Masutani blacksmith

Who I am

My name is Masutani. I work as a Japanese blacksmith in the cutlery village of Takefu near Echizen, on Japan's main island. I offer handcrafted knives with extreme sharpness at very attractive prices!

The Echizen basin enjoys an ancestral reputation in the art of Japanese knife-making. Originally an agricultural land, the region began forging war swords and agricultural implements in 1333.

As the region's economy developed over the centuries, local forges adapted to the needs of the market by creating kitchen knives. The ancestral technique of forging knives remains unchanged today: two blades are hammered at the same time during shaping, to produce a thicker blade. This technique is called nimai-hiroge in Japanese.

Born in 1944, I began my apprenticeship as a Japanese blacksmith at the age of 15 with my father in Echizen. When I was 30, I opened my own forge in Takefu Cutlery Village, where I still work with my small team.

My work

My art is to forge Japanese kitchen knives with a core blade made of VG1 stainless steel. This steel contains a high carbon content of almost 1%, ensuring a high hardness of around 59 HRC.

I then sandwich the VG1 core with a layer of softer steel, giving what is known as a San Maï blade (3 layers of steel). This mild steel protects the VG1 core.

High hardness isn't necessarily the easiest thing for you to sharpen, which is why sharpening is my specialty. I sharpen my top-of-the-range kitchen knives by hand to give them a razor-sharp edge. Watch your fingers!

The top of the blade of a handmade Japanese knife from my forge is also hammered, making your knife even stronger. Hammering fixes the upper layers of steel to the core. Not to mention the very elegant visual effect of hammering and steel layers!

Our favorite knife

The Masutani 18cm hammered Japanese chef's knife!

The reason? This seemingly simple knife is packed with Masutani know-how. You can feel all his expertise in sharpening, and it's a knife that cuts a lot!

Superb kanji are hand-engraved on the blade's hammering, guaranteeing its authenticity. The handle of this exceptional Japanese knife is made of antibacterial Pakkawood, which is robust and very pleasant to the touch.

This knife offers excellent value for money and is ideal for those who want to start buying handcrafted Japanese knives!

See the rest of my handcrafted knives here!