Japanese Knives I visited a knife maker in OSAKA, help me find out who they are.

I would like to identify this knife maker. I visited Osaka Japan in January of 2014, I wanted to visit an authentic Japanese knife maker and was told to go to a specific district but I can’t remember the name.

We took multiple trains, got lost, wondered through neighborhoods and after hours of wondering around we came upon this knife shop. They took us in, and showed us the whole facility; it was a truly amazing experience. The people we met were so nice, and welcoming, I would love to know who this maker is. Can anyone help? Unfortunately all I have are the pictures from the trip.

mizuno tanrenjo

Oh, you don't say...

Thank you for the reply!

This is the knife I purchased from them. Can you by any chance tell me anything about it?



Unfortunately I don't know any Japanese so I purchased this knife blind.. I asked him what type of steel was in the blade and he couldn't understand me. I started asking in different ways and asked "is it VG..." "AH! Yes VG-10!" he interrupted. We both smiled and chuckled a bit, and I handed over the Yen. I don't even remember what I paid for it.

Is Mizuno Tanrenjo the man I took the photo with? (last pic in first post)

Here is my favorite picture from the trip, in case anyone is interested.

Jon, are you able to tell if that clump of steel is tamahagne (sp?)?

It is a piece of tamahagane.

pkjames said:

It is a piece of tamahagane.

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Thanks for the info! Didnt know Mizuno does tamahagane. Are there any benefits vs blues, whites other than being a special made steel?

they dont... its there for show

And mizuno tanrenjo is a company name... not a person's name

JBroida said:

they dont... its there for show

And mizuno tanrenjo is a company name... not a person's name

Click to expand...

Gotcha!

Those are actually great photos of Mizuno's shop, nice find, It's really cool to see details of a knife workshop. Usually we just see the knife or some videos of the forging.

hey mods... any chance we can move this thread to the main area of the forums where it really belongs... we'll probably get more interaction there too. Thanks.

there is less description about mizuno tanrenjo！i think it is a secret knife brand in my mind！i dont know that who forge the Hi-Q knives for mizuno tanrenjo！now hope that your trip can bring something about it！

How has the knife performed in a year or two of cooking?