"CRAFT TOURISM ECHIZEN"　A new form of craft that combines the “handle” of Echizen cutlery and the “makie” of lacquerware

Echizen cutlery is one of the traditional crafts that Echizen City is proud of. With a history of about 700 years, it was the first cutlery to be designated as a traditional craft in Japan due to the high evaluation of the casting technology and the hand-sharpening skills of craftsmen. The value of a knife is born only when it is inserted into the handle, which is the handle. Founded in 1912, Yamaken Woodworking Co., Ltd. started out by making wooden bases for bowls, and when it was its second generation, it began making handles for sickles produced in this area. However, with the progress of mechanization after the war, the demand for sickles decreased, and we started to make a "knife handle" that can be made with less materials than a sickle handle. In the third generation, he developed a double-layered pattern and acquired a patent, realizing good finish and a variety of pattern variations. As the only workshop in the prefecture that specializes in patterns, it produces a wide variety of patterns, including those that are durable and antibacterial, and those that use high-grade materials such as ebony and rosewood.

In September 2020, Yamaken Woodworks opened a gallery and shop called “Etoe”. We have a lineup of one-of-a-kind kitchen knives, accessories, and limited-edition items that use the traditional technique of lacquer lacquer lacquerware, which is applied to the handle of the kitchen knife made by Yamaken Mokkojo.

It is run by Takuya Yamamoto, the 4th generation owner of Yamaken Woodworks, and his partner, Yuma Yamamoto. Takuya is a pattern professional with over 20 years of experience in this field. Yuma, who majored in lacquer art in college, trained as a makie and lacquer artist in the Kawada area of Sabae City, which is a lacquerware production area, and joined Yamaken Mokkojo after getting married.

Various traditional crafts such as Echizen lacquerware, Echizen washi paper, and Echizen chest of drawers are still alive around Echizen cutlery, but until now, each production area has refined its own techniques. In such a situation, "patterns and prints", which is a fusion of traditional crafts and traditional crafts, is attracting attention as showing a new way of production.

In the gallery, you can enjoy various combinations of types and patterns by knife craftsmen in the production area, and workshops on lacquer work and knife sharpening are held irregularly. Through “patterns and prints”, we would like you to feel the possibilities of unprecedented expression of traditional crafts.

https://www.yamaken-japan.com/