Advice for buying Japanese Knives

When it comes to art of metalworking, Japan has an old and grand tradition on it. Like Solingen in Germany, centers for knife making are found all over the country. Knife makers differ in the technology they use and the quality of their knives. 

Knives that are functional and hand-made can be considered a form of art. The basic steps in producing a knife are prepared by the knife maker himself or they call smith. The quality of his knife is assured by his reputation and name. Usually, knives with the highest quality and costly ones come from smiths who have extensive years of training and sensible practice behind them. Materials used and the name of the smiths dictate the price of the knife.

He is a traditional forge-smith and craftsman. He was born in 1948 at Takefu City of Fukui prefecture. It is a place with 700 years history of Echizen Uchi-Hamono or better known as Hammer Forged Knives. 

Takeshi Saji got his training in basic forging process and technique for 3 years at a local blacksmith teaching school. At age 18, he got engaged in knife making under the direction of his father and master, Harukichi Saji, who was a second generation. At age 30, after perfecting the skills needed to craft beautiful knives, Takeshi Saji was finally allowed to make his own. He got the certification “Traditional Craftsmen” from M.I.T.I in 1992. 

Takeshi Saji has a vast wealth of experience in knife making and after 45 years of being in the industry, with his bright ideas and designs, his traditional forged custom knives are now popular in Japan thus giving him the title one of the most well-known forge-craftsmen from Takefu City.

Takeshi Saji’s selections are gradually growing and each custom knife has distinctive style and personality. 

Takeshi Saji

Advice for buying Japanese Knives 

When you look for a Japanese knife, you will notice a huge range of prices which can be hard to understand. But as a rule of thumb, Japanese knives are not more expensive than European knives considering the same quality.  A handmade knife usually costs quite a bit taking into consideration the many hours spent in doing it by a highly-skilled hand. At japanny.com, we believe our knives are fairly priced. 

Decorative touches, like Damascus steel blades on some Japanese knives do not affect the knife’s cutting ability but demand higher price. These knives are attractive and guarantee satisfaction. At the core of all Japanese knife blades is high-carbon steel which makes the knife a cut above the rest.

What is important is you do not pay for a sub-standard knife with a high price or fall for an ad campaign of a company and buy their knife that does not cut well.

Identify the type of knife you need. For every kind, japanny.com has an array of the finest knives that are fairly priced. If you are unsure what you need, get an all-purpose knife that has three-layer blade. With this kind, you will find out and learn the qualities of Japanese knives. Later on, you might want to try other types like deba-bocho (to fillet fish), nakiro-bocho (to cut vegetables), tako-biki hocho (to slice fish) or the perfect knife for the kind of food you want to prepare.