In terms of price, the Sugiyama Kezuridashi are the finest quality and therefore the most expensive. A mid ranged option would be the Yamanishi trowels. While the most budget-friendly option would be the GL trowels. We recommend the 240mm sized trowels for beginners in general. We also recommend the 225mm sized trowels if you want a trowel that is a little easier on the body (smaller trowels hold less material, which will be easier on your muscles during a long plastering session.) However, do note that it can also be more challenging to level a bigger wall area with a smaller sized tool.

For the application trowels, Jigane is the “softest” of steels and therefore it will move material with greater ease. Hanyaki is one up from Jigane in terms of hardness while Aburayaki is another step up from Hanyaki. For the finishing trowels, Honyaki is the traditional steel used in finishing trowels while stainless steel is the more modern option. Kyle explains more about Japanese trowels here in this article.

At minimum you will need 1x Application Trowel, 1x Finishing Trowel, 1x Plastering Hawk, 1x Large Brush (to wet the wall and clean your tools), 1x Small Brush (to clean timber frames), 1x Chiri Trowel.