Japanese Knives

Shunichi Tahara – Master Knife Sharpener

The Tahara family’s passion for knives began over 100 years ago with Mr Tahara’s grandfather. For over 50 years, Tahara Shunichi has continued this legacy, devoting his life to the fine art of traditional Japanese knife-making. Working in Sakai, Osaka, a city with a centuries-old reputation for crafting some of the world’s finest blades, he sharpens and assembles knives that have been hand-forged by fellow local craftsmen.

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The Petty Paring Knife Double Bevel Black Forged - 105mm features a wooden handle and a short, pointed double-bevel blade, shown against a white background.
Petty Paring Knife Double Bevel Black Forged - 105mm
£135.00
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The Petty Paring Knife Double Bevel Black Forged - 150mm stands vertically on a plain white background, showcasing its dark forged steel blade and light wooden handle.
Petty Paring Knife Double Bevel Black Forged - 150mm
£165.00
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The Petty Paring Knife Migaki Polished - 150mm features a wooden handle and a polished silver white steel blade with engraved kanji, displayed on a plain white background.
Petty Paring Knife Migaki Polished - 150mm
£190.00
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The Santoku Multi-Purpose Knife Black Forged 180mm features a double-bevel edge, a dark blade, and a light wood handle, and is displayed against a white background.
Santoku Multi-Purpose Knife Black Forged 180mm
£190.00
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The Santoku Multi-Purpose Knife Migaki Polished - 180mm features a wooden handle and a wide blade with engraved characters, displayed against a white background.
Santoku Multi-Purpose Knife Migaki Polished - 180mm
£255.00
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The Gyuto Chef’s Knife Black Forged 210mm is a Japanese kitchen knife with a wide, sharp steel blade and a light wooden handle, featuring a double-bevel edge. Presented against a plain white background.
Gyuto Chef’s Knife Black Forged 210mm
£275.00
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The Gyuto Chef’s Knife Straight Polished - 240mm features a silver engraved blade and light wooden handle, shown against a plain white background. Its double-bevel edge ensures precise, versatile slicing for chefs.
Gyuto Chef’s Knife Straight Polished - 210mm
£320.00
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The Gyuto Chef’s Knife Black Forged - 240mm features a wooden handle and a shiny, tapered double-bevel blade, shown against a white background.
Gyuto Chef’s Knife Black Forged - 240mm
£320.00
( / )
Out of stock
The Gyuto Chef’s Knife Straight Polished - 240mm features a silver engraved blade and light wooden handle, shown against a plain white background. Its double-bevel edge ensures precise, versatile slicing for chefs.
Gyuto Chef’s Knife Straight Polished - 240mm
£365.00
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The Deba Fish Knife Migaki Polished - 165mm features a wide, sharp single-bevel blade and a light wooden handle, shown isolated on a white background.
Deba Fish Knife Migaki Polished - 165mm
£275.00
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The Nakiri Knife For Vegetables Black Forged - 165mm features a rectangular blade and a light wooden handle, displayed on a white background.
Nakiri Knife For Vegetables Black Forged - 165mm
£190.00
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The Nakiri Knife For Vegetables Polished - 165m is a Japanese-style vegetable knife with a double-bevel straight blade and a wooden handle, shown against a plain white background.
Nakiri Knife For Vegetables Polished - 165m
£255.00
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The Yanagiba Sashimi Knife Migaki Polished - 210mm features a long, narrow steel blade and a light wooden handle, perfect for precise sushi and sashimi preparation, shown on a white background.
Yanagiba Sashimi Knife Migaki Polished - 210mm
£265.00
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The Yanagiba Sashimi Knife Migaki Polished - 270mm features a sharp, pointed stainless steel blade with engraved Japanese characters and a wooden handle—ideal for precise sushi preparation.
Yanagiba Sashimi Knife Migaki Polished - 270mm
£295.00
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The Yanagiba Sashimi Knife Migaki Polished - 300mm features a pointed blade and light wooden handle, shown vertically on a white background—perfect for precise sushi preparation.
Yanagiba Sashimi Knife Migaki Polished - 300mm
£325.00
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The 1000 Grit Whetstone is a rectangular sharpening stone in a white box with Japanese text, perfect for honing Japanese knives.
1000 Grit Whetstone
£47.00
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Out of stock
A packaged Rust Eraser with a visible gray block, designed for easy removal of rust from carbon steel knives and Japanese blades.
Rust Eraser
£13.50
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The Cypress Hinoki Cutting Board - Professional is a rectangular, handcrafted Japanese board made from cypress wood, with a small engraved logo and symbols in the top left corner, shown on a white background.
Cypress Hinoki Cutting Board - Professional
£57.00
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Cypress Hinoki Cutting Board
£14.95
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Each craftsman at Sakai has his own workshop devoted to different stages of the knife-making process: forging, shaping, sharpening, and finishing the blades. With steel hot from the forge, the blacksmith uses the press for the initial forming of the blade which he then manually hammers to further the process. From there, the rough steel is taken to Shunichi Tahara, who shapes and sharpens the blade using an ox bone grinder for part of the shaping process, powered by an intricate system of belt-driven motors.

Recognised by both the Japanese government and the Osaka Prefecture as a Master of Traditional Crafts, Mr. Tahara is held in the highest esteem for his exceptional skill and craftsmanship. Through decades of hands-on work, he has developed a rare sensitivity to each blade, allowing him to create tools of remarkable balance, precision and beauty.

In his quiet workshop, Shunichi Tahara works alone, refining each knife with absolute care. His range includes everything from the elegant yanagiba, used for slicing sashimi in one clean stroke, to the sturdy deba for filleting fish, the wide-bladed nakiri for vegetables, and all-purpose kitchen essentials like the gyuto and the petty, which is similar to a European paring knife.

All of our knives are made in the workshops of Sakai and exclusively sharpened by Mr Tahara, whose unmatched expertise ensures that every blade is not only a tool, but a work of enduring craftsmanship.

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