Hello.

Today, I would like to talk about “Honyaki” of Japanese kitchen knives.

“Honyaki” means a kitchen knife made of only one piece of steel.

However, not all single piece kitchen knives are simply called “Honyaki”.

The manufacturing process is different from that of commonly sold kitchen knives.

The knives in the photo are “Honyaki”. sashimi knives made in Sakai City, Osaka.

White#1, tip round willow 330mm, Mizuhonyaki, top ebony handle

It is cool.

In Sakai City, Osaka, the main production method is called “hon-forging,” in which steel is hammered and beaten.

These knives are also made by forging and stretching a single piece of high-quality material.

This alone is a difficult process, but the difficult part of hon-yaki is the “quenching” process.

“quenching” is the final process in which a knife is heated to a high temperature until it is red hot, and then cooled rapidly to cause scientific changes in the steel and bring out its hardness.

However, if all the material is hardened, the knife will be weak against impact and prone to chipping.

Therefore, the knife is covered with mud from the peak (back) to the middle of the knife (dohi-yaki) to intentionally prevent the hardening process from taking place.

By doing so, the steel is divided into two layers within a single piece of steel: the soft part and the hard part.

The soft part buffers the impact across the entire blade, thus reducing the risk of cracking.

In the knife in the photo, you can see a “ripple” in the middle, and this is the border between the two.

It may sound simple when expressed in words, but in reality, it is a very difficult technique.

Among all the blacksmiths in Sakai City, Osaka, only a few are able to use this method.

Mr. Kenji Togashi, a traditional craftsman in Sakai City, whom I mentioned earlier, said that it took him seven years of trial and error before he was able to do this honyaki technique.

Since only a limited number of blacksmiths are able to produce this honyaki, the fact that he is able to produce hon-yaki proves that he is highly skilled.

Also, because the price is one order of magnitude higher than a regular knife (200,000-300,000 yen at the current market price in 2024), there are only a few professional chefs who purchase these knives.

However, for a chef who is devoted to Japanese cuisine, this is a knife of the highest quality that he or she would like to own someday.

Even I, who see many kitchen knives every day, sometimes fall in love with a knife that has been delivered to me.

“Honyaki” knives are the culmination of craftsmanship and are suitable for use in Japanese cuisine, the most delicate cuisine in the world.

At our store in Kappabashi Tool Street, we have the best cases for you to see our knives.

We are proud to say that there is no other store in Kappabashi that has such a wide range of Hon-yaki knives, Please take a look when you visit us.

See you soon.

Yosuke Kamata, 4th generation of Kappabashi Knife store Kamata Hakensha.

*This is a translation by a translation tool.