Custom Japanese Knife: Made to Order

Every knife on this page is made to order at Mizuno Tanrenjo, the Sakai workshop of Mizuno-san, the shokunin you can meet in the video above. Each blade is hand-forged, hand-ground, finished to your specification, and stamped with the forge's Minamoto Akitada maker's mark. Choose your knife type, blade length, and steel & grade above, add optional pieces below, and send us your inquiry.

What each knife is for

New to Japanese knives? Here is the plain-English version. If you just want one great, sharp Japanese knife for everyday cooking, start with the Wagyuto.

• Ai-deba: A thick, heavy fish knife. Cuts through fish heads and bones when you break down a whole fish.
• Edo Usuba: The Tokyo-style vegetable knife. Straight edge for clean, fast cuts on vegetables.
• Edosaki: The Tokyo-style eel knife, made for opening and filleting eel.
• Fuguhiki: An extra-thin slicer for cutting fish into paper-thin sashimi slices.
• Hondeba: The classic heavy-duty fish knife. Handles whole fish, joints, and even poultry.
• Honekiri: A specialist knife that chops through the fine bones of pike conger (hamo).
• Japanese Petty: A small utility knife for peeling, trimming, and everyday little jobs.
• Kama Usuba: The Osaka-style vegetable knife with a rounded tip. For clean cuts on vegetables.
• Kiritsuke: An all-round chef knife with an angled tip. Handles both slicing and vegetables.
• Layered Wagyuto: The all-purpose chef knife in layered Damascus-pattern steel. Beautiful and practical.
• Layered Yanagiba: The sashimi slicer in layered Damascus-pattern steel.
• Magurokiri (Tuna Knife): A sword-length knife used in fish markets to break down whole tuna.
• Oroshideba: A lighter, thinner version of the deba, used for filleting fish.
• Sakimaru Takohiki: A sashimi slicer with an elegant rounded, sword-like tip. Same job as the yanagiba.
• Wagyuto: The Japanese chef knife. If you want one knife for meat, fish, and vegetables, this is it.
• Wasujihiki: A long carving knife for roasts, briskets, and boneless meat or fish.
• Yanagiba: The sushi knife. Long and single-edged, it slices raw fish in one clean pull.
• Yanagiba (Kiritsuke-shaped version): A yanagiba sushi slicer with an angled tip. Same use, sharper look.

Grades

Every knife comes in a few levels of craftsmanship. Higher grades take more skill to forge, hold their edge longer, and cost more.

• Hontanren: the traditional workhorse, forged from Blue Steel No.2.
• DX: the premium forging, in Blue Steel No.1.
• Honyaki: the pinnacle of the craft. One solid piece of White Steel No.3, hardened the same way as a katana. The hardest thing a smith can make.
• Honyaki DX: honyaki construction in Blue Steel No.2.
• Mirror-Polished: a hand-polished mirror finish on the blade.

All knives ship with a traditional Ho Wood handle. As each blade is forged on order, prices shown are estimates and the final quote is confirmed by email before any payment.