In short: when guns and tobacco arrived from Portugal in 1543, Sakai’s smiths turned to making guns and tobacco knives. The Tokugawa shogunate let Sakai sell its tobacco knives under the seal “Sakai kiwame” as a monopoly, and around the Genroku era (1688–1704) Sakai smiths were making the deba and other single-bevel kitchen knives. The work was split between smiths, sharpeners and handle makers — and still is. Sakai knives became a national traditional craft in 1982.

1. Kofun periodAncient

   A town of great tombs

   Sakai is home to the Daisen Kofun, the tomb attributed to Emperor Nintoku, which the Sakai Hamono association calls the largest burial mound in the world. The association begins its history of Sakai knives here, noting that building it must have been an enormous civil-engineering project. ^[1]

2. 1543Sengoku

   Guns and tobacco arrive from Portugal

   Portuguese traders brought firearms and tobacco to Japan in 1543. According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs’ Japan Heritage portal, Sakai used its knife-forging skills to become a centre of gun-making and of tobacco knives for shredding tobacco leaves. ^[1][2]

3. from 1573Tenshō era

   The tobacco knife

   From the Tenshō era, tobacco knives began to be made in Sakai. A 1967 history of edged tools retells a tradition that the sharpness of a Sakai smith’s blades came to the notice of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who had him make tobacco knives — then available only as imports. It is a story, not a record; the same author is firm only that knife-smithing in Sakai began between the end of the Toyotomi period and the early Tokugawa years. ^[1][4]

4. 1600s–1700sEdo

   The “Sakai kiwame” seal

   The Tokugawa shogunate allowed Sakai’s tobacco knives to be sold bearing the seal “Sakai kiwame” (堺極), and sold them as a monopoly, which spread the reputation of Sakai blades across Japan. A 1934 history of Japanese hardware describes Sakai’s tobacco knives, like its guns, as holding a nationwide monopoly. ^[1][2][3][5]

5. c. 1688–1704Genroku era

   The deba and the single-bevel kitchen knife

   The 1967 history dates the deba — the heavy fish knife — to the Genroku era, a little after the tobacco knife, and names the smith Yamanoue Monju Shirō and his followers as the makers who spread the fame of Sakai kitchen knives. The Sakai Tourism and Convention Bureau also dates the birth of Sakai’s single-edged knives to the Genroku era. Another study cites an Osaka source that places Monju Shirō’s deba earlier, in the Kan’ei era (1624–1643), so treat the exact date as uncertain. ^{[4][10][2][9]}

6. 1757Hōreki 7

   A busy trade

   Records kept by the Sakai magistrate in 1757, cited in the 1967 history, show the knife trade flourishing in the town. ^[4]

7. 1870s–1880sMeiji

   From guilds to companies

   The Sakai Chamber of Commerce history records a Sakai tobacco-knife company formed in 1876 and a new manufacturers’ association in 1886. As tobacco cutting was mechanised, Sakai makers turned their skills to cooking knives. ^[6][12]

8. 1910Meiji 43

   Smiths, sharpeners and handle makers

   At a 1910 competitive exhibition in Sakai, the entrants included 106 kitchen-knife makers, 96 scissor makers, 11 tobacco-knife makers, 83 sharpeners and 38 handle makers — a snapshot of the division of labour that still defines Sakai. ^[6]

9. 1929–1935Shōwa

   Machines arrive — elsewhere first

   A 2024 study of Japan’s knife industry describes Seki adopting spring hammers from 1929 and belt hammers from 1935, which were also taken up in Sakai. Sakai nonetheless kept hand-forged, single-bevel knives at the centre of its output, while Seki and Niigata grew into mass producers. ^[9]

10. 1982Shōwa 57

    A national traditional craft

    On 5 March 1982, Sakai uchi-hamono (Sakai forged blades) was designated a traditional craft by Japan’s Minister of International Trade and Industry. ^[3]

11. 2007Heisei 19

    A protected name

    “堺打刃物” was registered as a regional collective trademark on 5 October 2007 (No. 5081094), for knives and scissors made in and around Sakai by the district’s methods. ^[7]

12. 2015–2017Today

    97 craftsmen

    A survey for a Ryukoku University thesis counted 54 active workshops — 21 smiths and 33 sharpeners — and 97 craftsmen. Of the 60 whose ages were known, 46.6% were 60 or older, and only 19 of the 54 workshops had an apprentice. ^[8]

The division of labour in numbers

The numbers show what the Sakai City page means by a long-established division of labour: forging, edge-sharpening and handle-fitting are separate trades, each taking 10–15 years or more to master ^[3]. A blade passes from the smith to the sharpener and then to the handle maker, with a wholesaler (ton’ya) traditionally coordinating the work and selling the knife ^[9]. See the four steps on our home page.

How many chefs use Sakai knives?

You will often read that nearly every Japanese chef uses a Sakai knife. The figures vary, and none of the sources we found cites a survey: a 2017 thesis says about 80% of professional Japanese knives are said to come from Sakai ^[8], the Sakai Film Office says more than 90% of professional chefs use them ^[11], and the Sakai Tourism and Convention Bureau gives 98% ^[10]. By volume Sakai is a smaller producer: a 2024 thesis, citing 2020 shipment figures, puts Gifu (Seki) at 57% of Japan’s kitchen-knife shipments, Niigata at 27% and Osaka at 7% ^[9].

Today

The same Ryukoku survey found Sakai’s craftsmen ageing and short of apprentices, and pointed to practices such as buying semi-finished blades from other districts and selling them as Sakai knives as one of the problems the district faces ^[8]. That is why the regional trademark matters: “堺打刃物” may only be used for knives made in and around Sakai by the district’s methods ^[7]. When a listing names the smith and the sharpener, you are seeing the division of labour that has defined Sakai for centuries.

Related: the steels Sakai knives are made from, single-bevel knives and the kiritsuke, and the other knife towns of Japan.

Frequently asked questions

Why is Sakai famous for knives?

Sakai made guns and tobacco knives after both arrived from Portugal in 1543. Its tobacco knives were sold under the shogunate’s “Sakai kiwame” seal as a monopoly, which made Sakai blades known across Japan, and its smiths went on to make single-bevel kitchen knives such as the deba.

What is the Sakai kiwame seal?

“Sakai kiwame” (堺極) was a mark the Tokugawa shogunate allowed Sakai’s tobacco knives to carry, according to the Sakai Hamono association, Sakai City and the Agency for Cultural Affairs.

How old is the Sakai knife industry?

Tobacco knives were made in Sakai from the Tenshō era (from 1573), according to the Sakai Hamono association, and the trademark registration describes Sakai knives as having a 600-year history. Sakai’s connection with ironworking is often traced back further, to the 5th-century burial mounds.

How many knife craftsmen are left in Sakai?

A survey published in 2017 counted 97 craftsmen in 54 active workshops — 33 smiths and 64 sharpeners — with many over 60 and few apprentices.

What share of Japanese professional chefs use Sakai knives?

Figures vary by source and none cites a survey: a 2017 thesis says about 80% of professional Japanese knives are said to be made in Sakai, the Sakai Film Office says more than 90% of professional chefs use them, and the Sakai Tourism and Convention Bureau gives 98%.

Sources

1. Sakai Hamono association (堺刃物商工業協同組合連合会): history of Sakai knives
2. Agency for Cultural Affairs, Japan Heritage portal: Sakai uchi-hamono
3. Sakai City: Sakai uchi-hamono (designation date, division of labour)
4. Uchida Hiroaki, Hamono no rekishi (A History of Edged Tools), 1967 — National Diet Library Digital Collections, frames 19–20, 32
5. Konishi Katsujirō, Kokusan kanamono hattatsushi (Development of Japanese Hardware), 1934 — NDL Digital Collections, frames 27, 56, 110
6. Sakai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, 100-year history (堺商工会議所百年史), 1982 — NDL Digital Collections, frames 135, 145
7. INPIT: regional collective trademark “堺打刃物” No. 5081094 (registered 5 Oct 2007)
8. Okugami Yūsuke, “Structural problems behind the decline of craftsmen in the Sakai knife district”, Ryukoku University master’s thesis abstract, 2017
9. Simone Galasso, Double Edged Legacy (master’s thesis, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, 2024)
10. Sakai Tourism and Convention Bureau: Appeal of world-renowned Sakai knives
11. Sakai Film Office: Sakai, the city of traditional crafts
12. Aoki Hamono (Sakai Takayuki): history of Sakai knives

Checked 2026-10-22. Old books were read through the National Diet Library’s digital collections; we summarise them in our own words. Traditions are labelled as such.