Keiun慶雲 / 山村刃物製作所

Keiun is the scissor brand of Yamamura Manufacturing Co., Ltd., a Sanjo City blacksmith founded in 1948 in Niigata Prefecture. The Tsubame-Sanjo region is one of Japan’s great metalworking towns, with a forging tradition running back roughly three centuries, and Keiun is rooted in that. What makes the brand genuinely notable is not just the heritage but where it sits in the supply chain: Yamamura develops steel that other scissor makers rely on, so a Keiun pair is forged by the company at the source rather than one buying blanks in.

The signature is Damascus. Layering different steels together produces the rippled surface pattern most buyers recognise, and Yamamura makes its own laminated steel for the trade. So when you buy a Damascus Keiun, the pattern is not a bought-in decorative layer; it comes from the same house that supplies the industry.

Steel and range

Keiun blades are forged from ATS-314, 440C, and Damascus. The ATS-314 connection matters: Yamamura developed that specification itself, so the steel comes straight from its origin. Production is supervised in-house by sword-smith Shigeyoshi Iwasaki, which tells you the finishing tradition leans on swordmaking rather than general cutlery.

The catalogue covers cutting, thinning, and left-handed shears, with thinners at several removal rates from 15-20% up to a heavy 50-60%, plus slide-cutting models. Pricing sits in the premium band, roughly $400 to $800, reflecting the ATS-314 material and the layered options. US stylists can find Keiun through Shear Integrity and Scissor Dude. Compare it with other Japanese brands in the directory.

Yamamura Manufacturing: The Steel Behind ATS-314

Keiun scissors are produced by Yamamura Manufacturing (山村刃物製作所), located in Niigata’s Tsubame-Sanjo region. Yamamura’s significance to the Japanese scissors industry extends far beyond their own brand:

• Introduced 440C stainless steel to hair scissors in Japan
• Developed the ATS-314 specification — manufactured to Yamamura’s formula by Proterial (formerly Hitachi Metals). Yamamoto Scissors documents ATS-314 as “VG-10W + (SECRET)”
• Supplies forged blanks with ura-suki (裏スキ) already processed to other scissor manufacturers
• Produces Damascus/laminated steel for the scissor industry

Buying Keiun scissors means buying from the company that develops the steel other brands use. Source: Yamamura Manufacturing (Japanese).