Blacksmiths Anryu Katsushige and Takumi Ikeda

Who am I?

My name is Anryu Katsushige and I've been a Japanese blacksmith for almost 50 years. I practiced my craft in the famous Takefu Cutlery Village.

The Village is known and recognized throughout the world. It's a place where, in the 1970s, a group of young blacksmiths got together to share their ideas, materials and know-how in order to ensure the survival of ancestral forging techniques.

Located in the Echizen region, the Takefu Cutlery Village is at the heart of an area that has been renowned for its cutting utensils for over 700 years in Japan.

My family's expertise in forging goes back to the 1870s, and I'm a 4th-generation blacksmith!

I began my apprenticeship in the 1960s, before the birth of the Takefu Cutlery Village.

My work

I was trained by my father, and he taught me a number of ancestral forging techniques: I'm capable, for example, of making a hand-forged damascus knife or a rough-forged artisanal Japanese knife. In 2015 I was even awarded an honorary medal for my fine craftsmanship.

I practiced my craft for many decades in my own forge. In the early 2000s, the question arose as to what would become of my forge. It's traditional in Japan for a blacksmith to leave it to his eldest son, but I've only had daughters!

So I began training my nephew, Takumi Ikeda. His apprenticeship lasted some fifteen years and, like my father, I taught him the same ancestral techniques that I hope will live on.

Takumi has been an assiduous apprentice, and it was in 2021 that I bequeathed my forge to him. Born in 1986 and representing the 5th generation of blacksmiths in my family, he continues to offer you my exceptional knives. He's an up-to-date blacksmith who's open to the world. For example, he's a real rugby enthusiast!

Both of us are committed to offering you top-of-the-range kitchen knives that are both high-performance and beautiful collector's items.

We use top-of-the-range steels, such as Aogami Super Japanese steel, to ensure that our knives are a pleasure to use.

Our favorite knife

It's none other than the Anryu AS 17cm handcrafted Japanese santoku knife!

Why do we love this model? Because it's bursting with the expertise of Anryu and his nephew Takumi! It's a forge-hammered knife that subtly blends Aogami Super steel with a maple wood handle. The cutting edge is very fine, clean and formidably effective! We're particularly fond of its traditional design, which takes us right back to Japan!

And if you like handcrafted Japanese knives, we've got even more on our site!