Cutting a swathe through time with its legendary knife
shops, the ancient Japanese town of Sakai is where all the superstars of the
culinary world descend upon to get their very own slice of the action.
By Raul Dias
It’s funny how Japan’s legendary weirdness gets
magnified to alarming proportions when seen through the prism of a quirk-obsessed
chef with a yen (do pardon the pun!) for the odd. That, I realised, almost as soon
as my Swedish chef pal and I touched down at Tokyo’s Narita International
Airport, kick starting the first leg of our two-week-long Japan food
pilgrimage.
An izakaya-style meal at the simian server-staffed Kayabukiya Tavern, a sake house north of Tokyo in the suburb of Utsunomiya. Check. An entire day spent tracking down Saruya, a 1704-established store in Nihonbashi, that has, for the last three centuries, been selling only one item—toothpicks! Check.
And the eccentricity-laced leitmotif of the trip continued, when a few days later, we found ourselves boarding a blue line JR train, heading towards Sakai, a town not very far from Osaka. A rather nondescript little place with a solo claim to fame of being Japan’s undisputed ‘City of Knives’ since the mid-16th Century. Once the Kansai region’s main bastion of producing the finest Samurai swords, today approximately 90 per cent of all Japanese-style chef knives are made here. All this, thanks to tobacco.
Being a port town, Sakai was where the Portuguese first brought in tobacco to trade with Japan in 1543. Cottoning onto the lucre tobacco-growing promised, the Japanese soon started growing the crop. Needing an implement to cut through the fibrous leaves, the erstwhile Samurai sword-forging blacksmiths of Sakai soon came up with a steel knife so expertly made that it would set the benchmark for knife making the world over. So much so, that today, the town not only has its own ‘Sakai Wazashu’ seal of knife quality, but also its own dedicated Sakai Hamono Knife Museum.
Here’s a round-up of Sakai’s best knife makers:
An izakaya-style meal at the simian server-staffed Kayabukiya Tavern, a sake house north of Tokyo in the suburb of Utsunomiya. Check. An entire day spent tracking down Saruya, a 1704-established store in Nihonbashi, that has, for the last three centuries, been selling only one item—toothpicks! Check.
And the eccentricity-laced leitmotif of the trip continued, when a few days later, we found ourselves boarding a blue line JR train, heading towards Sakai, a town not very far from Osaka. A rather nondescript little place with a solo claim to fame of being Japan’s undisputed ‘City of Knives’ since the mid-16th Century. Once the Kansai region’s main bastion of producing the finest Samurai swords, today approximately 90 per cent of all Japanese-style chef knives are made here. All this, thanks to tobacco.
Being a port town, Sakai was where the Portuguese first brought in tobacco to trade with Japan in 1543. Cottoning onto the lucre tobacco-growing promised, the Japanese soon started growing the crop. Needing an implement to cut through the fibrous leaves, the erstwhile Samurai sword-forging blacksmiths of Sakai soon came up with a steel knife so expertly made that it would set the benchmark for knife making the world over. So much so, that today, the town not only has its own ‘Sakai Wazashu’ seal of knife quality, but also its own dedicated Sakai Hamono Knife Museum.
Here’s a round-up of Sakai’s best knife makers:
Yamawaki
Hamano Seisakusho
With an almost 100-year-old legacy behind it of producing the more expensive hand forged steel knives, buying a knife at the legendary Yamawaki Hamano Seisakusho can cost anywhere up to $3,000 a pop. No wonder then, that some of the culinary world’s greats like Heston Blumenthal and Thomas Keller are patrons of this rather austere-looking shop that also sells whet stones for maintaining a knife’s razor edge. They even provide an engraving service where one can personalise their knives with their names etched in Kanji characters.
With an almost 100-year-old legacy behind it of producing the more expensive hand forged steel knives, buying a knife at the legendary Yamawaki Hamano Seisakusho can cost anywhere up to $3,000 a pop. No wonder then, that some of the culinary world’s greats like Heston Blumenthal and Thomas Keller are patrons of this rather austere-looking shop that also sells whet stones for maintaining a knife’s razor edge. They even provide an engraving service where one can personalise their knives with their names etched in Kanji characters.
Sakai
Yusuke
Ignore its lurid purple awning and obscure location along Sakai’s noisy Kishu Highway and step inside this knife wonderland that’s packed to the rafters with a cornucopia of styles and sizes to suit every need and even handedness! Besides finding knives for the left-handed folk among us, you can take your pick from single-edged, double-edged, sashimi knives, and meat swords. Later, one can even sit down for a ‘how-to-take-care’ tutorial by the very enthusiastic staff. And for those looking for Western-style knives, Sakai Yusuke has an entire separate range of butcher’s knives, cleavers and even dainty little paring knives aptly called ‘petty’.
Ignore its lurid purple awning and obscure location along Sakai’s noisy Kishu Highway and step inside this knife wonderland that’s packed to the rafters with a cornucopia of styles and sizes to suit every need and even handedness! Besides finding knives for the left-handed folk among us, you can take your pick from single-edged, double-edged, sashimi knives, and meat swords. Later, one can even sit down for a ‘how-to-take-care’ tutorial by the very enthusiastic staff. And for those looking for Western-style knives, Sakai Yusuke has an entire separate range of butcher’s knives, cleavers and even dainty little paring knives aptly called ‘petty’.
Sakai
Takayuki
With an equally strong presence in the online shopping world, this brick and mortar warehouse-cum-store located in the heart of Sakai is famous for being the purveyors of the beautiful Damascus steel style of forging. In this very distinct style, 33 layers of steel are laminated and folded over a core, that’s then dipped in acid to reveal a wood grain-like pattern—sans any grainy texture—imprinted on to the knife that is rendered resistant to shattering due to the forging technique. One of their most popular products is the Sujihiki Carving Knife that costs upwards of $200.
With an equally strong presence in the online shopping world, this brick and mortar warehouse-cum-store located in the heart of Sakai is famous for being the purveyors of the beautiful Damascus steel style of forging. In this very distinct style, 33 layers of steel are laminated and folded over a core, that’s then dipped in acid to reveal a wood grain-like pattern—sans any grainy texture—imprinted on to the knife that is rendered resistant to shattering due to the forging technique. One of their most popular products is the Sujihiki Carving Knife that costs upwards of $200.
Ikkanshi
Tadatsuna
Gleaming behind their glass showcases and gently placed on red velvet cushions, all types of traditional Japanese knives are on wanton display. From the deba fileting knife and the usuba vegetable slicing knife to the gyuto that closely resembles a western meat knife, Ikkanshi Tadatsuna has it all under one roof, making it the preferred knife shop of Iron Chef Michiba. A fact that is quickly made apparent with the knife-wielding chef’s framed picture that hangs from a wall in the otherwise unassuming shop.
Gleaming behind their glass showcases and gently placed on red velvet cushions, all types of traditional Japanese knives are on wanton display. From the deba fileting knife and the usuba vegetable slicing knife to the gyuto that closely resembles a western meat knife, Ikkanshi Tadatsuna has it all under one roof, making it the preferred knife shop of Iron Chef Michiba. A fact that is quickly made apparent with the knife-wielding chef’s framed picture that hangs from a wall in the otherwise unassuming shop.
Suisin
Tucked away in a back alley, away from the din of the other knife shops in Sakai is the magical little Suisin that is very much still a family run business of Mr. Aoki and his son Tatsuya. And though its knives may be a part of the kitchens of sushi masters like Chef Morimoto, Suisin’s star knife smith is Kejiro Doi, who is legendary for the skilled craftsmanship he displays in his yanigi-ba knives that are the classic thin and long sashimi knives. As a sign of his finesse, each of his creations come etched with his trademark of a diamond and neatly wrapped in a fine silk sheath, reminding us of the Japanese obsession with perfection.
Tucked away in a back alley, away from the din of the other knife shops in Sakai is the magical little Suisin that is very much still a family run business of Mr. Aoki and his son Tatsuya. And though its knives may be a part of the kitchens of sushi masters like Chef Morimoto, Suisin’s star knife smith is Kejiro Doi, who is legendary for the skilled craftsmanship he displays in his yanigi-ba knives that are the classic thin and long sashimi knives. As a sign of his finesse, each of his creations come etched with his trademark of a diamond and neatly wrapped in a fine silk sheath, reminding us of the Japanese obsession with perfection.
Aoki-Hamano
Seisakusho
In an interesting little departure from the other Sakai knife makers on this list, this 1942-established company focusses primarily on crafting confectionary knives. Used to slice the ubiquitous Japanese sponge cakes and the more traditional manju steamed stuffed bun dough, Aoki-Hamano Seisakusho’s knives are a Japanese pastry chef’s most coveted possessions. This is thanks to the razor sharp, flexible blade and sturdy handles that are crafted from magnolia wood and even ebony for the ‘high rollers’ of the world of confectionary.
In an interesting little departure from the other Sakai knife makers on this list, this 1942-established company focusses primarily on crafting confectionary knives. Used to slice the ubiquitous Japanese sponge cakes and the more traditional manju steamed stuffed bun dough, Aoki-Hamano Seisakusho’s knives are a Japanese pastry chef’s most coveted possessions. This is thanks to the razor sharp, flexible blade and sturdy handles that are crafted from magnolia wood and even ebony for the ‘high rollers’ of the world of confectionary.
(A shorter, edited version of this article appeared in the 11th March 2017 issue of the Mint Lounge newspaper, India http://www.livemint.com/Leisure/VuhVZ1pglcjSofHMGantYP/Sakai-The-city-of-knives.html)
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