OKISHIBA

Okishiba Masakuni was considered as Van Gogh of blades. In Japan, he was also named God of Blades. After 17 years of getting experiences from his father, Okishiba opened his own blacksmith shop. His blades immediately became synonymous with perfection and  achieved the highest prices on the market. Okishiba was a lone wolf. No one, not even his own family, had access to his workshop. He almost succumbed to alcoholism, which became his driving force. The Sakai Association bought his perfect blades and Okishiba, neglecting his family, turning his considerable income into new doses of alcohol. He died of liver cirrhosis in 1990. Okishiba had no followers and  left no recipes. However, a limited number of magnificent blades from this master, are owned by the Sakai City Association.

In Japan, the distribution of Okishiba knives is stopped. They are owned only by a small group of three-star sushi masters. The price of a used knife reaches 5 mil. yen.

Thanks to the above-standard relations of our supplier / promoter of Japanese knives in Europe/ with Association of Sakai 9 blades came to Europe. One will be located in the  Museum of Applied Arts and  the others will be used as exhibition copies  with the option to purchase them. However, we point out that if an experienced Japanese master cuts paper into 4 pieces in the air, it can be a problem for a European to cut an apple with an Okishiba knife. The blade is extremely thin  and  there is a risk of chipping in the absence of experience. Therefore, we recommend that those interested in  owning this extraordinary product should assign it a collector's function rather than a utility.

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