Sign in with username / password Sign in with Facebook Create account with JapanTravel I have read and agree to the Terms of Use and the Privacy Policy. Email reset password link Kamata Hakensha Knife Shop Crafting excellent cutlery in Asakusa Kamata Hakensha knife shop is a real family business, with a history dating back four generations. There are currently two generations of skilled hands behind the grindstone, expertly crafting their own specialty knives, which both perform superbly and please aesthetically. Though most people are drawn to the simple and well-made utensils that improve the kitchen experience, the store’s rare engraved knives provide a more exotic reason to shop there. Kamata Hakensha has a line of over 800 knives ranging in price from ¥2,500 to ¥180,000. From intricate sakura patterns to the most impressive vegetable knives, they attract customers from all over the world and from all walks of life. The shop offers an in-store service to engrave a name or initials into each knife purchased.

This takes about three minutes and makes for an excellent, personalized souvenir. Kamata Hakensha’s knives are all designed by the owner, crafted with incredible skill and individually edged. how to make sushi rice fastKamata-san has a formidable eye for knives and can find the smallest imperfections within the blade, ensuring his products are of the highest quality, standing out from the competing knife shops found in Asakusa.play sushi chef online free The store’s concept centers on functionality. sushi new york east villageWhile the knives are beautiful; sushi making kit singapore

the real heart is in the quality. Each member of the family learns from the others and from training in an apprenticeship, meaning each generation has new insight into the craft of knife-making. sushi in london englandIf you visit the store you will probably see Kamata-san sharpening knives in the small glass booth.how to order low calorie sushi Kamata-san himself can guide you through the purchasing experience, advising you on which knife is suited to which purpose. how to order low calorie sushiOnce you have selected the perfect knife, it will be presented in a box with blade protector to keep it in perfect condition for years to come. However, if you are not so gentle with your knife, don’t fret. The store offers after-care service with which they will sharpen your knife for you to keep it in tip-top condition.

The range of knives offered is astounding, from antique-looking vegetable knives to layered steel which looks like a samurai sword. Those in the know will be aware that Japanese chef’s knives are some of the finest in the world, ideal for slicing maguro and other delicacies. If you want an authentic Japanese cooking experience, look no further than Kamata Hakensha. If you have any feedback, corrections or ideas on how we can improve this page, please contact us using this form. Thank you for your support! Sign in to get points for your feedback! There are several knife shops in the market. Some of them are friendlier than others. Fifth generation Tsukiji Masamoto (opened in 1891) has always been on the friendly side and has an English speaking staff on some days. This is where my husband and I have purchased knives in the past and we love the service here. It’s a very busy shop with not only tourists, but also with the fishmongers from Tsukiji. Presdient Hirano-san in the photo below is there most days.

The staff that work there are very knowledgeable about knives. Hirano-san has said that when the market moves to its new location at Toyosu that his shop will remain in place in the outer market. Hirano-san of Tsukiji Masamoto putting initials on a knife Chuo-ku, Tsukiji 4-9-9 中央区築地4-9-9 Kiya Knife Shop 木屋 *Note – this is the NEW address for Kiya Nihonbashi Nihonbashi-Muromachi 2-2-1 中央区日本橋室町 2-2-1 10am – 8pm seven days a week Closed only on New Year’s Day. The corner shop, opened in 1792, has a sign in English, “World’s Finest Cutlery” over the door. The compact shop displays a shining collection of knives, pots, pans, and many things for the kitchen. Here you will find graters, pepper grinders, tweezers for pulling bones out of fish, as well as scissors and gardening tools. The friendly staff is patient and will help you to find exactly what you are looking for. Taito-ku, Matsugaya 2-12-6 台東区松が谷2-12-6

Kamata has a large selection of Western and Japanese knives, Japanese wet stones for keeping your knives sharp, and other kitchen gadgets. They will also sharpen your knives here if you live in Tokyo. Chuo-ku, Tsukiji 4-13-6 中央区築地4-13-6 Aritsugu has a much larger shop in Kyoto’s Nishiki Market. If you are going to Kyoto then you do not want to miss this store. Be sure to read this short primer on Japanese knives:Featured View All » As Seen On The Show Make Mine to Go Everyone Is Italian On SundayFOR years, a few privileged cooks have joined a waiting list to spend thousands of dollars for the carbon steel knives Bob Kramer makes by hand at his forge in Olympia, Wash. Two weeks ago the cookware chain Sur la Table began selling a signature line made to his specifications by Zwilling J. A. Henckels. Though the knives are priced as high as $349.95 for a 10-inch chef’s knife, cooks quickly bought hundreds of them, with the chain selling about 20 percent of its inventory in 10 days, said Jacob Maurer, the vice president for merchandising for Sur la Table.The demand for high-end kitchen cutlery keeps growing.“

There’s more sophisticated cooking going on, so people are willing to spend more,” said Michelle Foss, the director of merchandising for Williams-Sonoma stores, where high-level knives, like an 8-inch Henckels Cronidur chef’s knife for $299, are selling well.Norman Kornbleuth, an owner of Broadway Panhandler in Manhattan, said his customers are no longer reluctant to spend $200 for something like a classic chef’s knife by Wüsthof from Germany or Shun from Japan.And like Sur la Table, other retailers are finding a surprising interest in carbon steel.“People are buying Japanese knives and more esoteric cutlery,” said Taylor Erkkinen, an owner of Brooklyn Kitchen in Williamsburg, “but the interest in carbon steel is what struck me the most.” Carbon steel blades take and hold an edge better than stainless steel. But home cooks have long favored stainless steel knives because unlike carbon steel, they do not stain or rust or react to acidic ingredients. Over time, even well-maintained carbon steel knives acquire a gray finish known as a patina.

Lee Richmond, the owner of the Best Things, a Web site that sells carbon steel Sabatier knives made in France, said that “in the last year sales have been going crazy.”“They want carbon steel,” he said of his customers, “because the knives they own don’t hold an edge as well and are not as easy to sharpen.” Manufacturers like Sabatier and R. Murphy Knives, the 150-year-old company from Ayer, Mass., whose knives are sold at Brooklyn Kitchen, are old hands at carbon steel.But there are a growing number of new artisans in the field, like Joel Bukiewicz, who opened his workshop and store, Cut Brooklyn, last year. (In the fall, Mr. Bukiewicz will start making a stainless steel chef’s knife for Williams-Sonoma, which will sell for $599.95.)Mr. Kramer opened his first shop in Seattle in 1992 after sharpening knives for chefs door-to-door. He learned how to hand-forge blades from artisans in Arkansas and Florida who made only pocketknives and hunting knives. His knives are very well balanced with wider blades, and robust but elegant rounded handles finished with brass details.“

I had been working with chefs,” Mr. Kramer said, “and producing high-performance knives that were easy to sharpen and held an edge was what interested me.”“We’ve now come full circle,” he added. “People want heirloom tomatoes, they like slow cooking and they treasure good, old knives. Carbon steel is sharp. And they are not afraid of the patina.”Mr. Maurer of Sur la Table said the decision to have Mr. Kramer create the line of carbon steel knives was a bit of a risk, even though the chain has been carrying a pricey line of stainless steel knives designed by Mr. Kramer and made by Shun in Japan. But the company thought it recognized a trend. “It’s a return to a heritage of cooking, like copper pots and cast iron, something that’s pure and organic,” he said. Ms. Erkkinen said that her customers see carbon steel “as natural, healthy and artisanal.”Still, more-mainstream stainless steel knives, and Japanese-style knives, are driving the stronger demand for high-end knives.

Ms. Erkkinen said that after customers try an entry-level 8-inch stainless steel chef’s knife by Messermeister, the knife she recommends for cooks starting out, they often move on to a Japanese knife, because of its thinner blade and great balance.The office of the consul general of Japan in New York said that the United States was now the biggest importer of Japanese knives, outpacing South Korea in volume and sales for the first time in 2010.European companies, notably Wüsthof, Sabatier and Zwilling J. A. Henckels, have for years been making Japanese-style santoku knives, which do not taper to a point like a traditional chef’s knife, but are wider for their entire length and rounded at the end.Now for the export market, Japanese knife-makers are incorporating Western styles, like chef’s knives. They are using somewhat thicker blades sharpened on both sides, and flattened handles that have a visible tang, the part of the blade that goes into the handle, secured by rivets. Traditional Japanese knives have rounded or octagonal wooden handles with no visible tang or rivets and are often sharpened, or beveled, on only one side.

This makes for a thinner blade, but the knives are designed for right-handed use only and take particular skill to sharpen.The latest catalog for Korin, a company in TriBeCa that imports and sells knives and other utensils made in Japan, devotes as many pages to Western-style knives made in Japan as to Japanese-style ones. Cookware stores, including Korin, attribute the popularity of the santoku to television, especially to “Iron Chef” and Rachael Ray.For stainless steel and carbon steel blades, new materials are being introduced, notably a sandwiched construction similar to what is typically used in good pots and pans. Molybdenum and vanadium add strength and hardness. Some knives have textured, hammered blades. Others are Damascus-style, a centuries-old technique of folding the steel as it is forged, to make the blade stronger and give it a rippled design. (Knives stamped out of a piece of metal, not finished on a forge, like the popular Global brand from Japan, are cheaper and less durable.