Collection: Kurotori Tanzo

The 6th-generation blacksmith Hiroshi Kajiwara-san is the main force behind this Kurotori Tanzo in Shimanto city in Kochi prefecture. He can forge many different types of knives and tools to meet the needs and demands of the locals. Since Shimanto is a town of forestry and fishery, they make everything from axes to knives for fishermen. When visiting them, he casually took a knife blank from the forge and sharpened it to a finished knife in a matter of minutes; it was an awe-inspiring feat. Kurotori Tanzo, is one of those smaller shops that is worth watching. 

Kurotori Tanzo
Blacksmith Kurotori Tanzo
Made in Tosa, Kochi, Japan

8 products

  • Yukihiro Sakai

    Yukihiro Sakai-san was apprenticed under Nishida-san in Kumamoto, who strictly forge-weld steels in house. Sakai-san has learnt everything from Nishida-san and continues to do like his sensei. Sakai-san recently started his own workshop in Kumamoto making his own knives.  Now he forge-welds everything in house, from hard carbon steel clad with soft steel. The Shirogami #1 steel used in these knives is forge-welded in house by Sakai-san. This is a very traditional steel that can achieve incredible sharpness and has great edge retention, a favourite of more traditional blacksmiths.
  • Tsukasa Suzuki

    Suzuki-san is a talented blacksmith from Yamagata prefecture. He started his blacksmithing journey at 18 and has been hard at work perfecting his craft for 40 years now! He uses techniques and knowledge learned directly from his father, and together they add important threads to the rich blacksmithing tapestry of Yamagata. Tsukasa Suzuki is known primarily for his hand-forged sickles, but he also makes some incredible kitchen knives. They're unlike anything we've ever seen before! These single-bevel versions of standard knife shapes take some getting used to, but they allow food to fall away from the blade effortlessly. They feature a gorgeous kurouchi finish and a nice toothy edge.