Japanese kitchen knives are famous around the world for their hardness, sharpness, and cutting performance. But what makes these knives perform so well in this area? A large part of that answer is because many Japanese kitchen knives are forge-welded, using Japanese steel and techniques.

Introducing our Metal Forging Workshop, which lets you work a piece of copper metal into a forged state, demonstrating in real-time precisely why forging is so important. We offer it at ICHITOI, the second floor of Sakai Ichimonji Mitsuhide's main office.

Have some fun with us and forge some copper metal! It's free of charge, and walk-ins are accepted!

Table of Contents

  1. Workshop Contents
  2. Why We're Doing It
  3. Dates and Prices
  4. How to Book

Workshop Contents

This workshop takes approximately five minutes and involves one key step.

 

Forging

After putting on some safety equipment, you will be given a piece of copper metal to hammer out, thus tightening its structure.

 

You will get to take the copper plate home with you if you wish to keep it.

This activity is suitable to do for one to two active participants at a time. With adult supervision, this activity is suitable for those aged five and up.

Please note this activity involves light physical labor, as you will be using a hammer at a constant pace and force for a few minutes without interruption.

Why We're Doing It

The reason we host this workshop is to help people connect better to Japanese kitchen knives, and understand the importance of what forge-welded knives are. Forge welding takes time, and artisanship, so it is generally associated with better, and thus more expensive knives.

That said, sometimes a high-end knife and less expensive knife can look the same! So how do you tell the difference?

While a less expensive knife can look similar, it may have had key production steps skipped. For example, our knife production process is 41 steps on average, whereas a less expensive knife may have less. The less steps involved, the more cost-cutting that has likely occured.

We hope by showcasing one of the more crucial steps, that we can promote and educate the importance of high-quality, well-made tools.

This is a fun experience you can do in a few minutes, and is popular with people waiting for their newly bought kitchen knives from us to be engraved, or small tour groups wanting an accessible, free experience to enhance someone's journey to Japan.

Dates and Prices

This workshop is held any day there is not another event going on at ICHITOI. You can see ICHITOI's event calendar on its Japanese webpage.

This experience is completely free of charge, so come up to our second floor and say hello anytime! You do not need to purchase anything from us to participate.

If you contact us ahead of time, we can make sure someone is available to guide you through step-by-step, and confirm that this work is running on that day.

We also offer this experience as part of our paid Paper-Cutting Knife Experience, if you want to create a knife you can take home with you.

How to Book

Walk-in appointments are accepted and encouraged. You do not need to make a reservation with us to do this sharpening workshop, but you are always welcome to contact us if you want to have a precise time and make sure someone is available.

You can book a session by messaging us through our contact page.