Harema's Sakai Hocho

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Yesterday, we visited Harema san's workshop. He is a first-class 'hocho'(kitchen knife) artisan-a blacksmith in Sakai. Sakai is in southern Osaka (next to Tondabayashi city where we live), and is the famous product center of hocho. Our friends from Germany know him well, and she introduced us to him, so we could visit his workshop which is not open to everyone. His house is in the old town of Sakai, and his workshop is behind his house. He inherited his work from his father, and has made hocho through all his life. He says that it is necessary to train at least 10 years long to become a fully-fledged hocho artisan. His knives are made of steel and iron, and it is very difficult to join these two different materials - very subtle temperature management is needed for welding(and of course, it needs be controlled in the very high temperature around at 1200 degrees C!). Everything looked black and sooty in the workshop- we have never seen the place like this before. In that sooty workshop, Harema who is in his 60's and was working silently in his white shirt. His shirt looked so white but it was because of the room which has no color except the blackish gray color. He was in a corner, in front of the furnace. There was a wooden box filled with coke beside the furnace. A stick of iron was hammered while it was red and a piece of steel panel was put together with iron and they became like one stick while we were watching. The stick looked so soft and making the shape looked amazingly easy with his unwasted motion. The red iron looked very soft, and amazingly with no yardstick, the piece became hocho(knife) shape. His sister was telling us(she was SO nice and sweet person), his right arm might be longer than his left arm because of years of hammering. Hammering has been done repeatedly by the machine(the very simple machine, manipulated by his foot)and by hand, both with heated iron and also when the iron was cooled off. Then cutting and grinding followed. When he started grinding, the long spark suddenly appeared in the sooty room, like fireworks. He completes all the procedure by himself except the sharpening(his brother is a sharpner). Working in the kobo(workshop)alone day after day-an old fan outside was seen from the small window. There was no air conditioner, so working in the workshop summer time must be a very tough thing.

Wa-bocho(Japanese cooking knives)are quite different from western knives because of the blade. Curved blade with a single cutting edge is the characteristic of most of wa-bocho.

In Japanese cuisine, 'cutting' is one of the most important skills. For example, the taste of sashimi (fresh fish) is said to be determined by cutting skill. Good chefs pay attention to the fiber of fish meat and the surface of the cut meat. Good chefs want to use very sharp knives (hocho), and for real Japanese cuisine they insist on wa-bocho.

Harema-san says that the secret of the hocho blade is the angle of the edge. Normal knife edges are straight lines, but Japanese hocho edges are curved and its angle is much sharper than usual knives. (Please refer to the figure below). Chefs ask Harema-san to make hocho for them and keep sending their hocho for sharpening or repair years after. We heard one chef brought his hocho which has been 20 years since it was made to Haremasan to make it usable again.

There are chefs who cannot cook without his hocho. At the entrance of his house, the samples of hocho which his father made was placed in a glass case. We did not want to interrupt his work, so we told Harema san only a short time watching will be good but he said, it might be once in a life time experience to come to such place, we could stay longer and see the whole process. We were so glad he kindly invited us and allowed us to watch his work. While watching his work, we were so impressed and imagined about his years of work in this workshop. It must be a solitary work but he looked satisfied and noble.

(Please refer below figure).

The variety of wa-bocho-Haremsan's father made

Harema san, working between the furnace and the hammering machine

You can see coke in the wooden box

Steel and iron became as one material

There was a music from radio but with the machine, we could hardly hear the sound.

Beautiful firewoks by Harema san, a blacksmith in Sakai

Please add your comment here †

• Thank you so much for sharing this. I always enjoy your letters, and this one was very special. What a privilege to see these photos, and read your description. -- Jane Y? 2009-11-22 (Sun) 02:59:55
• Thank you so much for writing about and showing us the process used by Harema san. Your letters are always interesting, and I read them to the end, but this one was especially beautiful. Thank you again -- Nancy Holmes? 2009-11-20 (Fri) 19:43:14
• The excellent Japan arts and culture magazine Kateigaho (International Edition) featured Sakai knives in its Autumn/Winter 2009 edition. It gives details about the types of knives, how to use them, and where they can be purchased. -- Marie B? 2009-11-16 (Mon) 02:21:59
• Although we don't have any of Harema San's knives we do have some from Japan and love them. They are my favorites! -- Carolyn Frye? 2009-11-11 (Wed) 03:59:50
• Amazing! Iml very privileged to have purchased two of these knives in Kyoto a few years bag..still hasn't needed any sharpening! -- kitsune_13? 2009-11-10 (Tue) 22:59:25
• This is really amazing work. I love to see actual craftmen/artisans made some that is beatiful and yet functional. Where can I find a knife from such a national treasure? -- Bill Dunhour, USA? 2009-11-09 (Mon) 18:12:47
• I have watched this process on Science Channet, but to see it up close and personal would be thrilling! It is so amazing to take two uncompatable metals and blend them to creat such fine knives! You are so fortunate to have seen this National Treasure at work!!!!!!! -- Vona? 2009-11-09 (Mon) 16:22:23
• Wow!! I love these photos. They remind me of visiting a gong factory in Indonesia back in 1985; all was black except for the fire and the men pounding the gongs by hand. These knives must be the sharpest in the world! -- Rebecca? 2009-11-08 (Sun) 23:00:01
• Wow. I really hope there is someone to pass this art/skill onto. -- Denise Griffiths? 2009-11-08 (Sun) 20:33:17
• Wow! thanks for opening this windows to us. We see through your eyes! -- Xavier Casanova? 2009-11-08 (Sun) 19:58:20
• Thank you for sharing this experience with us! Harema san is a true artist. -- Naomi Mittet? 2009-11-08 (Sun) 19:08:37
• Wonderful descriptive writing. This artist is a treasure for your culture! -- Mary Larkin? 2009-11-08 (Sun) 18:41:19
• Barksdale-Bruner -- Beebe? 2009-11-08 (Sun) 17:50:48
• I always enjoy reading your Newsletters but today's subject was absolutely beautiful to me. His skill and the pride of craftsmanship are truly amazing to behold. Thank you for sharing another "Living Treasure" with us! -- Moor Lutz? 2009-11-08 (Sun) 17:16:26
• Thank you for this insight into an interesting and beautiful craft. -- Gaye Elder? 2009-11-08 (Sun) 16:11:08
• It is interesting to see the mixture of making things by hand with the help of modern machines. It would truly be something to see in person. -- David Edington? 2009-11-08 (Sun) 15:45:10
• They should make a pbs special of this artisan. Not. many left. -- Tadashi, Tanaka? 2009-11-08 (Sun) 15:40:05
• thank you for sharing the work of this talented artisan. His knives are true works of art. -- kelly ford? 2009-11-08 (Sun) 15:33:20
• Wonderful photos of an ancient craft -- ruth Gottstein? 2009-11-08 (Sun) 15:28:22

Original text is written by Ichiro/Yuka on 9th Nov 2009. You can read the original text in this frozen page Harema's Sakai Hocho(Original) This site is hosted by ICHIROYA