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Kyuzo’s father Heihachi is one of the busiest sharpeners in Sakai. Heihachi’s workshop room and corridor were always filled with knives waiting to be sharpened. Although Kyuzo initially worked under his father to learn the foundation of rough sharpening, eventually he became a student of Kambei, known as one of the best sharpeners in Sakai because he knew best how to sharpen wide double bevel knives. After a few years of training, he built his style based on both his father and Kambei’s respective styles. Today, Kyuzo is one of only a few people who can sharpen wide double bevel...

In the early 2000s, Kikuchiyo was invited by master craftsman of Sakai to join them as a blacksmith. The art of blacksmithing is physical, the rough working environment of fire and iron takes a toll on the body and many of the masters' abilities begin to wane in their forties and fifties. As Kikuchiyo started earlier in life, he has gained most of the knowledge and skill of fine forging and quenching, before his physical abilities deteriorate. Kikuchiyo proactively experimented with new steels not generally used by Sakai’s blacksmith, steels such as stainless. His experience and skill have made his...

The famous Kappabashi Dougu Street in Tokyo is world famous for restaurant supplies and food-related tools. The knife shop called Tsubaya is one of the smallest and oldest kitchen knife shops on this street. Tsubaya was a normal cutlery store when they began in 1952 until 1981 when the first owner returned from traveling the world. During his travels, he recognized how great the Japanese knife is, so he built Tsubaya as a specialized Japanese kitchen knife shop in Kappabashi. In recent years, Kappabashi street has become famous for Japanese knife shops, but at the time, Tsubaya was the only...

 Co-owner of Tosho Knife Arts: Ivan Gomez Fonseca is sharpening Munetsugu Yasuki High Carbon Yanagiba finishing with Hakka Natural stone.Shooting/ Edit by HITOHIRAPlease describe our channelTosho Knife ArtsEmail: info@toshoknifearts.comPhone: 647.722.6329Address: 934 Bathurst St., Toronto, ON M5R 3G5, CanadaKnifeAtom PlateNaniwa Professional StoneNaniwa Traditional StoneTosho Green #3000: Contact to Tosho Knife ArtsNatural Stones

Here’s a sneak peek at the Takeda single bevel knives that just arrived from Okayama/Niimi. Once they are re-sharpened, polished, and re-handled, we will upload more updated photos. Please visit the website often for updates! If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at info@hitohira-japan.com. As always, we thank you for your support! Much love from Japan. *Unfortunately at this time we do not take pre-orders for these knives.