Private Echizen Knife Smithing Experience and Walking Tour

Visit 2 workshops on this tour: Yamaken Woodworks specializes in making products with patterns that are rare even in Japan. Ryusen Hamono forges kitchen knives known for their uniquely beautiful ripple patterns. Despite the use of the term “kitchen knife,” you will encounter the pride in the differing beliefs behind them, and you may start viewing kitchen knives differently. Echizen cutlery: A traditional craft of Fukui. Echizen cutlery has been drawing attention in Japan and from overseas. One reason for this is the keen edges forged by their artisans. Join this tour to visit 2 workshops involved in Echizen cutlery: Yamaken Woodworks, which makes the patterns, and Ryusen Hamono, which makes the cutlery. The first stop is Yamaken Woodworks, which specializes in producing patterns for traditional cutlery. As part of the tour, you will visit both their workshop and etoe, a gallery that has been built next to it. etoe is the only specialty store in Japan that sells patterns for traditional knives. At this stop, you can see the lineup offered by the shop managed by Yamaken Woodworks. The other workshop you will visit is Ryusen Hamono, which is known overseas for the high quality of its designs and its excellent techniques. One of the unique traits of their cutlery is the beautiful Ryusen pattern that you can find adorning its surfaces. This is thanks to a unique technique passed on by the artisans at Ryusen Hamono by forging the knives using a technique in which layers of hard and soft materials are folded over one another. Be sure to keep an eye out for the Ryusen pattern during the tour.