OLFA

OLFA Corporation
Native name	オルファ株式会社
Company type	Private KK
Industry	Tools
Founded	1956; 70 years ago
Founder	Yoshio Okada
Headquarters	Higashi-nakamoto, Higashinari-ku, Osaka, 537-0021, Japan
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Shinichi Okada (President)
Products	Cutters; Knives; Blades; Cutting accessories;
Revenue	¥8.62 billion (2024)
Number of employees	99 (2024)
Website	olfa.com
	Footnotes / references;

OLFA Corporation (オルファ株式会社, Orufa Kabushiki-gaisha) is a Japanese manufacturer of utility knives, founded in 1956 in Osaka, Japan. The name is derived from the Japanese words oru (折る, bend and break) and ha (刃, blade). The company is known for inventing the snap-off blade and the rotary cutter.

Snap-off blade

Founder Yoshio Okada and his younger brother Saburo worked for printing companies where they cut paper with razor blades, but the blades quickly became unusable as their edges wore out. The brothers invented blades with scored lines which could be snapped to reveal sharp unused sections of blade. This idea came to them when they recalled how a chocolate bar given to them by an American soldier in childhood had also broken off in sections.^[3]^[4]

These snap-off blades and their associated handles are now made by many manufacturers in three standard sizes (9, 18, and 25mm).

OLFA cutter

Other products

Their products include heavy-duty and specialty cutting tools for the building industry, safety tools for industrial applications, rotary cutters, self-healing mats, art knives and rulers for the crafting industry.

The company's products are frequently recommended for use in crafts such as book repair,^[5] calligraphy,^[6] quilt making,^[7] modelling,^[8] sewing,^[9] picture framing^[10] and appliqué.^[11]

References

^ "About Olfa". Olfa Corporation. Retrieved February 7, 2026.
^ "Company Profile". Bloomberg Businessweek. Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
^ "Birth of OLFA cutter". Olfa official website.
^ Birth of OLFA cutter: WORLD’S FIRST SAP-OFF BLADE CUTTER at the Wayback Machine (archived 2007-05-02)
^ Schechter, Abraham A. (1999). Basic Book Repair Methods. Libraries Unlimited. p. 36. ISBN 1-56308-700-6.
^ Wong, Frederick (1999). The Complete Calligrapher. Dover Publications. p. 149. ISBN 0-486-40711-X.
^ Shedletsky, Andrea L. (1986). Making a Traditional Applique Sampler Quilt. Dover Publications. p. 3. ISBN 0-486-24999-9.
^ Schmidt, Norman (2005). Great Paper Fighter Planes. Sterling Publishing. p. 5. ISBN 1-895569-77-X.
^ Coffin, David Page (1998). Shirtmaking: Developing Skills for Fine Sewing. Taunton Press. p. 15. ISBN 1-56158-264-6.
^ Welden, Dan; Muir, Pauline (2001). Printmaking in the Sun. Watson-Guptill. p. 20. ISBN 0-8230-4292-8.
^ Delaney, Kathy (2003). A Heartland Album: More Techniques in Hand Appliqué. Kansas City Star Books. p. 35. ISBN 0-9722739-7-2.

External links

Official website

[1] "About Olfa". Olfa Corporation. Retrieved February 7, 2026.

[2] "Company Profile". Bloomberg Businessweek. Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved February 17, 2016.

[3] "Birth of OLFA cutter". Olfa official website.

[4] Birth of OLFA cutter: WORLD’S FIRST SAP-OFF BLADE CUTTER at the Wayback Machine (archived 2007-05-02)

[5] Schechter, Abraham A. (1999). Basic Book Repair Methods. Libraries Unlimited. p. 36. ISBN 1-56308-700-6.

[6] Wong, Frederick (1999). The Complete Calligrapher. Dover Publications. p. 149. ISBN 0-486-40711-X.

[7] Shedletsky, Andrea L. (1986). Making a Traditional Applique Sampler Quilt. Dover Publications. p. 3. ISBN 0-486-24999-9.

[8] Schmidt, Norman (2005). Great Paper Fighter Planes. Sterling Publishing. p. 5. ISBN 1-895569-77-X.

[9] Coffin, David Page (1998). Shirtmaking: Developing Skills for Fine Sewing. Taunton Press. p. 15. ISBN 1-56158-264-6.

[10] Welden, Dan; Muir, Pauline (2001). Printmaking in the Sun. Watson-Guptill. p. 20. ISBN 0-8230-4292-8.

[11] Delaney, Kathy (2003). A Heartland Album: More Techniques in Hand Appliqué. Kansas City Star Books. p. 35. ISBN 0-9722739-7-2.

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v t e Knives and daggers
List of daggers List of blade materials
Kitchen and table knives	Boning Boti Bread knife Butcher knife Butter knife Caidao Cheese knife Chef's knife Cleaver Electric knife Fillet knife Grapefruit knife Lame Mezzaluna Parmesan knife Pizza cutter Splayd Steak knife Tomato knife Japanese kitchen knives Deba bōchō Maguro bōchō Nakiri bōchō Santoku Sashimi bōchō Udon kiri Unagisaki hōchō Usuba bōchō Yanagi ba
Other knives	Aircrew Survival Egress Knife Athame Balisong/Butterfly Ballistic Ballpoint pen knife Bayonet Boline Bolo Boot knife Bowie Cane knife Ceramic knife Clip point Coin slasher Combat knife Commander Corvo CQC-6 Deba bōchō Diving knife Drop point Fairbairn–Sykes fighting knife Gerber Mark II Ginsu Golok Gravity knife Guna Hacking knife Higonokami Hunting knife Husa knife Ivan's Knife Jacob's ladder Karambit Kard Kirpan Kitchen knife Kukri Laguiole knife Machete Mandau Marking knife Military knife wz. 98 Misericorde Mora knife Multi-tool Navaja Neck knife Nontron knife Opinel knife OSS Escape Utility Knife Palette knife Pantographic knife Parang Penknife Penny knife Pesh-kabz Pirah Pocketknife Phurba Putty knife Puukko Rampuri Resolza Sabatier Sami knife SARK Scalpel Seax Sgian dubh Sharpfinger Sheath knife Shiv Sliding knife Smatchet SOG Knife Straight razor Strider SMF Survival knife Swiss Army knife Switchblade Taping knife Throwing knife Trench knife Tumi Ulu Utility knife Verlängerungsmesser Warrior knife Wedung X-Acto Yakutian knife Yarara Parachute Knife Yatagan
Daggers	Anelace Applegate–Fairbairn fighting knife Arkansas toothpick BC-41 Bagh nakh Balarao Baselard Bichuwa Bollock dagger Cinquedea Dha Dirk Ear dagger Emeici Facón French Nail Gunong Hunting dagger Jambiya Jile Kabutowari Kaiken Kalis Katar Khanjali Khanjar Kris Kunai Liaoning dagger Mark I trench knife Microtech Jagdkommando Parrying dagger Poignard Pugio Push dagger RAF Aircrew Knife Rondel dagger Seme Shobo Sica Stiletto Tantō U.S. Marine Raider stiletto V-42 Yoroi-dōshi
Manufacturers	Aitor Knife Company Al Mar Knives American Tomahawk Company Aritsugu Benchmade Böker Buck Knives Camillus Cutlery Company Cattaraugus Cutlery Company Chris Reeve Knives Chroma Cnife Clauss Cutlery Company Cobray Company Cold Steel Columbia River Knife & Tool Cuisinart Cutco Dalian Hanwei Metal Dexter-Russell Ek Commando Knife Co. EKA Emerson Knives F. Dick Fällkniven FAMAE Fiskars Gerber Legendary Blades Füritechnics Glock Ges.m.b.H. Imperial Schrade Ivan's Ka-Bar Kershaw Knives Korin Japanese Trading Company Kyocera Leatherman Mad Dog Knives Marble Arms Medford Knife and Tool Microtech Knives Morseth Muela Murphy Knives OLFA Ontario Knife Company Opinel Randall Made Knives Ranz Cuchillos Rösle Sabatier Shun Cutlery Slice, Inc. SOG Specialty Knives Spyderco STI Knives Strider Knives Thiers Issard TOPS Knives Tramontina Victorinox W. R. Case & Sons Cutlery Co. Carl Walther GmbH Wenger Western Knife Company Wilkinson Sword Wüsthof Yoshida Metal Industry Global Zero Tolerance Knives Zwilling J. A. Henckels
Knifemakers	Rex Applegate James Black Tom Brown Jr. Blackie Collins John Nelson Cooper Jack W. Crain Ernest Emerson Jerry Fisk Bill Harsey Jr. Phill Hartsfield Gil Hibben Jimmy Lile Bob Loveless William F. Moran Ken Onion Ralph Osterhout Bo Randall Chris Reeve A. G. Russell Jody Samson William Scagel Mike Snody Robert Terzuola Michael Walker Buster Warenski Daniel Winkler
Associations	American Bladesmith Society Cutlery and Allied Trades Research Association Knifemakers' Guild
Category:Knives / Daggers

OLFA

Snap-off blade

Other products

See also

References

External links