Masunaga 1905: 120 Years of Japanese Craft That Multiples Won't Touch

Masunaga Optical was founded in the Fukui Prefecture of Japan in 1905. Today, Fukui produces 97% of all Japanese-made optical frames. Masunaga helped build that industry from the ground up — and has been manufacturing at the absolute top of it ever since.

In February 2026, the brand launched its 2026 spring-summer collection of new models and colourways. It coincides with Masunaga's 120th anniversary year — a milestone the brand is marking with a dedicated special site and a reaffirmation of the same manufacturing philosophy that has governed it since Gozaemon Masunaga established the company: make the best possible product, regardless of cost.

What the Frames Are

Masunaga produces its frames in pure titanium and hand-polished Japanese acetate. The construction is distinctive: seven-barrel hinges, solid silver rivets, and a manufacturing process involving over 200 individual manual steps — all completed in-house at the Fukui factory. No outsourcing. No shortcuts.

The brand's design collaborations have included the late Kenzo Takada — the Masunaga K3 collection, which debuted in Paris in 2014 and continues as an ongoing line. The frames sit at the premium end of the dispensing range: not fashion eyewear positioning itself as luxury, but genuine craft product with the supply chain to back it up.

The 2026SS additions continue the house's characteristic restraint — clean silhouettes, refined colourways, and the kind of detail that rewards close handling in a consultation rather than a shelf display.

The Independence Angle

Masunaga is not available through multiple chains. It is stocked by independent practices — specifically independents who want to offer their patients something that cannot be walked into on a high street and bought on the same day. That exclusivity is the commercial proposition as much as the craft is.

For practices building a private dispensing offer, frames like Masunaga serve a purpose beyond margin. They communicate — to every patient who picks them up — that this is a different kind of practice from the one they walked past on the way here.

UK stockist enquiries for Masunaga go through Jason Deane-Armstrong (+44 7973 407213).

Independent practices stocking brands like Masunaga are already doing something the multiples can't replicate.

 Grow Independent can help you build the rest of the offer around it.