Kofu City, Yamanashi Prefecture, is located nearly in the center of the Kofu Basin. It is near Mitakeshousenkyou, the origin of crystal, and its processing technique had already started to be developed back in the Edo Period. Even today, it is famous for being “the city of jewelry” covering one third of the value of all the shipments of jewelry in Japan

About a ten-minute walk from JR Chuo Line, Kofu Station, you can find Komatsu Cutting Factory, which was established as a diamond polisher in 1967. It is the birthplace of the “Komatsu Flower Pearl”, which had a great impact on the worldwide jewelry industry when it was first introduced. The Komatsu Flower Pearl was produced by the faith of Mr. Kazuo Komatsu, the founder and former president, and traditional skills, and now it has been improved even more by Mr. Kazuhito Komatsu, the second.

Komatsu Cutting Factory & Diamond Industry
Kazuhito Komatsu, President

The boy grew seeing his father-a craftsman.

In 1-chome Takara, Kofu City, there is a studio-cum-home of the Komatsu Cutting Factory, which has five employees.

“This place is named Takara, but it seems to have no specific connection with jewelry. Industries related to precious metals have been thriving in Kofu; however, due to the economic bubble and the steep rise in price for ground metal, they are seeing a decline lately”.

Mr. Kazuhito Komatsu became the first Japanese to win first place in Gemmys 2009 cutting competition in America and received the Prime Minister Prize in “Monodzukuri Nippon Grand Award” in the same year. After exchanging business cards, we noticed he doesn’t give the impression of being a hard to please and adamant craftsman. He is more of a mild-tempered person who enjoys talking. He was born in 1971 and will be 41 this year.

“It was about four years before my birth that may father, a diamond-cutter, went into business for himself. The first and second floors were a living place and the third floor was the factory where I used to play around. Ever since I can remember, I watched my father working”, President Komatsu says. When you cut a diamond, you hold a jig in your left hand to fix the diamond, apply it to a spinning cutter and carefully check it through a loupe. It is the microscopic world of a fraction of one mm where you have to keep your focus.

“My father was the typical artisan type. When he was working, he seldom spoke. He was confident in his comparable skill, which made him unbending. The management was a secondary thing for him”.

After starting the business, diamonds compulsorily delivered during world war Ⅱ were massively released, during which he set the foundation for his business by reprocessing brilliant cut diamonds. After that he took on processing as a subcontractor of artificial jewels for “CRESCENT VERT”, which was at the peak of their business. “The number of employees reached ten at its peak” (President Komatsu).

When he was a junior high school student, he started to help his father. He had a vague feeling that he would take over the family business; however, he left Kofu and went to University in Kanagawa. He learned mechanical engineering, which has nothing to do with polishing, and then his life reached a turning point when he was a first-year undergraduate. His father, Mr. Kazuo Komatsu, suffered a cerebral hemorrhage.

Known in the world
as a rare polishing
studio where all
sortsof jewels
from diamonds to
pearls can be cut.

Pearl cutting revolutionized the industry.

Before Kazuo fell sick, the processing job under subcontract started to face cost reductions and the business moved to Southeast Asia where labor costs were lower. Realizing that hard times were to come, he tried to make time during work for independent product development.

“He had probably pushed himself very hard. Fortunately, he was discharged from hospital about one month later, but his left hand remained paralyzed. Since the subcontracted business was still continuing, he set up his bed next to the polishing machine. He worked for 30 minutes and took a break and again worked for 30 minutes and took a break, which was his routine. It’s detailed cutting work. How hard it must have been to do with his paralyzed hand!”

President Komatsu recollects that his father must have had pain beyond all imagination. As a result, his hard work served as rehabilitation for Kazuo. Before long, he recovered enough to play golf.

President Komatsu entered the company upon graduation and soon perfected the “Komatsu Flower Pearl”. A pearl has layers of thin membranes around the core, which creates its characteristic luster. Compared with diamonds, pearls are much softer, so it was virtually impossible to cut them. The extremely challenging task of cutting layers tremendously improved his craftsmanship.

The Komatsu Flower Pearl presented at Jewelry Best Dresser 2012 Black Pearl Necklace

The Komatsu Flower Pearl reflects light freely like a small mirrored ball and gives off a wonderful brilliance. This is made possible through cutting that achieves nearly 150 facets at most. The combination of the pearl’s elegance and its sharp diamond-like brightness gives us the impression that it is a new type of jewelry.

Even though finally completed after 10 years of persevering effort, it wasn’t highly estimated. That’s because it was not compatible with the industry’s common view that a pearl should be smooth and round. It was brushed off, saying “What do you cut a pearl surface for?”

Highly evaluated abroad and reimported

“My father’s objective was to create something and he might not have considered how he could sell them afterward. He believed that if they are really good, people will come and buy them”, said President Komatsu with a somewhat regretful smile. The Komatsu Flower Pearl was perfected, but it didn’t do well business-wise for a while. Just after joining the company, it was a hard time for President Komatsu.

However, in the late 90’s, an American buyer visiting Kofu happened to see the Komatsu Flower Pearl and was fascinated by it. Later, he introduced it to Westerners who are free from a fixed view toward pearls. Later, after making a presentation in exhibitions in foreign countries, it gradually gained popularity, which was followed by a rise in demand in Japan. However it was at that time, in 2007, that Kazuo suffered a stroke.

“The Komatsu Flower Pearl is my father’s original work. So before succeeding him, I have to create my own original one”

His resolution compelled President Komatsu to create the “Double Reflection Cut” that calls for additional work to the edge of each facet. As a result, the Double Reflection Cut produces a pearl that is more brilliant than the Komatsu Flower Pearl.

The Komatsu Flower Pearl, with the newly applied Double Reflection Cut, won first place in the jewelry cutting competition at the 2009 ”Gemmys” contest in America, and it received the highest award, the Prime Minister Prize, in the 3rd “Monodzukuri Nippon Grand Award” in the same year. The reason for the award reads, “The technical strength that can break new ground through diamond cutting shows the true worth of Japanese workmanship and has cultivated a new market for pearls, domestic jewelry”. Now, a greater number of items are sold domestically, but the amount sold in foreign countries is higher.

“The more I work, the more I come to notice how much further I need to improve before I can surpass my father’s artistic ability. At this time the yen is rapidly getting stronger, which makes for a very tough situation for exporters; however, we are keeping an eye to the future and make arrangements to ride out this difficult time, for example, by paying in yen instead of in dollars for foreign clients”.

With his closing comment, President Komatsu showed that he is also a businessman.

Komatsu Cutting Factory & Diamond Industry

Diamond cutting, Precious stone cutting (concave faceting), Pearl Cutting (Komatsu Flower Pearl) & Ceramics polishing (for industrial use).

ADDRESS: 1-11-20, Takara, Kofu City, Yamanashi Prefecture 400-0034, Japan
TEL: 055-224-2518
FAX: 055-224-2548
Capital: 3,000,000 yen
Establishment：1967