As a product tester, I’ve tested hundreds of products, particularly gardening tools. In all the thousands of hours I’ve clocked up digging my way through different products, one nation’s manufacturing output has stood out among all the rest: Japan.

I don’t want to give the wrong impression. The notion of Japanese gardening tools is something of a marketing gimmick, and many brands will tell you that their tools are ‘artisanal’ or ‘traditional’ when they’ve really just been mass-produced in a factory. There’s a lot of Japanese tools out there that aren’t worth your money. However, several of my favorite essential gardening tools just so happen to be Japanese-made.

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