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Se knivene

Hand-picked from the smiths in Japan

The makers

Every year we pack a suitcase and travel to Japan to meet the people who make the knives. Some are large factories, others are small family businesses that have forged knives for generations.

All knife makers A–Z
At the grinding wheel of a knife sharpener in Japan

Five towns

The towns the knives come from

Sakai

One of the oldest knife towns in Japan. The smith and the sharpener work separately.

See Sakai

Takefu

The smiths share a workshop in Takefu Knife Village.

See Takefu

Seki

One of the most modern knife centres in Japan.

See Seki

Tosa

Hand-forged carbon knives with a long tradition

See Tosa

Sanjo

One smith does every step.

See Sanjo
Sakai Takayuki

Sakai Takayuki

Sakai, Osaka

Sakai Takayuki is made at Aoki Hamono in Sakai, the town where knives have been forged since the 1500s. The smiths include Itsuo Doi and Shogo Yamatsuka.
About Sakai Takayuki
HATSUKOKORO

HATSUKOKORO

Amagasaki

Hatsukokoro was started in Amagasaki near Osaka to gather knives from all over Japan under one name.
About HATSUKOKORO
HADO

HADO

Sakai, Osaka

HADO was started in 2019 by Fukui Co. in Sakai. The team is six craftspeople who do almost everything themselves: sharpening, polishing and fitting handles, with blades forged by Sakai smiths such as Yoshikazu Tanaka and Shogo Yamatsuka. HADO was the first brand we took into the shop, and in summer 2023 we visited their workshop in Sakai.
About HADO
OUL

OUL

Sakai, Osaka

OUL is based in Sakai, under the same roof as HADO. They are sharpening specialists: the blades come from smiths, then they are sharpened, polished and fitted with handles at OUL. We picked the knives in the shop ourselves when we visited the factory in summer 2023.
About OUL
Masutani

Masutani

Takefu, Fukui

Masutani was born in 1944 in Takefu and learned the trade by watching his father from the age of 15. At 30 he opened his own forge. The knives are forged in the sanmai technique, hard core steel with softer steel around it, and come sharp from the workshop.
About Masutani
Tsunehisa

Tsunehisa

Tosa, Seki og Sakai, Japan

Tsunehisa gathers knives from several of Japan's knife regions, each with its own steel and its own way of making a knife: Ginsanko and AUS-8 from Tosa, the V-Gold steels from Seki and single-bevel honyaki from Sakai.
About Tsunehisa
Satoshi Nakagawa

Satoshi Nakagawa

Sakai, Japan

Satoshi Nakagawa apprenticed at Shiraki Hamono in Sakai for 16 years and took over the machines when his master retired. He forges in Shirogami and Aogami (Japanese carbon steel) and also makes honyaki blades (one steel all the way through, hardened like a sword), often with a kasumi finish (a matt, misty surface).
About Satoshi Nakagawa
Enjiki

Enjiki

Nara, Japan

Enjiki is the workshop of Tadataka Maruyama in Nara, formerly head sharpener at HADO. After an apprenticeship in Sakai and twelve years at Fukui Co. he set up on his own in 2025. The blades are forged by smiths such as Yamatsuka Hamono, before Maruyama sets the edge himself.
About Enjiki
Shibata

Shibata

Fukuyama, Hiroshima

Takayuki Shibata is a master sharpener and the man behind the Masakage and Koutetsu knives. His motto is "Art over Beauty". The edge is thin and much used for vegetables and raw fish.
About Shibata
Miki Hamono

Miki Hamono

Miki, Hyogo

Miki Hamono is a small forge in Miki in Hyōgo with over 70 years of history. Kunio Masuya still forges himself, with techniques that go back to Japanese sword making.
About Miki Hamono

All knife makers A–Z

Our own lines

Knives and kit we restore, select or brand ourselves in Trondheim.

Kitchen and kit

The brands behind pans, cutting boards, whetstones and small tools.

Smed med glødende stål og gnister

From the forge to the finished knife

How a Japanese knife is made

The smith forges and hardens the steel, and other craftspeople often sharpen the knife and fit the handle.

See how the knife is made