November 27, 2025.

As Black Friday returns — and as 2025 approaches its final month — this season always inspires reflection.
I want to begin by expressing my sincere gratitude to everyone who has supported KIREAJI throughout the year.

Every November, we watch price tags drop dramatically: 40% off, 50% off, sometimes even more.
And each time, I find myself wondering:

How do customers who purchased earlier feel when they see these steep markdowns?
Do they feel regret? Do they feel they paid too much?

And another question naturally follows:

How can a company afford such discounts?
What does that say about the original pricing?
Was that price ever truly “fair”?

There are reasonable cases, of course.
Clearing last season’s models.
Making space for new versions.
Liquidating mass-produced inventory.

But what about products that do not become outdated?
What about tools designed to last not through a season, but through a lifetime?

This is where traditional craftsmanship — and Japanese knives in particular — reveal a deeper truth.

A high-quality Sakai knife does not follow an upgrade cycle.
No “new version” arrives next year to replace it.
Its value comes not from novelty, but from continuity — the same techniques refined over centuries.

At KIREAJI, one of our core principles is simple:

Preserve Culture, For the Future.

Sakai’s knife-making tradition has endured for more than 600 years.
Yet today, Japan faces a harsh reality:
fewer successors, shrinking workshops, and a craft at risk of disappearing.

If these skills fade, the world loses not only tools, but a living heritage.

That is why our pricing is intentionally stable, transparent, and fair.
We do not apply dramatic discounts — because discounting this craft would mean undervaluing the time, technique, and pride behind each blade.

No middlemen.
No inflated margins.
No “marketing costs” added silently on top.

Every knife travels directly from the Shiroyama Knife Workshop in Sakai to your kitchen — ensuring that the value you pay goes to the artisans who create it.

In the same spirit, we do not invest in paid ads.
Instead, we invest in something we consider far more meaningful:

education, knowledge, and the future of Japanese knife culture.

Through Japanese Knife Academy, we help people around the world discover what a real Japanese knife is, how it is made, and why it matters.

Because the most powerful form of “marketing” is not a sale —
it is the voice of a customer who learns, uses, and shares.

When someone chooses a Sakai-made knife, enjoys cooking with it, and tells friends about its beauty, that connection is worth more than any advertisement.

Our prices may adjust over time due to material or currency changes, but they will always reflect one promise:

to pay artisans fairly so their knowledge can be passed to the next generation.

For you, this means confidence:
the price you see is the true price — free from sudden markdowns, inflated margins, or artificial sales tactics.

When you choose KIREAJI, you are not simply buying a knife.
You are helping preserve a tradition,
supporting the craftsmen who dedicate their lives to it,
and becoming part of the story that sustains this craft for generations to come.

As Black Friday fills the world with “deals,”
we hope this message offers a different perspective:
that true value is not measured in discounts,
but in the heritage you choose to protect.