What does the kanji on your knife say?
Type the characters chiselled on the blade — or a maker's name in romaji — and get the maker, region, steel, what the knife is for, and how to look after it. Every entry says whether we saw the blade ourselves.
Makers we documented in person
Yoshikane Hamono
Sanjo · SKD, Shirogami #2
Seen in person
Shigefusa (Kairo Iizuka)
Sanjo · Shirogami #2
Documented
Hinoura Hamono Kobo
Sanjo · Aogami #2, Shirogami #2, Aogami Super
Documented
Nakagawa Shokai (Sadaaki 定明)
Tsubame · Aogami #2, VG10
Seen in person
Wakui Co. (Kinjiro · Yamabito)
Sanjo · Shirogami #2
Seen in person
Tsurugi Kenshin
Sanjo · Shirogami #2, Aogami #2, SLD, SK carbon steel, VG10
Seen in person
Tadafusa (Hocho Kobo Tadafusa)
Sanjo · SLD, Shirogami #2, Aogami #2
Seen in person
Kiryu Kogyo (Tetsuhiro)
Sanjo · Aogami Super, Aogami #2, VG10, SG2 / R2
Seen in person
All 20 makers → The Tsubame-Sanjo region →
Three things this site does that a shop page can't
Read the mark, not the marketing
吉金 is the company, 吉兼作 is the blade. 定明作 is chiselled, 定明 is printed. We keep a list of words that look like names but aren't.
Japan price vs your price
Shelf prices in Sanjo next to overseas listings, so you know what the import mark-up really is. See the table.
Steel → stone → care
Every maker page tells you the grit to use and the one rule that keeps that steel alive. Sharpening guide.
Decode the other marks
Construction & finish words
作 saku · 久作 hisa-saku · 本焼 honyaki · 霞 kasumi · 割込 warikomi · 本割込 hon-warikomi · 三枚 san-mai · 鍛造 tanzo · 鍛地 kitaeji · 槌目 tsuchime · 梨地 nashiji · 黒打 kurouchi
Steel marks
白紙2号 Shirogami #2 · 青紙2号 Aogami #2 · 青紙スーパー Aogami Super · SK鋼 SK carbon steel · SKD SKD · SLD SLD · V金10号 VG10 · SG2 / SPG2（粉末ハイス） SG2 / R2 · AUS10 AUS10 · クロモバ18 CROMOVA 18 · モリブデンバナジウム鋼 Molybdenum-vanadium stainless