[VILLAGE Report vol.23] 90% of Professional Japanese Knives Come from Sakai | Osaka Prefecture

Osaka Prefecture has 9 nationally designated items. Sakai forged knives, Osaka ranma transoms, Osaka karaki joinery, Osaka Senshu paulownia chests, Osaka Naniwa tinware, Osaka Kongo bamboo blinds, Naniwa honzome dyeing, Osaka butsudan Buddhist altars, Izumi glass in total.

This time, we will focus on one of them.

The users are professionals

Sakai forged knives are said to hold about 90% of the domestic share of traditional Japanese knives used by professional chefs.

This is different in nature from any share we have seen in this series. It is not 90% of the general market, but 90% among “people who make their living with it.”

People who use them every day and sharpen them every day choose them. That means 90% of those people choose the same production area.

Cutting tobacco leaves

The trigger that spread the name of Sakai knives across Japan was an unexpected one.

In the 16th century, “tobacco knives” were used to cut tobacco leaves introduced from Portugal. They gained a reputation for cutting very well.

Eventually, the shogunate gave them the “Sakai Kiwame” mark and recognized exclusive sales rights.

It was a brand guaranteed by the state. This was 400 years ago.

Swordmaking skills moved again

We have seen the same structure several times in this series.

In Kochi, swordsmithing skills moved into forestry blades. In Shiga, armor and weapon artisans moved into Buddhist altars. And in Osaka, blade-making skills moved into kitchens.

The technology of weapons always goes somewhere else when an age becomes peaceful.

Where it goes depends on what exists in that place. If there are mountains, it becomes mountain tools; if there are temples, Buddhist implements; in a merchant city, it becomes tools for food.

Ancient tombs and iron

Sakai is home to groups of ancient burial mounds, including the Mozu Tomb of Emperor Nintoku, also known as the Daisenryo Kofun.

To build burial mounds, tools for digging earth are needed. The presence of groups who made those iron tools in this area is considered the origin of Sakai metalworking.

Digging earth → cutting leaves → filleting fish. For 1,500 years, iron has continued to be hammered in the same city.

The remaining 8 items are also tools of the city

Transoms, paulownia chests, tinware, bamboo blinds, and honzome dyeing. All of them are things used in everyday communities.

While Kyoto’s 17 items lean toward “offering and decorating,” Osaka’s 9 items lean toward the “use” side.

They are neighbors, yet their characters are this different.

The next issue is Hyogo, the last stop in Kinki.

References: Osaka Prefecture, Sakai City, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry “Designation of Traditional Craft Products,” Association for the Promotion of Traditional Craft Industries

—The Value Village Editorial Team

Photo: Frank Schulenburg / CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)