Advice for going to Japan and buying from

[koon2023]

Hi everyone,
I'm going to go to Japan for 2 weeks in April/May during golden week from Canada. Has anyone here bought a knife directly from a smith/sharpener and what was that process like? I'm hoping to get a stainless santoku, something like a Takada ginsan or another knife of that calibre.

 

[Gavva]

I’m assuming you have plans of going to Sakai because you mentioned Takada. Just go to his workshop there and buy direct from Takada-san. It would be best to contact him through IG beforehand so that you won’t waste the travel time. He’s quite okay with his English, compared to most vendors. That tram ride from Osaka is cool by itself. Good luck!

 

[instantramen]

Sakai Ichimonji Mitsuhide is a great retailer in Osaka, their knives are very high quality and include rebranded sakai knives like kagekiyo for a reasonable price.
I bought direct from ashi hamono as well, their workshop is also in Sakai along with takada no hamono, kagekiyo, and mizuno tarenjo.

For ashi hamono, I emailed in advance to make sure they were open and was brought to the showroom on the second floor of their workshop (shoes off at the entrance). From there, they showed me a few knives and gave me a 10% discount for purchasing on a weekday haha.