YoshikazuTanaka田中義一

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The story

Sakai runs on a division of labour: smiths forge, sharpeners finish, brands sell. Yoshikazu Tanaka is what the top of the forging side looks like. More than fifty years at the anvil. The METI Traditional Craftsman certification (Dentō Kōgeishi), and Sakai's own Master Craftsman title since 1996. He heads Tanaka Uchihamono Seisakusho, the family smithy running since 1896 — he is the fourth generation, and his son Yoshihisa, working beside him, is the fifth.

You have probably held his work without knowing it. Tanaka forges white and blue steel — including traditionally forged honyaki — for labels like Sakai Kikumori (Kawamura Hamono), Hado, Yoshihiro (Yamawaki Hamono), and Baba Hamono's Kagekiyo. Hado was the first house to hand him stainless-clad carbon; he liked it enough that he now forges clad construction for several companies. A high-end white-steel blade from a Sakai brand has a real chance of having started life in his fire.