Tosa Uchihamono Garden Sickle (Kama): Hand-Forged in Kochi, Where to Buy [2026]

A grass sickle is one of the oldest tools a Japanese household still keeps by the back door, and in Kochi it comes out of a workshop where the smith never used a die. The Tosa method is called jiyu-tanzo (自由鍛造, “free forging”): no fixed patterns, no stamped shapes — each blade is drawn out on the anvil to suit the job it will do. That is why a single Kochi smithy can make an axe, a billhook, a forestry hatchet, and this small crescent-bladed kusakari-gama (草刈鎌, “grass-cutting sickle”) from the same fire.

Tosa Uchihamono (土佐打刃物, “Tosa forged blades”) is the blade tradition of Kochi Prefecture, on the Pacific side of Shikoku — Japan’s most heavily forested prefecture, where roughly 84% of the land is woodland. The blades grew directly out of that landscape: tools for foresters clearing slopes and farmers reclaiming valley floors. The craft was designated a National Traditional Craft by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) in 1998.

This guide is written for gardeners and craft buyers outside Japan who want to understand what actually separates a Tosa hand-forged sickle from a hardware-store weeder — the single-bevel geometry, the carbon steel, the free-forging method — and, practically, where to buy one that ships to the US, Canada, the UK, and Australia. Because the fetched product snapshot for this item was thin, live pricing and some fine specs are noted as unconfirmed below; the linked listing is always the authoritative source.

🗓️ Published: July 18, 2026  · 
🔄 Last updated: July 18, 2026  · 
⏱️ Read time: ~9 min

ℹ️ Live pricing and some specs weren’t in our snapshot — the linked listing is authoritative; unconfirmed attributes are marked below.

Who this is for — and who should skip it

Product overview (from published specs)

The core facts are consistent across the sourced listing and the Tosa craft record: a single-bevel carbon-steel grass sickle, hand-forged in Kochi, mounted on a wooden handle. Where a specific measurement was not in our snapshot, it is marked Unconfirmed — check the listing rather than guessed.

Store snapshot — the two consumer-facing paths for this specific item:

📌 How does it compare?

Related Japanese blades, Tosa crafts, and regional goods we’ve covered — useful for comparing steel, geometry, and use case.

Odo-yaki Tosa Yunomi →
Tosa Lacquer Katakuchi →
Miyakonojo Nata Hatchet →
Echizen Santoku →
Oita Bungo Petty Knife →
Shinshu Nakiri →
Awa Aizome Tenugui →

📍 Where this comes from — place, era, and the craft tradition

Kochi Shikoku

Kochi occupies the whole Pacific-facing south of Shikoku, the smallest of Japan’s four main islands. It is a prefecture of mountains and water: about 84% of its land is forest, and two of Japan’s clearest rivers, the Shimanto and the Niyodo, run down through it to the sea. Historically this was Tosa Province, cut off from the rest of Shikoku by mountain ranges and turned instead toward the ocean — a geography that bred both a timber-and-forestry economy and the famously independent Tosa temperament.

That landscape is the whole reason the blades exist. When most of your economy is trees and steep valley farmland, the tools you need most are the ones that cut wood and clear ground: axes, forestry hatchets, billhooks, and sickles. Tosa smiths forged all of them, and the grass sickle here is simply the smallest member of that family.

The craft’s roots reach back to the Muromachi and Sengoku eras, when Tosa smiths were already forging farm and forest tools. It was formalized under the Yamauchi lords of the Tosa domain, who from 1601 encouraged smithing to supply tools for land reclamation and forestry — the labor that turned wooded valley floors into rice fields. Under that patronage the number of Tosa smithies grew, and their reputation spread across Shikoku and beyond.

What sets Tosa apart from other Japanese blade towns is that method — jiyu-tanzo, free forging. Instead of pressing steel into a fixed die, the smith draws each blade out by hand to match the customer’s use. Over centuries that flexibility gave Tosa an unusually wide catalog of shapes, and it is why a small workshop can turn from a heavy forestry billhook to a light garden sickle without retooling.

“There is no die and no template — the shape lives in the smith’s hands, and each blade is drawn to the job it will do.”

The continuity case is straightforward: Tosa is still a working blade district, not a museum. Kochi smithies continue to forge everyday farm and garden tools for a domestic market that still uses them — which is exactly why an unglamorous grass sickle, rather than a display knife, is the honest emblem of the tradition. The single-bevel carbon-steel kusakari-gama is a classic everyday Tosa product, prized by gardeners for a keen, resharpenable edge.

📦 Shipping & where to buy from outside Japan

The specific hand-forged Tosa sickle in this guide is sourced from the Amazon JP Global Store, which ships internationally to 65+ countries — including Canada, the UK, and Australia, not only the US. Country guides: Canada, the UK, and Australia.

Expect international shipping in roughly the $15–$40 range to the US, EU, Canada, the UK, and Australia, depending on weight and speed. Amazon estimates and usually collects import fees at checkout for most destinations, so there is rarely a surprise customs bill on delivery — but orders above your local duty threshold can still attract charges. As a small carbon-steel garden tool, a sickle is inexpensive to ship; the main thing to confirm on the listing is that the seller ships blades to your country, since a few carriers restrict edged tools.

Two practical purchase paths, in order of convenience for most international readers:

Prices in USD are approximate and depend on the current exchange rate (¥150/USD baseline as of mid-2026). The JPY price on the listing is the authoritative one.

What it does well

Weaknesses and things to verify before buying

1. Carbon steel rusts. Left damp after cutting sappy weeds, the blade will spot with rust within a day. This is a wipe-and-oil tool, not a leave-in-the-shed tool.
2. Single-bevel edges are handed. A right-hand grind suits right-handed use; confirm the bevel side on the listing if you are left-handed or the tool is a gift.
3. Wrong tool for heavy brush. A grass sickle is for grass, weeds, and light stems — not saplings or woody brush, which call for a nata or brush-cutter.
4. Blade length and weight were not in our snapshot. If you need a specific size, check the live listing; the fetched data did not confirm exact dimensions.
5. Live price was not captured. Only the sourced JP listing snapshot was available; verify the current figure before buying, as it may have shifted since the writing date.
6. Requires a whetstone. To keep the advantage of carbon steel you need to sharpen it; if you will not, a stainless garden knife may suit you better.

Conclusion — which buyer type are you?

Other ways to approach this purchase

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🤖 This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed against the sourced listing and public craft records. Specifications and prices should be verified on the linked retailer page before purchase.

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