Takamura is undoubtedly one of Japan's most distinguished manufacturers of handmade stainless steel knives. The forge is located in the city of Echizen (Takefu) in western Japan. It has been there since the Second World War and today the work is led by three sons who belong to the third generation of blacksmiths in the Takamura family. The father, who is now 80 years old, was active in production until quite recently and, as we can see in the pictures, he hot-forges the blades with enormous precision. Takamura's philosophy is simple. Only the best is good enough and this approach characterizes all parts of production, from purchasing steel and wood to hot forging, heat treatment and grinding. For that reason, all steps are carried out by Takamura himself. There are no parts of the production that are bought in from subcontractors, something that is otherwise very common among Japanese blacksmiths. The accuracy of the details is something that Takamura takes very seriously and nothing is left to chance. The result is a knife that is completely uncompromising in its execution and anyone who has ever cut with a takamura knife recognizes the astonishing performance.
"But the knife is not the star. The chef is not the star either, not even the food is the star. It's the satisfaction of the person eating the food that really matters. Satisfaction is the real star.”
/Terakazu Takamura, 2015-04-08.
When we visit Takamura, the father and the two sons Hideo and Terukazu proudly show off their forge. They talk in detail about how they hot-forge all their blades to achieve strong blades that keep their sharpness for a long time. Far from all quality knife manufacturers hot-forge their blades. Die-cut or cold-hammered blades are also good, but to extract the very finest properties from a steel, you need to hammer out the blade by hand. Takamura talks enthusiastically about every part of the production and they are not particularly worried about the secrets of the manufacturing process being leaked to the competitors. It is simply not possible to copy their work without devoting a lifetime of hard work and total dedication to the forge.
