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A Visit to the Blacksmith: Tokyo

checking out Konobu chisel

In February of this year Somakosha had some rare work in Tokyo, helping to raise a new house. While we were there we took a day to go to some tool shops as well as visit a couple of Blacksmiths in the Tokyo area.

First stop…..

Nakaya Takijiro-san: Japanese Handsaw Maker

Takijiro-san is one of only a few remaining saw makers in Japan. He works out of a small shop that looks like it’s been in a time-warp for the past 100 years or so. Like every blacksmith’s shop that I’ve visited so far in Japan, Takijiro-san’s shop looks chaotic and messy at first, but clearly everything has it’s place for a reason.

Takijiro-san Japanese saw maker

There is no artificial lighting just the natural light than streams through the windows, and Takijiro-san talked about how he’s become so attuned to the quality of light in his shop that he can’t look at a saw blade anywhere else and get the same kind of reading. Good natural light is crucial for inspecting the teeth of the saw, particularly during sharpening.

Saw blacksmith's work area
Takijiro-san’s main work area

Takijiro-san scrapes new saw blades with sen (hardened blades used by blacksmiths for scraping metal). Sen make it possible to very carefully remove metal, giving the blacksmith a ton of control when removing material. Below is a pile of metal shavings from the sen work.

handmade Japanese saw sen shavings

And here are the sen hanging on the wall nearby. They are held similar to a spoke-shave, with handles on the ends and the hardened blade in the middle.

Japanese Saw blacksmith sen
Japanese saw blacksmith metate work
Takijiro-san's work area
Japanese saw blacksmith tools
Japanese saw blacksmith templates
Templates for various saw shapes and sizes

Takijiro-san’s makes new saws to order and does metate work (saw setting and sharpening). The walls are lined with saws wrapped in newspaper that customers have sent in for re-sharpening. A new saw is not cheap, but everyone who has used a saw made by Takijiro-san will tell you that it’s worth every penny. It’s clear after meeting Takijiro-san and seeing what goes into his work that you are paying for something that has been incredibly well made, and fined tuned by a person that has spent his life perfecting his craft.

Takijiro-san Japanese saw blacksmith
Playing around at the sawsmith's shop
One of our group checking out an old rip saw

Hidari Konobu – Carving Tool Blacksmith

Saito-san is the man behind Hidari Konobu (左小信) blades. Konobu has a reputation for being one of the best blacksmiths making gouges and chisels used for carving and sculpture work, but he also makes standard bench chisels and occasionally plane blades.

As soon as we arrived at Saito-san’s shop he sat down and started filing away on some gouges he was making for sculpture students at a Tokyo university.

Konobu-san filing chisel
Saito-san hand filing the tang of a new gouge
Konobu-san's current chisel work
A pile of beautiful new gouges before hardening
Konobu chisel

Saito-san uses a combination of grinders, files, and buffers to shape and sharpen his gouges.

Konobu-san's grinders
Konobu-san's work area
Box of Konobu chisels and gouges
A box of tempered chisels prior to grinding the bevel

After showing us his equipment and forge, Saito-san starting pulling out finished tools for us to look at. As he pulled out box after box, he told us that he doesn’t like making the same thing twice, so when he can, he likes to experiment by making blades outside of his usual repertoire. Hence the pile of bench chisels and plane blade below.

Konobu chisels and plane blade
Checking out Konobu chisels
checking out Konobu Kanna
Konobu sotomaru-ganna
checking out Konobu chisel
Konobu bench chisel
Konobu knives and gouges
Konobu gouges

For a group of tools fanatics a place like this is dangerous. We didn’t leave empty handed. We unwrapped every tool Saito-san brought out for us….. and slowly our wallets got lighter and lighter.

Stay tuned for another round pictures from the shops of Yamamoto and Keizaburo.

「A Visit to the Blacksmith: Tokyo」への7件のフィードバック

  1. I didn’t know how much I wanted a handmade japanese saw before I read your post. You say they’re not cheap, what does that mean? Also, where can I find the shop?

    1. Hi David,
      The cost really depends on the type of saw and size, but I’ve heard that prices start around $500. As far as where to buy Takijiro-san’s saws, I only know of two shops that offer them for order. Suzuki-tool in the US, and Stan Covington here in Japan.

      Best,
      Jon

  2. I recently bought an old stock white-steel hand forged saw from Stan Covington and had the teeth re-filed for hardwood by takijiro. Only cost me 190$ and it’s most likely going to be the best saw I’ve ever own. Couldn’t recommend reaching out to him enough.

  3. Hi Jon,
    Im visiting Japan end of March for 2 weeks and would love to visit this blacksmith- would you be able to share the location? (I have looked but cant find it)

    TIA,

    Neil

    1. Hi Neil,
      Unfortunately Saito-san, the blacksmith making Hidari Konobu tools, retired a few years ago and isn’t making tools anymore.

      Best,
      Jon

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