OVERVIEW
KameManNen is less about being an old Japanese brand than about designing eyewear to remain usable over time
KameManNen traces its roots to Kimura Seisakusho, a plating factory founded in Fukui City in 1917. After the war the business developed into an eyewear factory based in Sabae, where the KameManNen brand emerged.
Its name is also about longevity. The company says founder Kikujiro Kimura drew it from the proverb ‘a crane lives a thousand years, a turtle ten thousand years’ to express a desire to make durable eyewear that could be loved for a long time.
That idea appears in manufacturing choices rather than only in a slogan. KameManNen limits colour options around precious-metal plating and durable ion plating, and says even component clearances and plating thickness are managed with sub-millimetre precision.
This Brief looks beyond the label of ‘classic Sabae eyewear’ to examine how titanium, finishing, inherited craft, parts support and repair are combined into a system for extending product life.
01 · 1917
A plating factory came before the eyewear brand, placing metal finishing at the origin of the company
KameManNen’s official history begins with Kimura Seisakusho, a plating factory founded in Fukui City in 1917. It was not initially established as a fashion eyewear label but as a metal-finishing manufacturer.
After the Second World War the operation moved its base to Sabae and developed into an eyewear factory, eventually creating KameManNen as its own brand.
That industrial origin still appears in the way the company talks about colour and quality. Frame colour is explained through plating durability rather than seasonal variety.
In that sense, surface engineering preceded styling. The ability to keep metal protected and finished over time became part of the later design language.
02 · NAME & LONGEVITY
The ‘ten-thousand-year turtle’ is less a decorative symbol than a standard for product life
The KameManNen name comes from a Japanese proverb about the long lives of the crane and turtle. The company links it directly to founder Kikujiro Kimura’s wish to make eyewear that was durable and could be used for many years.
The idea becomes more concrete in after-sales support. KameManNen says it keeps necessary components where possible and accepts repairs, component sales and maintenance for eyewear damaged after long use.
A long-lasting product is not simply one made from strong material. Screws, pads, temples and surfaces eventually wear, so the ability to service them affects actual lifespan.
KameManNen’s longevity philosophy is therefore better understood as ‘eyewear that can continue to be maintained’ rather than simply ‘eyewear that does not break.’
03 · 1981 TITANIUM
The official history presents the 1981 titanium breakthrough as a turning point in Sabae manufacturing
KameManNen’s official history says that in 1981 it successfully produced titanium eyewear frames for the first time in the world. The ‘world first’ should be read as the company’s historical claim.
More important than the headline is what the material enabled. Titanium combines low weight and corrosion resistance with high specific strength, making it suitable for finely engineered metal eyewear.
Current model 181 shows how new material can preserve an older appearance. KameManNen says it retained the look of an earlier cast construction while replacing key parts with modern titanium to reduce weight.
What the company calls ‘unchanging beauty’ is therefore maintained through continuing technical change rather than by freezing old production methods.
04 · SURFACE & COLOR
Colour variety is constrained by the finishing methods chosen for durability
KameManNen explicitly says its collection does not contain a large number of colours because frame colours are selected around precious-metal plating and highly durable ion plating.
That reverses a typical fashion logic. Rather than expanding colour options first, the company limits colour to what fits its preferred surface-treatment methods.
The company also says it pays attention to sub-millimetre differences from component clearances to plating thickness, making the finish part of dimensional design rather than a purely cosmetic final layer.
Colour at KameManNen is therefore subordinate to material behaviour and product life. A restricted palette becomes evidence of manufacturing priorities.
05 · SABAE CRAFT
‘Eyewear that can only be made in Sabae’ means a chain of specialized skills rather than one heroic artisan
KameManNen’s craftsmanship material highlights mould design, polishing, enameling and core-wire lamination. A frame emerges from multiple specialized skills connected within the region.
In metal eyewear, small dimensional errors can propagate into joining, polishing, plating and final assembly, so the handoff between processes matters as much as any individual stage.
The company also speaks directly about ageing craftspeople and the risk of losing techniques, framing transmission of Sabae skills as a responsibility of the brand.
Its heritage is therefore not only a matter of reproducing old models. It also depends on maintaining the people and production network capable of continuing the work.
06 · KMN 77
Traditional techniques stay alive when they remain part of products people still order and wear
KMN 77 is a small classic round frame without nose pads, but its most notable feature lies in how it is made.
The official description identifies two traditional techniques: laminating the temple core between acetate layers and wrapping very thin acetate around the metal rim.
KameManNen says only a limited number of craftspeople can now perform these operations. Rather than treating the techniques only as heritage demonstrations, it keeps them inside a current product.
Craft transmission is difficult to sustain through documentation alone. Repeated production keeps sequences, hand skills and quality standards in active use.
07 · UNITY AS AN OBJECT
Minimalism comes from reducing visual gaps between parts so the frame reads as one object
KameManNen describes its design as simple and lean, with a sense of unity when the frame is placed as an object.
That unity is not produced by removing every detail. It depends on how clearances, plating thickness, rims, bridges and hinges are dimensioned so separate components do not visually fight each other.
Current KMN 901 uses an octagonal outline and a continuous tortoiseshell engraving, while KMN 1110 integrates the same symbolic motif into the rim rather than turning it into a large logo.
The brand’s classic character comes less from the amount of decoration than from precision in how lines and small parts are allowed to coexist.
08 · MATERIAL & FIT
Visible tradition can remain while internal material and structure change to improve wear
KameManNen says KMN 141 is an acetate frame engineered through mixed-material design to retain fitting adjustability comparable to a metal frame.
KMN 1110 preserves a classic round shape and tortoiseshell-pattern rim while using a high-spring titanium alloy called Biosoft for a more flexible feel.
KMN 901 and several current products also specify an Asian saddle bridge, showing that classic bridge design is still refined around real nose geometry.
Traditional appearance and modern fitting are therefore not opposites. The visible language can remain while hidden material and structure continue to evolve.
09 · BEKKO
The turtle symbol extends from engraving into a regulated natural material and traditional Japanese craft
KameManNen has collaborated with Osawa Bekko, a workshop carrying Edo tortoiseshell craft, to create special frames combining a precise metal front with natural tortoiseshell temples.
KMN 771 is presented as a meeting of industrial precision and craft depth, using natural material whose appearance changes with age and use.
Natural tortoiseshell is also legally sensitive. KameManNen states that these products are sold and serviced only in Japan because of legal restrictions and provides separate information about CITES and material sourcing.
A brand symbol therefore moves beyond ornament into material, regulation and maintenance—areas that require more responsibility than a logo alone.
10 · MAINTENANCE
The product is not truly ‘long-lasting’ unless support continues after the sale
KameManNen says it keeps required components where possible and accepts repairs, component sales and general maintenance.
Its Kagurazaka flagship, opened in 2018, keeps technical staff on site and handles prescription checks, lens orders, repairs and maintenance as well as frame sales.
For tortoiseshell, the guidance goes further: avoid dryness and direct heat, consider annual professional checks, and use polishing and repair to restore small scratches or loss of lustre.
Actual product life therefore depends on more than manufacturing quality. It also depends on parts, repair routes and a service point to which the wearer can return.
11 · LONGEVITY BY DESIGN
Timeless design is not design that never changes; it is design that knows what to preserve and what to update
KameManNen repeatedly uses classic round, oval and saddle-bridge forms, yet current products incorporate titanium alloys, modern coatings and revised fitting structures.
Model 181 keeps the impression of an older cast frame while reducing weight with titanium; 141 seeks metal-like adjustability in an acetate frame.
Long life therefore does not mean endlessly reproducing one historical method. Proportions and lines worth keeping remain, while materials and processes change when they can improve use.
KameManNen’s longevity comes from this distinction. Knowing what should remain unchanged requires equal clarity about what must continue to evolve.
GLANOS VIEW
A long-lasting product is completed not by one strong material, but by a structure that can still be serviced years later
KameManNen shows that durability cannot be reduced to material strength. Surface treatment, component precision, adjustability, spare parts and repair access all contribute to real product life.
Its habit of preserving visible forms while updating hidden materials and processes is especially instructive. Respecting tradition does not require freezing old manufacturing methods; it can mean meeting the same standard with better technology.
A brand surviving for a long time and a product remaining in use for a long time are separate achievements. KameManNen tries to connect the two through design, manufacture and maintenance.
In that sense, longevity is less about a perfect object at the moment of sale and more about leaving enough structure for the object to be adjusted, repaired and used again.
BRAND PROFILE
Brand Profile
- Origin
- 1917 · Kimura Seisakusho, a plating factory founded in Fukui City
- Production base
- Postwar development into an eyewear factory based in Sabae
- Name origin
- From the proverb ‘a crane lives a thousand years, a turtle ten thousand years’
- Core philosophy
- Durable, beautiful eyewear intended to be used for a long time
- Titanium
- Official history claims successful titanium eyewear production in 1981 as a world first
- Surface finish
- Precious-metal plating and ion plating are central
- Representative craft
- Mould design · polishing · enameling · core-wire lamination
- Service
- Parts inventory, repair and maintenance, plus the Kagurazaka flagship opened in 2018
SOURCES
Sources & References
The 1917 Kimura Seisakusho origin, postwar move to Sabae, name origin, finishing choices and design philosophy are based on KameManNen’s current official About page.
The 1981 ‘world first’ titanium eyewear statement is treated as KameManNen’s own historical claim rather than expanded into an independently verified global first.
Mould design, polishing, enameling, core-wire lamination and concern about skills succession come from the official Craftsmanship page.
Current product examples—including model 77, 181, 141, 1110 and 901—are used only for the construction and design details stated on their official pages.
Parts support and repair policy comes from the official Maintenance page; Kagurazaka services come from the flagship-store page.
The Bekkō section follows KameManNen’s own material, including its statement that the products are restricted to Japan for legal reasons.
- KameManNen · ABOUT1917 Kimura Seisakusho roots, postwar Sabae development, 1981 titanium claim, name origin, quality and design philosophy
- KameManNen · CRAFTSMANSHIPSabae craftsmanship, mould design, polishing, enameling, core-wire lamination and skills succession
- KameManNen · MAINTENANCEParts inventory, repair and long-term maintenance policy
- KameManNen · KAGURAZAKA2018 flagship shop, product selection, repairs, adjustments, prescription checks and lens ordering
- KameManNen · 181Classic form revised with titanium parts to reduce the weight of an earlier cast construction
- KameManNen · 77Traditional core-wire lamination and cell-wrapping techniques in a current model
- KameManNen · 1110Tortoiseshell-pattern rim and high-spring titanium alloy Biosoft in a current round frame
- KameManNen · 901Current octagonal frame with tortoiseshell engraving and Asian saddle bridge
- KameManNen · 141Current acetate frame engineered to retain fitting adjustability comparable to a metal frame
- KameManNen · BEKKOCollaboration with Osawa Bekko, Edobekko craft, natural material and flagship model
- KameManNen · BEKKO MAINTENANCELong-term care, annual professional maintenance and repair of tortoiseshell frames
- KameManNen · COMPANYCurrent company name and Sabae headquarters