Locating places of interest in Japan - help needed

Hello,
I am flying to Japan soon and, among other places, will visit the city of Sakai. I would like to visit as many places of interest for a knife enthusiast as possible, but I am having trouble locating them. In particular, I would like to visit the Konosuke, Takayuki, Tadatsuna, and Suisin shops/showrooms. I would greatly appreciate any information, suggestions and advice on finding such places. Or maybe someone knows how to visit a real bladesmith's workshop?

i dont know if this works. if not, try googling for "japan hamono".

Wow....nice link!

i just want to mention one quick thing... i have a bunch of different craftsmen complain to me about this when they get random foreign visitors, so i thought it might be important to share.

Most craftsmen (and i mean the vast majority) are not set up for visitors... retailers are better equipped (i.e. masamoto, konosuke, aritsugu, etc.). While many will be polite, they do not expect people to just stop by their workshops, nor are they set up to sell things there. In fact, some craftsmen dont even sell the knives they make at all. Just something to keep in mind.

Lol! I can only imagine several guests approaching me on the line in the middle of service asking me questions about the food im preparing...i wouldnt be cool with that at all either.

What Jon said is absolutely true. The first time I went to Sakai I visited the shops you've listed and more and just showed up at the door. They were courteous, but this is not a retail experience. Most of them were a bit uncertain on how to handle it and just served some tea and sat quietly. There will not be tons of knives on hand for you to just walk around and browse. If you can manage some Japanese, you can call in advance and let them know what you're looking for, which will improve your experience (they'll prepare some stuff for you).

In your specific list, actually none are really ready for anything remotely resembling retail sales. Suisin has some stuff in a very confined space. The other three are pretty much office space, though they might have some knives packed away they could bring out if you demand it. Even Tadatsuna, whom has knives on display, is not really ready for you to walk in and buy stuff. IIRC Sakai Yusuke was relatively better equipped for window shopping etc. There's also the knife museum. A few of the other makers have more a simple tour type thing. I should also mention the shops are not next to each other nor is there really a "knife shopping district"--they're all sort of spread out within a 40 min walking area in Sakai. Hard to get a cab too.

For a retail experience where you're not really sure what you want, I reckon Tower Knives or Doguyasuji in Osaka are a better bet.

labor of love said:

Lol! I can only imagine several guests approaching me on the line in the middle of service asking me questions about the food im preparing...i wouldnt be cool with that at all either.

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This is a very good analogy. It must be awful for them. Of course their culture dictates that they don't spell out the bleeding obvious so many enthusiasts will happily impose, and never know the difference.

yeah... it happens a lot. Thats why i mention it. People try to be as nice as they can, but the walking into the kitchen analogy is really a great one.

berko said:

i dont know if this works. if not, try googling for "japan hamono".

Click to expand...

Great link, extremely helpful! Thanks a lot.

JBroida said:

i just want to mention one quick thing... i have a bunch of different craftsmen complain to me about this when they get random foreign visitors, so i thought it might be important to share.

Most craftsmen (and i mean the vast majority) are not set up for visitors... retailers are better equipped (i.e. masamoto, konosuke, aritsugu, etc.). While many will be polite, they do not expect people to just stop by their workshops, nor are they set up to sell things there. In fact, some craftsmen dont even sell the knives they make at all. Just something to keep in mind.

Click to expand...

No, of course I wouldn't presume to just show up without any introductions and asking for permission in advance.

insomniac said:

In your specific list, actually none are really ready for anything remotely resembling retail sales. Suisin has some stuff in a very confined space. The other three are pretty much office space, though they might have some knives packed away they could bring out if you demand it. Even Tadatsuna, whom has knives on display, is not really ready for you to walk in and buy stuff. IIRC Sakai Yusuke was relatively better equipped for window shopping etc. There's also the knife museum. A few of the other makers have more a simple tour type thing. I should also mention the shops are not next to each other nor is there really a "knife shopping district"--they're all sort of spread out within a 40 min walking area in Sakai. Hard to get a cab too.

For a retail experience where you're not really sure what you want, I reckon Tower Knives or Doguyasuji in Osaka are a better bet.

Click to expand...

Very helpful - thanks a lot! Looks like I'll have to visit Osaka too.