How Japanese Knives are Made

Hello world, this is an Echizen Uchihamono which is a designated Japanese traditional craft. What does that even mean? Well, Echizen is the name of the city and Uchihamono literally means hitting blade. In 1377, a katana master from Kyoto was searching for the perfect place to make katanas. He found that Echizen had the best water and ingredients and so set up shop. So important was he that to this day local blade makers worship him at his shrine and here we are 700 years later. How do you make one of these works of art? You go to a guy like Koji Masatani. One of my main goals of the visit to the factory was to learn how these handcrafted knives were different than mass-produced ones. It's very difficult, but I'm very happy and excited to level up little by little. I think it's a really good job. What we believe in is that when it comes to making something with a machine, there are several small factory buildings to accommodate the many, many steps involved in the knife making process. This might be confusing, but they do stamp out the knives at this point. The difference from mass-produced knives is that they hand forge and shape the knife beforehand. It's a process of hardening the knife to give life to the blade. We usually put it in a kiln. This is also a holy place. I thought Greg would do this work. Returning back to the start, they let me try out the first step. When watching from a distance, it looked so effortless. But if my face isn't showing it well enough, it was way harder than I thought. You had to simultaneously use precision and strength. Apprentices learn each station one at a time, and it takes years and years to be able to do it all from start to finish. There are a lot of difficult things in my job. There are also a lot of things that don't go well. But I can feel the sense of accomplishment when I'm able to do something I've never been able to do before. I still have a lot of work ahead of me, but I want to overcome that and enjoy the sense of accomplishment. I want to make something good. When I first came to this industry 40 years ago, there were a lot of great craftsmen. They were all in need of successors, and they had to quit their jobs. But they had great skills. I wondered why they couldn't raise successors. The reason was that they couldn't make a living out of it. If you blow out the sparks, the product will go bad. So you have to cool it down with water. I'm going to grind it until you can't see the blade anymore. Right now, I've only done one coat. But if you compare it to what I've done on both sides, you can clearly see the difference. If you haven't noticed, each process often has multiple stations. So while this may look like the same footage, we've now moved on to a finer whetstone. There's a line here. It's actually a step here. If you don't remove that step, the blade won't go in smoothly. So I'm working to make it blend in. In order to improve the design quality, I cut the handle that was in the factory and I'm welding a new design here. I'm using a handle with a higher design quality and I'm using natural wood for the finish. I'm using materials that other manufacturers don't use. So all I produce is one product. My product is the kind of product that can't be made. That's why I want to make one for sale. I'm working on that project right now So, when I thought about what I should do with my method, I thought that I could use the techniques of the old days in the products that are needed now. For example, I thought about what kind of knife would be good for the chef. Now, I'm 30 years old, and I'm in charge of the site. There are 8 people who are 30 years old, and there are young people up to 18 years old. About 20 years ago, even if I had a job at a restaurant, young people would never come. On the contrary, the reception was... The name Ryusen is good because my father was Tatsudoshi. The existence of Ryusen itself is very sacred. The reason why I stood up from the water was that the water droplets fell on the water surface. I thought it would be nice to put something like a leaf gate on the surface of the knife. It doesn't have much to do with the sharpness of the pattern. The balance, the thickness of the blade, and the weight of the knife are all different. So, if I were to actually use it, I would have to go out of my house in Tokyo and check the size of the department store. For the safety of the customers, I had to put it in a glass case and couldn't take it outside. So, he made his own gallery where people could play with his knives all they liked. The sound is a little different, isn't it? Yes, it is. Ah, it feels good. One thing that I couldn't get off my mind as I learned about all the skill and dedication that went into the knives was the thought that these knives weren't meant for everyday cooks. It may be true that people tend to be careful when it comes to beautiful things. But what we make are tools that are necessary to live and eat. So, I want people to use them as much as they want. Something I continue to research as I make videos about Japan is how smaller cities and towns are dealing with the decline in population and the move from traditional skills to more modern work. I'm happy to report that in this specific case, it looks like the traditional craft of Echizen and Chihamono is going against the grain. They're attracting young workers, the business is growing, and they're successfully blending the old with the new. We're also giving them the opportunity to sell their products once a year. So, we're directly dealing with our customers, and their fans are also joining us. So, next year, they'll try to make better products. Overall, I think that will contribute to the quality of our products. I don't think there are many people in Japan or around the world who use Echizen and Chihamono. I want more people around the world to use Echizen and Chihamono. I want it to become famous. I want to make the best kitchen knife in the world. Thanks for watching. See you next time. Bye. What are traditional crafts like where you're from?