About Terukazu Takamura
Takamura Hamono (blacksmith) can be found in Takefu Village (Echizen) in Fukui Prefecture. It is run by 3rd generation blacksmith Terukazu Takamura who inherited the shop from his father Toshiyuki Takamura-san. Smithing since 1985, his blades are known for an extremely refined and long-lived edge. They’ve been gaining recognition worldwide by cooks and even ranked #1 in a consumer test report by Smartson in Sweden, beating out every “top of the line” European knife in the running. These are a favourite of Rene Redzepi, the famed chef of NOMA in Copenhagen and also Martha Stewart! It took us over a year to track down Takamura-san after seeing their knives displayed at Takefu train station. we are major fans.
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Nigara Hamono
Nigara Hamono is a relatively new knifemaker out of Aomori prefecture, but they are not new as a company. The company has been around for over 350 years, tracing back to its swordsmith ancestors. Knifemaking is a small part of what they do; they also produce large steel beams and such for buildings! Go Yoshizawa, age 35, is a young blacksmith who is the company president's son and has decided to go back to their blacksmithing roots. He now makes unique and stunning tsuchime knives and some hand-folded Damascus.
