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Don’t Be Fooled:
Appearances can be Misleading
Unfortunately, there are scissor companies that frequently
use tactics designed to imply their scissors are made in Japan, when in fact
they are not. Listed below are just a
few of the most common manufacturing and distribution tactics that mislead
stylists into believing they are purchasing a Japanese-made scissor:
- A Japanese
theme is used to market the scissors, but the scissors have no affiliation with
Japan.
Examples include utilizing Japanese letters (also known as
Kanji’s), words, names, or symbols on a company website, literature, and on the
scissors. There are companies that have
elaborate booths at beauty shows and salespersons who claim to sell “Japanese
scissors” but in reality, the scissors are not made in Japan.
- Japanese
Steel ≠ Made in Japan.
A scissor made of Japanese steel may not be made in
Japan. Frequently, scissor factories
located in various countries claim to use Japanese steel in their manufacturing
processes. Additionally, companies
incorrectly advertise such scissors as being Japanese, when in fact only the
steel was made in Japan. This would be
similar to portraying a wine as French because a factory and vineyard located
in Mexico, which designed, fermented, produced, and bottled the wine, used
grape seeds imported from France.
Tempering, like the growing of grapes for wine, is one of
the most important steps in the steel making process, and how and where the
tempering is performed is crucial. A
scissor made of Japanese steel tempered outside of Japan will not feel the same
as a scissor tempered in Japan.
Furthermore, the difference in feeling will become more apparent as the
scissor is used. Scissors tempered in
Japan by Japanese experts are of the highest quality. - Scissors are embossed with markings such as Japan steel,
Japan Cobalt, Japan 440C, and Japan forged steel.
Such markings merely indicate that a raw material obtained
from Japan is used in the scissor, but it does not mean that the majority of
materials used in the scissor are from Japan or that the scissor was
manufactured in Japan. While Japanese stainless
steel is generally considered the highest quality steel, it is the
craftsmanship required to design, hone, and balance the steel that is the
critical key to and the most expensive factor in making a quality scissor. - Scissors
fail to bear a permanent country of origin label.
In accordance with the law, legitimate scissor companies
will ensure their scissors bear the true country of origin (e.g., Japan, China,
Korea, Taiwan, Germany, Pakistan).
Beware of any scissor company that does not stamp the true country of
origin on all their scissors. As
mentioned above, markings such as Japan steel, Japan Cobalt, Japan 440C, Japan
ATS-314, and Japanese Forged Steel are not the country of origin.
- Counterfeit
scissors are advertised as new or used Hikari scissors.
Unfortunately, there are companies that specialize in making
fake Hikari scissors. Below is a
picture of a fake Hikari offered for sale on EBay and on a scissor
website. This counterfeit scissor
actually bears the name “Hikari” and the Hikari logo. It also has the model name “Beam” stamped on the blade in order
to mimic an actual Hikari Beam scissor.
The back side of the scissor is marked “Made in Japan”. This scissor is actually an inexpensive, low
quality scissor made in China, probably worth $80 at best, and was offered for
sale at $250.
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