Shinshu Forged Blades are forged blades made mainly in Shinano Town, Kamiminochi District, in northern Nagano Prefecture. Iron and steel are heated in a forge and hammered out one by one with a hammer (tsuchi) to shape them. The representative product is the 'Shinshu sickle' (Shinshu-gama), whose back is thick and whose blade is extremely thin, making it sturdy and sharp. Thanks to 'shibatsuke,' which bends the part inserted into the handle, and 'tsuri,' which curves the blade face inward, the grass that has been cut gathers toward the user's hand. The craft is said to have originated in the mid-16th century, around the time of the Battles of Kawanakajima. It is believed to have begun when local villagers learned the techniques from blacksmiths who came to repair armor and swords. The prototype of today's Shinshu sickle was born at the end of the Edo period, and when the Shin'etsu Line opened in the Meiji period, its sales routes expanded nationwide. In 1982 it became a Traditional Craft Designated by the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry. Today, besides sickles, hoes (kuwa), hatchets (nata), kitchen knives and other tools are also made.
Origin
The beginnings of Shinshu Forged Blades are said to date back to the mid-16th century, around the time of the Battles of Kawanakajima. It is said that local villagers learned blacksmithing from smiths who came to this area to repair armor and swords, and put the skills to use in making farm tools and tools for mountain and forest work. Shinano Town, along the Hokkoku Kaido road, had easy access to the iron and steel used as raw materials for blades, and it was also blessed with pine forests for making pine charcoal, which is suited to forging thin blades.
History
At the end of the Edo period, 久保専右衛門, a village blacksmith (nokaji) of Kashiwabara Village (now Shinano Town), devised 'shibatsuke' and 'tsuri.' Around the same time, 荒井津右衛門 of Furuma Village is said to have improved double-edged sickles into thin single-edged ones, and the ideas of the two became the prototype of the Shinshu sickle. The sickles spread as souvenirs of pilgrimages to Zenkoji Temple and in other ways, and with the opening of the Shin'etsu Line in Meiji 21 (1888), their sales routes rapidly expanded across the country. By the mid-Meiji period there were said to be about 200 village blacksmiths forging sickles and other tools, and in 1982 it became a Traditional Craft Designated by the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry.
Features
The Shinshu sickle uses extremely soft steel for the base metal (jigane) and high-purity carbon steel for the blade, and through forging and uniform quenching and tempering it is given just the right hardness and toughness. The blade is wide, and a distinctive feature is that the steel part is very thin, about one-sixth of the thickness of the whole sickle. Even when the handle is held horizontally, the blade stands at an angle, so grass can be cut cleanly at the base. Because it can easily be sharpened on a whetstone, it can be used for a long time.
Techniques
Shibatsuke (Bent Neck)
A process that bends the part of the sickle that is inserted into the handle. It is said to have been devised at the end of the Edo period by 久保専右衛門 of Kashiwabara Village. By making the back (mine) thick to add weight, grass can be cut from the base, and what is more, the grass that has been cut gathers toward the user's hand.
Tsuri (Inward Curve)
A process that curves the blade face slightly inward. It is a device that keeps the hand from wavering even when the blade is made thin, and together with shibatsuke it gives the Shinshu sickle its unique ease of use. It is applied in the 'ko-narashi' process, in which the sickle, heated in the forge, is struck with a hand hammer.
Doro-nuri Yakiire (Mud-Coated Quenching)
A process in which the blade is coated with mud, heated uniformly to about 780°C, and then plunged into a water tank to cool it rapidly. This gives the steel hardness and toughness. The tempering that follows gives it moderate toughness, preventing chipping and improving its sharpness.
Materials Used
Production Process
- 1
Forge Welding (地切り)
The steel that will form the edge is joined to the base metal.
- 2
Saki-nobashi and Komi-nobashi (Drawing Out)
The tip of the blade and the komi, the tang that is inserted into the handle, are hammered out.
- 3
Hiroge (Spreading)
The metal is hammered out to the specified shape, forming the rough shape of the sickle.
- 4
Rough Forging and Ko-narashi
The sickle is heated and hammered, and 'tsuri' and 'shibatsuke' are added while the thickness is adjusted.
- 5
Quenching and Tempering
The blade is coated with mud, heated and rapidly cooled in water, then tempered to give it toughness.
- 6
Polishing and Sharpening
The back face is polished, the edge is put on with a round whetstone to finish it, and the handle is attached.
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Artisans & Workshops
信州打刃物工業協同組合
A production-area cooperative of Shinshu Forged Blades craftspeople and wholesalers, established in 1981. It has its office in Shinano Town, and 10 businesses, including blacksmiths and wholesalers, are members. In 2007 the Shinshu sickle was registered as a regional collective trademark with the cooperative as the right holder.
Official site →How to Buy
- 信州打刃物オンライン (Shinshu Forged Blades Online)
- The official online shop of the Shinshu Uchihamono Industrial Cooperative. It handles sickles, kitchen knives and farm tools, and the Shinshu-style thin sickle (180 mm) starts from about 4,500 yen. It also sells sickles from the 'Shugyo-chu (In Training) Series,' forged by young blacksmiths under the guidance of Traditional Craftsmen.Where to buy →PR
- Shinshu Hand-Forged Kitchen Knives
- Kurouchi (black-finish) kitchen knives, forged by craftspeople who hammer the iron, can also be purchased from the cooperative's online shop. Nakiri-style and santoku-style knives (135 mm) start from about 4,000 yen. Kurouchi soba-kiri knives, used for making soba, are also available from about 26,000 yen.Where to buy →PR
FAQ
Q. How is the Shinshu sickle different from an ordinary sickle?
A. Because its back is thick and its blade is extremely thin, it is sturdy yet cuts well. Thanks to shibatsuke and tsuri, the blade stands at an angle even when the handle is held horizontally, so grass can be cut from the base and the grass that has been cut gathers toward the user's hand. There are many shapes to suit different uses, such as thin sickles and medium-thick sickles.
Q. Can I visit a blacksmith's workshop?
A. The Shinshu Uchihamono Industrial Cooperative has accepted workshop tours where visitors can watch the craftspeople at work, but as of October 2026 the tours are suspended for the time being. The schedule for resumption will be announced on the cooperative's official website, so it is a good idea to check before visiting.
Q. How were sickles made in the past?
A. In the past, many were cottage industries run by a husband and wife, and it was hard labor in which the husband struck with a hammer while the wife assisted with alternating blows. In the Showa 10s, a Canadian missionary named Stone, who lived on the shore of Lake Nojiri, is said to have built a sickle factory equipped with power hammers together with 綿貫恒雄 of Furuma and others, opening the way to mechanization.
Q. Do any old village blacksmith workshops remain?
A. At the former Nakamura family residence in Kashiwabara, Shinano Town, there remains a village blacksmith's workshop that uses the entire earthen-floored area (doma) of a thatched-roof house. Tools such as the hearth (hodo), bellows (fuigo), anvil and chisels (tagane) have been preserved as they were, and it is designated a Tangible Cultural Property of Shinano Town.