ABOUT US
Featuring exceptional tools from Japan, Hida Tool
Hida Tool Co. was started in response to requests from San Francisco Bay Area woodworkers to get tools like those being used by Makoto Imai, who had come from Japan in 1978 after his 5-year apprenticeship in carpentry plus 9 years as a teahouse and temple builder.
Hida Tool Co. was started in response to requests from San Francisco Bay Area woodworkers to get tools like those being used by Makoto Imai, who had come from Japan in 1978 after his 5-year apprenticeship in carpentry plus 9 years as a teahouse and temple builder.
the history of Hidatool
The business was opened in San Rafel, California (north of the Golden Gate) in 1982 by Imai-san's brother-in-law Osamu Hiroyama and Kip Mesirow, author of "Care and Use of Japanese Woodworking Tools" and former owner of a smaller Japanese tool store in Berkeley.
Hida Tool Co. moved to our current location in Berkeley in the summer of 1984 with a greater variety of carpentry tools. Because of the interest in tools used for Japanese gardens, these became the second category of tools stocked. Kitchen knives, the third "specialty of the house," also make use of the swordmakers' technique of combining two different metals. A smaller number of other tools, etc., all imported from Japan, can be found on this website and in the store.
You're always welcome
Whether you enter through the front door, your computer email, or telephone, our staff at Hida Tool Co. will do our best to help you find the exact tool that you need within these specialties.
However, still true to our origins, we carry no power tools, although we do stock a large assortment of drill bits for your hand or power drill.
ACCESS
Hidatool is right across the San Pablo Ave from Walgreens. We have street parking lots in front of our store. The blue Noren (a shop curtain) is a landmark!