Japanese Knife Evangelist: Frédérick Kubat

  • Japanese knives are not only tools. They are cultural heritage, shaped by generations of craftsmen and entrusted to those who use and care for them.
    Among the people who quietly protect and pass on this culture is Frédérick Kubat, a sharpener, Japanese knives collector and educator based in Quebec, Canada.

  • Frédérick

    Founder of Hagane Affûtage (Saint-Basile-le-Grand, Quebec, Canada)
    Knife sharpener and educator specializing in Japanese and Western kitchen knives

  • A Journey Into Japanese Knives

    Frédérick’s journey began in 2021, when he received his first Japanese knife. From the very first cut, he felt something fundamentally different.

    For him, Japanese knives are first and foremost a passion and the pleasure of using them. At the same time, they represent a deep admiration for meticulous and exceptional craftsmanship at every stage of the manufacturing process — a fusion of ancestral know-how and the modern techniques developed by a new generation of Japanese blacksmiths.

    After years of practice, learning, and restoring old Japanese knives, he founded Hagane Affûtage in 2024 to serve both home cooks and professionals.

  • What He Does Today

    Today, Frédérick’s work focuses on sharpening, maintaining, and advising clients on proper knife care.

    In his workshop, he does more than simply restore sharpness. He helps people rediscover what a knife is truly capable of, and what it means to use and care for it properly.

  • Why He Supports KIREAJI

    Frédérick supports KIREAJI not as a seller, but as someone who shares the same values.

    He believes that KIREAJI’s direct-from-the-workshop model, fair pricing, and deep respect for craftsmen are essential to preserving true Japanese knife culture.

    For him, protecting this culture is not only about selling or owning knives — it is about honoring the people, the skills, and the spirit behind them.

  • Honoring Tools, Passing on Culture

  • Q1. What does a Japanese knife mean to you, beyond being just a tool?

    "For me, Japanese knives represent first and foremost a passion and the pleasure of using them.
    It's also about admiring meticulous and exceptional craftsmanship at every stage of the manufacturing process.
    It's a blend of ancestral know-how and modern techniques developed by the new generation of Japanese blacksmiths."

  • Q2. In your daily work, what do you care about the most?

    "It's restoring a dull knife to its former glory.
    Most importantly, it's ensuring that customers are satisfied and impressed by the sharpness a Japanese knife can achieve.
    I try to convey in my work the same feeling of satisfaction I experienced when I made my first cut with a Japanese knife."

  • Q3. What kind of relationship do you hope people will have with their knives?

    "Obviously, it's that owners of hand-forged Japanese knives enjoy cooking with them and take good care of them."

  • Through his daily work, Frédérick quietly ensures that Japanese knives continue to live — not as mere objects, but as an essential part of people’s lives.
Visit Hagane Affûtage

Becoming a Japanese Knife Evangelist

If you believe a Japanese knife is more than just a tool, and that culture lives through understanding, use, and sharing, we invite you to read how this philosophy is lived—and how you can become part of it.

Becoming a Japanese Knife Evangelist
Japanese_Knife_Academy

Japanese Knife Academy

Go beyond simply using a Japanese knife.
At the Japanese Knife Academy, you will discover the history, philosophy, and craftsmanship behind Sakai’s 600-year tradition.
Learn it. Experience it. Share it.
This is where your journey from user to true ambassador begins.

Japanese Knife Academy

The Soul of Craftsmanship

  • When I read Frédérick’s story, I felt something familiar.

    A Japanese knife does not reveal its true value the day it is made.
    It reveals itself over time, in the hands of someone who uses it, cares for it, and learns to listen to it.

    We craftsmen in Sakai do not make knives to be admired in display cases.
    We make them to be used. To be sharpened. To be returned to the stone again and again.
    A knife becomes complete only when it enters someone’s daily life.

    People like Frédérick are essential to this journey.

    They are not only sharpening blades.
    They are sharpening understanding.
    They teach users how to respect their tools, and in doing so, they extend the life of both the knife and the craft itself.

    When a knife crosses the ocean and finds such hands,
    it is no longer just a product from Japan.
    It becomes part of a shared culture.

    If more people around the world use Japanese knives in this way,
    learn their stories, and pass those stories on,
    then our work in Sakai will continue to live — quietly, but surely — far beyond our city.

    That is all a craftsman can hope for.
Sakai Traditional Craftsmen Collection

Our Story

  • Tradition of Sakai, in Your Hands

    "Where can I find a truly great knife?"
    We started KIREAJI to answer that question. While the number of skilled craftsmen is declining in Japan, many people overseas are seeking authentic blades. With that in mind, we carefully deliver each knife—bridging tradition and kitchens around the world.
Our Story