S2

S2 has been making professional shears in Osaka’s Asahi-ku since 1991, trading as 有限会社エスツー and led by Katsumi Hoshino. This is a deliberately small operation, capitalised at three million yen, with a single focus on hair and beauty scissors and nothing else. Hoshino’s stated method is to develop new models out of direct conversations with the stylists who use them, which is the realistic way a workshop this size stays relevant: it cannot out-spend bigger makers on R&D, so it listens instead.

There is one piece of hard evidence that the design work is more than talk. S2 holds a registered design patent (Registration No. 1324775), granted in 2008, so at least one element of its construction is original enough to be protected.

Steel and range

Blades are cut from cobalt grades, listed as Cobalt V10 and Cobalt SP, with an ultra-fine particle steel at the top of the range for buyers who want maximum edge life. The line covers cutters, thinners and left-handed models, and the technique list is genuinely broad: blunt cuts, undercuts, rough cutting, dry and wet work, slide and chop cutting, volume control, and men’s undercut detailing. The Standard series is the one featured most prominently on the site. Pricing lands mid-range, roughly $200 to $400.

Buying one

S2 sells direct from s2-hasami.com, and like most boutique Japanese makers it points squarely at the domestic market, so an overseas buyer should expect to order from the source rather than find it on a local shelf.