doesn't prove is where the scissor was made or what steel is in it — for that, ask for the grade designation, the mill and country, and the measured hardness.

How can I tell a genuine Japanese scissor from a marketed one?

A genuine one names a real Japanese grade (VG10, ATS-314, ZA-18, SUS440C), names the mill and country, and states a measured hardness — consistently, on every page. A marketed one leans on the brand name and an adjective. If it matters, the composition can be settled by XRF and Rockwell testing.

Every claim on this page is quoted from the sellers' own live pages or the public Australian Business Register, checked on 5 September 2026. If any of it is inaccurate, or if any of these companies publishes the grade, mill, country of manufacture and measured hardness for its scissors, tell us at sales@sheargenius.com.au and we'll update this page.

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