A good place to go and attend a 1 day play activity to make a knife.. with instructions and hands on at each step ( whole process) from cutting to shape,forging, power hammering,annealing, sharpening on big wheel to stone and the Kanji engraving! I do not speak japanese and only rely on the good eyeballs only. Pretty much gave up on the kanji engraving... aft 30min of practice.. cant even hammer a straight line. Settled for a triangle for my signature. For the experience.. abt usd 130 and i get a santoku in a box and more importantly... an appreciation for the difficult task at each step... Final analysis...I dont want to be a knifemaker....
Oh ....by the way... the show pieces are available for sale and its a good time to pick up some knives.. saw a few suminagashi blue steel by Kitoaka wch I thought was a very fair price and bought a few knives for friends including a lefty deba.. and not to mention a knife by Shiro Kamo and Hiroshi Kato. Met the last 2 makers as they were there.... Its good to put a live face to the handmade items that i enjoy using.
A direct express train ride that costs abt usd 90 with reserved seat and a 3hour ride from osaka main station... and i stayed in an airBnb..
hv fun Z