Where are your knives made?
Our Philosophy on Craftsmanship & Production
Every KAKINUMA knife undergoes its final hand-finishing at our workshop in Tokyo.
Knife making has long been built upon a division of specialized craftsmanship. Depending on the product, processes such as forging, heat treatment, laser cutting, pressing, grinding, sharpening, and handle making may be carried out by specialized craftspeople and manufacturing partners in different regions of Japan and, where appropriate, overseas.
Rather than defining every product by a single place of origin or craft tradition, we believe it is essential to deeply understand how each knife is actually made, and to select the most suitable craftspeople, technologies, and manufacturing methods for each individual process.
To create products that are truly distinctive, we work closely with highly skilled craftspeople and carefully selected manufacturing partners, both in Japan and abroad.
We also place great importance on the exchange and advancement of craftsmanship across borders. We have traveled overseas together with some of Japan’s highly skilled craftspeople to share knowledge and provide technical guidance, while at the same time actively learning from and incorporating technologies and expertise found outside Japan. Through this continuous exchange of knowledge and technique, we strive to keep evolving our craft.
To achieve the performance and design we envision for each product, we repeatedly test, prototype, evaluate, and refine our work, continually searching for the optimal combination of materials, processes, and techniques.
For certain products, for example, we work with an overseas specialist equipped with advanced German heat-treatment technology. The facility possesses the equipment and expertise required to process high-precision industrial components.
We chose this partner not because of where the facility is located, but because its technology enables us to pursue the specific properties and level of precision we require.
Every KAKINUMA product is developed under the direction and supervision of our founder, Tomohiro Kakinuma.
After the various specialized production processes are completed, every knife undergoes its final hand-finishing at our workshop in Tokyo before it is presented to our customers.
For us, craftsmanship is not defined simply by where something is made.
We believe the role of a maker is to bring together the right materials, people, technologies, and techniques—and to transform that combination into something that could not otherwise exist.
Rather than allowing geography to dictate how a product should be made, we choose the methods we believe are best suited to each individual product.
What matters most to us remains unchanged:
Quality. Originality. And the continuous pursuit of better craftsmanship.