How Sakai’s Subsidy Program is Forging a New Generation of Knife Makers

  • July 25, 2025

  • For over 600 years, the city of Sakai has been home to one of Japan’s most respected traditional crafts: uchihamono—hand-forged blades known for their exceptional sharpness and artistry. Praised by chefs and professionals around the world, these knives represent not just tools, but a cultural legacy.

  • Yet today, that legacy faces a challenge: a critical shortage of successors to carry on the craft.

  • In response, Sakai City launched the Subsidy Program for Successor Training in 2009. This initiative supports small and medium-sized businesses in designated traditional industries by offering up to ¥50,000 per month per apprentice, for a maximum of three years.

  • Between 2016 and 2020, 129 individuals benefited from the program, 69 of whom were under the age of 30. These numbers tell a powerful story: a new generation is stepping forward, drawn by admiration for the craft and a desire to shape its future.

  • What makes this program truly impactful is not just the financial support—it’s about the exchange of skill, spirit, and vision between seasoned masters and eager newcomers. Young apprentices bring fresh ideas, while learning the intricate techniques honed over centuries. This is where tradition meets innovation, and where a living craft continues to evolve.

  • At KIREAJI, we believe in the power of this vision. Many of the craftsmen shaping our knives today are graduates of this very program—individuals who chose to devote their lives to excellence, precision, and beauty in the form of a blade.

  • This isn’t just about preserving the past.
    It’s about building a future.

  • The next time you hold a KIREAJI knife in your hand, remember: behind that edge lies not only history—but the passion and promise of a new generation of artisans, breathing new life into an ancient tradition.

Forging the Future: A New Generation Revitalizes Sakai’s Knife-Making Legacy

  • Sakai Knife Legacy Revitalization Plan

    A centuries-old craft stood at a crossroads, but a new generation of artisans is restoring its future.
    Through city support and young talent, Sakai’s 600-year knife tradition is being carried forward with renewed strength and innovation.

Why Do 98% of Japan’s Chefs Trust Sakai Knives?

For over 600 years, Sakai has perfected a unique craft where each stage—forge, sharpen, finish—is mastered by specialists. This tradition makes Sakai the birthplace of Japan’s most trusted knives.

Why Do 98% of Japan’s Chefs Trust Sakai Knives?

The 98% Statistic: More Than a Number

According to the Sakai Tourism Bureau, “98% of Japanese chefs use Sakai knives.” This figure isn’t just a claim—it reflects the deep trust chefs place in Sakai’s centuries-old craftsmanship.

Sakai City Official English Site

The Master Craftsmen of Sakai Uchihamono

In Sakai, centuries-old techniques are carried forward by government-certified Traditional Craftsmen. Each knife is not just a tool but a living symbol of tradition, precision, and spirit—kept alive through their hands.

Sakai’s Traditional Craftsmen

Sakai Uchihamono: 600 Years of Sharpness and Mastery

From forging to sharpening to handle making, every step in Sakai Uchihamono reflects a tradition perfected over six centuries—crafting blades renowned for their ultimate sharpness and artistry.

Sakai Uchihamono

Sakai’s Dwindling Masters: A Legacy at Risk

Once the heart of Japan’s finest cutlery, Sakai now has only a handful of blacksmiths left. With rising competition and fading interest among the young, new markets and fresh apprentices are vital to survival. Supporting these craftsmen means safeguarding a 600-year cultural legacy.

Sakai's Declining Japanese Knife Craftsmen

The Soul of Craftsmanship

  • Sharpness in Form — The Beauty and Function of the Tapered Blade

    A knife is far more than a piece of steel with an edge. What we craftsmen have pursued for generations is the hidden union of beauty and function—expressed most perfectly in the tapered blade.

  • Tapering is the gradual thinning of the blade—from heel to tip, and from spine to edge. This subtle geometry allows the knife to glide effortlessly into ingredients and release them with ease, transforming cutting into a seamless, fluid motion.

  • For the craftsman, however, achieving the ideal taper demands extraordinary precision. Too thick, and the blade drags. Too thin, and it sacrifices strength. The balance—often measured in microns—is born only through years of experience and an intimate dialogue with steel. It is here that the essence of traditional Japanese craftsmanship resides.

  • This structure also carries echoes of the Japanese sword. Samurai blades were designed to be razor-sharp yet unbreakable. Though one served in battle and the other in the kitchen, both demanded the same perfection of form—strength married to sharpness. That is why Japanese kitchen knives are not just tools; they are the living culmination of centuries of refined skill.

  • Young chefs who visit my workshop often remark, “This knife is so beautiful.” And I always reply, “Beauty is proof of proper function.” It is sharp because it is beautiful, and beautiful because it is sharp. That is the true power of tapering.

  • So the next time you hold a Japanese knife, pause to observe the subtle flow from spine to edge. That gentle slope carries not just geometry, but the intent of the maker and the care devoted to the user.


    A good tool needs no words. Touch it, and you will understand. Use it, and you will never forget.

KIREAJI's Three Promises to You

  • japanese_knife_made_in_Sakai

    1. Forged in the Legacy of Sakai

    From Sakai City—Japan’s renowned birthplace of professional kitchen knives—each blade is crafted by master artisans with over six centuries of tradition. Perfectly balanced, enduringly sharp, and exquisitely finished, every cut carries the soul of true craftsmanship.

  • 2. Thoughtful Care for Everyday Use

    Every knife includes a hand-fitted magnolia saya for safe storage. Upon request, we offer a complimentary Honbazuke final hand sharpening—giving you a precise, ready-to-use edge from day one.

  • 3. A Partnership for a Lifetime

    A KIREAJI knife is more than a tool—it is a lifelong companion. With our bespoke paid aftercare services, we preserve its edge and beauty, ensuring it remains as precise and dependable as the day it first met your hand.