The Ultimate Canadian Shopping Guide

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ModRQC

ModRQC

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So you’re here – congrats, it’s a great place to be. On KKF I mean, obviously. Being here, HERE, with this guide, if you’re really interested and not just curious to see, means you are Canadian, and possibly thinking your purchasing options within the vastness of J-knives will be poor.

It’s really not so bad – on the contrary. And if you’re a bit like me, you might like: the hassle free idea of buying within Canada and avoid delays, customs, conversion, and whatever; encouraging businesses that are local before going international. If you’re like me, you just love that the vendor will have the package at your door within a couple of days 2 times out of 3.

For this guide I could have proceeded geographically, but I’d rather do in a way that will show some important connexions between stores and what they carry. And the first connexion that will help you sort things out is that most Canadian stores have a primary “affiliation” with one of these two Japanese resellers:

Hitohira: https://hitohira-japan.com/

Gregmega said:
Hitohira is essentially a company that farms out work to the various disciplines in the industry throughout Japan to their specs - an important factor to remember is that for centuries, these disciplines are handled by specialists in each step of the process, which is why you’ll see a certain smith forging for so many different brands. Hitohira has the vision for their product and it’s literally ‘forged’ into reality by all the artisans. This is a fairly redundant simplification of the process as there’s so many other examples that could be given, but in a nutshell....
Click to expand...

Hitohira storefront is like any vendor, clean and easy to shop, you can switch pricing to CAD and buy directly. Some of their offerings, to add to Gregmega, are merely rebrands – easy example being Takamura knives with the Chromax, T10, and TP series.



Sakai Kikumori: http://www.kikumori.co.jp/english/index.html

To some extent works like Hitohira, but the choice is definitely narrower. Website functions more like a supplier’s catalogue, not obvious to navigate, not much details neither. Unless you know your stuff well I don’t think you’ll be inclined to buy directly. Sakai Kikumori have some offerings to cover basic low and mid end tiers, a lot of traditional single bevel knives, and they also have some collabs going on with Y. Tanaka and Shiraki from Sakai. Its founder and mother shop is Kawamura Hamono.

Now, any Canadian vendor can get a bit of anything, this is no strict rule, just how it usually presents itself.
 
Specialized Shops (with an actual storefront)

Knifewear: https://knifewear.com/

Four shops located in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, and Ottawa.

Affiliation: Sakai Kikumori

Knives: a fair bit of everything and every region; main Masakage and Tojiro vendor. Sole Shigefusa vendor and some more rarities. A lot of common and less common names. Widest selection in Canada, but I never found it to be the most interesting selection personally – nor always the best price. Still a place you want to browse by. I personally never purchased anything there yet – it’s about the only place.

Stones: Naniwa, Shapton, Imanishi, Kensho, Knifewear (rebrands of Naniwa traditional I believe); some Nats.

Cook’s Edge: https://thecooksedge.com/

One shop located in Charlottetown.

Affiliation: Sakai Kikumori. Conjecture: Patronage from Knifewear (sells some of Knifewear’s rebrands and has the same affiliation).

Knives: some of Knifewear’s usual (Haruyuki, Fujimoto…) but a pretty different selection on the whole. Sole vendor to have a half-decent selection of Sukenari, S. Tanaka and Yoshikane knives in Canada, for example. Fair pricing.

Stones: Naniwa, Imanishi, Knifewear, Kiwami; a little Nats.



Tosho Knife Arts: https://www.toshoknifearts.com/

One shop located in Toronto.

Affiliation: Hitohira

Knives: a lot of Hitohira and Konosuke make up the greater part of the selection. Fair pricing.

Stones: Naniwa, Imanishi, Morihei, Nanohone; probably greatest Canadian selection of Nats.

Ai & Om: https://www.aiandomknives.com/

One shop located in Vancouver.

Affiliation: Hitohira. Fact: Patronage from Tosho Knife Arts.

Knives: similar to Tosho, but a wider selection still with a bit of everything. Fair pricing.

Stones: same Synths as Tosho + some Tanaka Toishi; some Morihei cheap Nats.

Stay Sharp: https://en.staysharpmtl.com/

One shop located in Montréal.

Affiliation: Hitohira.

Knives: Stay Sharp specializes towards the higher end. You’ll see some of the Hitohira basics, and some makers in the mid-tier, but what you’ll mostly see is Hitohira high-end collabs, Jiro knives, and some more odd high end. Relatively fair pricing, but still “stay sharp”… if you’ll forgive the pun.

Stones: rather poor selection, some Morihei Hi and Tanaka Toshi, couple Morihei Nats, prices not competitive at all with stones there.



Knife: https://knifetoronto.com/

One shop located in Toronto. Have a knife truck they send around Canada now, too.

Affiliation: None obvious.

Knives: while they have some knives you’ll see elsewhere, you browse Knife mostly for what no other Canadian shop has (as many or at all): Mizuno, Makoto Tadakoro, Masamoto, Kei Kobayashi, as well as more Nigara, Shiro Kamo, Takeshi Saji and Sugimoto than you’re inclined to see elsewhere. Sole Canadian McCusta source. Interesting selection, but a bit like Knifewear you have to check your prices carefully.

Stones: Naniwa, Suehiro, Sugimoto, Kyo Higashiyama; no Nats.


Sharp Knife Shop: https://sharpknifeshop.com/

One shop located in Hamilton.

Affiliation: None obvious.

Knives: a bit of everything, some low and mid-end makers not often seen elsewhere, for the rest it sorts of look like Knife’s selection. There is possibly a reseller both have access with since there are obvious similarities in what they carry, but then again you’ll see most knives and stones they have a bit everywhere. SKS doesn’t focus much on high end. Fair pricing. It’s always worth keeping an eye there: you might stumble on something really good, and they always find some reason to have a sale, with some incredible prices at times.

Stones: poor selection, Naniwa or Suehiro; no Nats. Still prices are fair to really good (sales), so still worth taking a couple of secs to look into if you’re searching for those two brands.
 
Webstores only – and no specialists!


Paul’s Finest: https://www.paulsfinest.com/

One of two places to find Misono; if not, he also carries Sakai Takayuki and Moritaka (rarely in stock). But wait, Paul has a large, almost always stock selection of Shapton, Naniwa, DMT stones and stuff, and his prices are always fair. Ships from QC.

Kitchen Virtue: https://kitchenvirtue.com/

The other place to find Misono; they have less than Paul, but they have a couple units of the 440C line Paul does not carry. Otherwise some selection of Sakai Takayuki, Sugimoto, and Kikuichi. For stones Naniwa and Pride Abrasives. Worth a look if looking for any of these brands, since like Paul the prices there are always fair. Ships from ON.

MyKnifePro: https://myknifepro.com/

One of two places to find Mac knives in Canada. Prices fair on these. Not much to say otherwise and I never purchased there.

EDIT 1:
esoo said:
Chu Hamono - Chu hamono - Japanese kitchen knife and sharpening stones in Canada - Webfront only store - I've never dealt with them, but a coworker ordered a Shapton Stone from them and he didn't complain.
Click to expand...

The latter may be specialists. Thanks @esoo

EDIT 2:

After spending a couple minutes on Chu Hamono, I will add this:

- it is the other best place in Canada to buy Shapton Glass stones - with Paul's Finest.
- if all out of stock as for today, obviously, they seem to carry Kiyoshi Kato (a lot of listings) and Shigefusa (one Nakiri listing).

Last Edited: 29/01/2021
 
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Big Kitchenware Vendors

Of course we don’t only need knives and stones, so here are the big kitchenware stores I have experience with. Don’t expect to find much towards Japanese there but Shun, Miyabi, Global, and for stones if they have any it will probably be Wusthof combos or something.


William’s Food Equipment: https://williamsfoodequipment.com/

My favorite of the three, because they ship fast and usually have good prices. Selection isn’t exactly superb, but if what you need is there give them a try. Also, the other place to find Mac knives in Canada.

Cook Store: https://www.cookstore.ca/

Plenty of stuff to look at, but what a bunch of morons. Also don’t expect to get a package before two weeks after ordering. And expect them to send it to another address TWO times in a row…

Kitchensmart: https://www.kitchensmart.ca/

Not much to say but that it always look like they’re about to shut down operations, and not fun to browse, but sometimes they have incredible prices, so worth a look if they carry what you’re searching for. A bit like Cook Store, they’re not fast on shipping. They don’t make stupid mistakes though.


Is that all? Not even! There are other kitchenware places with knives, but when you’ll get there you’ll understand why I didn’t make mention. I’ll underline House of Knives because it sounds nice, but they have very little interesting knives in reality. Then again, Alambika was once a place to look at for some J-knives and Nats, but they’re pretty much out of stock across now – and seem to NEVER restock. For stones you can also have a look at Fendrihan (razor shop, so mostly fine synths/Nats) and Lee Valley (they carry Bester, King and Sigma stones, that prove difficult to find in Canada otherwise). My only experience with all these is Lee Valley.

Of course don’t forget Amazon.ca – well if they have a Shapton/Suehiro/King you want with Prime free shipping from a Japan seller, price will be about unbeatable, you’ll probably pay no taxes at all, and it will get to your door within a week. Bought four or five to date. Also easy to find sharpening paraphernalia there for cheap compared to the shops.

Now if another Canuck wants to complete this list with custom makers… I admit I didn’t look into that much!
 
Well done!

The list is clear and informative, even for non-Canadians.

Thank you for the effort you made with it.
 
AFAIK, Fendrihan started out just in Canada, but they have some type of presence in the US as well. Whichever side of the border you're (e-)shopping from, make sure that their website is set to the settings you want to use regarding currency and shipping. (Unlike some big corporate sites that force a country choice on you, Fendrihan's allows you to hop back and forth as you wish.)
 
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Just a note - sharp knife shop stocks some higher end jnats now, great service when selecting.

Quality (sample size of 1) is pretty good. But let’s be real, there’s no A+++ 1kg suita going to selling for $500CAD
 
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