An independent archive of Japanese kitchen-knife makers
Who made the knife, in what steel, and where it is sold.
50 makers, 2,608 shop listings and 5 retailers, organised like a catalogue. Facts are cited. Gaps are left blank.
Every fact citedPrices snapshotted 2026-10-17No sponsored ranking
50Makers indexed
5Verified profiles
2,608Listings tracked
5Retailers compared
Entry No. 001Featured
Takeshi Saji
Blacksmith · Echizen (Takefu), Fukui
佐治武士
- Steels
- VG10, SG2/R2, Aogami Super
- Tracked
- 349 listings · 4 shops priced
- Profile
- Read entry →
Verified profiles
All 50 makers →佐治武士Product photo pending clearance
Echizen (Takefu), Fukui
Takeshi Saji佐治 武士
Nigara HamonoProduct photo pending clearance
Hirosaki, Aomori
Nigara Hamono
恒久Product photo pending clearance
Tosa (Kochi) — collective brand
Tsunehisa恒久
Echizen (Takefu), Fukui
Yu Kurosaki
藤原照康Product photo pending clearance
Teruyasu Fujiwara藤原照康
In progress
45 draft entries
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Steel guide
Read the steel, not the marketing.
Aogami, Shirogami, SG2, VG10 — counted across 2,608 listings, each description quoted with its source.
Knife towns
Region guide →
Landscape photographs show each region; they are not the makers’ workshops. Photo credits
Browse by knife type
How this index is compiled
- Listings, not opinions. Steels, knife types and prices come from public shop catalogues, snapshotted 2026-10-17.
- Every fact has a source. Verified profiles cite the page each statement came from. Unknowns stay blank.
- No paid ranking. Shops are ordered by number of listings. Affiliate links, once live, will be labelled and limited to the price table.
The Index Letter
New makers, restocks and price changes, monthly.
One short email a month. No sponsored picks.
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