Short model hedge shears with short wooden handles of 30 cm, and a long razor-sharp blade of 200mm. This short, lightweight model is ideal for topiary boxwood or the Japanese garden (o-karikomi), because you are close to the work. Also for pruning in tight spaces the 231 is ideal. The blade of the 231 is 25 mm longer than the blade of the 217 boxwood shears. This has the advantage that you can penetrate deeper into the crop, and cut faster with large surfaces. Okatsune hedge shears are the undisputed number 1 in Japan, the country where pruning has been elevated to an art form. Okatsune hedge shears are very user friendly, and a pleasure to use. You will notice that you can very accurately shape your hedge with ease. The handles of Japanese white oak are well-known to absorb vibration, therefore working with these shears will be a very pleasant experience. The combination of the 200mm long blade, and the handles of 300mm ensures a perfect balance, and sufficient strength that you need to easily cut the hedge, or prune the branches. The blades of these Japanese hedge shears (Karikomi Basami) are uniquely forged from the finest IZUMO YASUGI steel, and have a very high Rockwell hardness of 60.0 to 61.0. Therefore, the blades stay sharp for a long time and they consistently give a clean and precise cut in the wood, without giving much effort. Furthermore, Okatsune combines the hardness with a special flexibility, so that the cutting blade always aligns with the counter blade, even after intensive usage. Contrary to the 216 and the 217, where the stopper has been mounted on the left shoulder, the Okatsune 231 has an integrated stopper function. The blades are very easy to grind with the Okatsune whetstone (Okatsune 412).