Sakai Takayuki

Aoki Hamono has been making knives in Sakai under the name Sakai Takayuki since 1947. In Sakai, knives are made by dividing the labor of each step. Depending on the stage of production, a different specialist is responsible for that portion of the work. In this way, they can ensure that at each stage of production, the best, most skilled craftsman for that work is doing the job. This division of labor goes down to the craftsmen who make the sayas, and the handles and who sharpen the knives. With generations of skilled, specialized labor at their backs, there is little that Sakai Takayuki cannot do.