Takefu Knife Village
The village was formed decades ago as a different approach to knife making. Traditional arrangements include a master and an apprentice. The Takefu model is more like a collective where many masters and apprentices work under one roof.
Named after the old city, Takefu is located in Echizen. Bordered by countryside, most people arrive by via train. Be ready to grab a taxi for a 10-15 min ride to the workshops.
Train Station
Find a taxi outside the JR train line station. Show a map with a pin on the village to a taxi driver. You'll likely arrive at the village for something like ~$20 USD.
There is a large parking lot for tour busses outside plus countryside in the immediate surroundings.
The big round building with the two tone square roof (from the overhead) is the museum and community space. The pointy and long rectangular buildings are the retail areas plus and a secondary workshop. The main rectangle is the workshop and the other rectangle seems to function as an office.
Museum
A bit about the history of the village and the knife making process is available in this area. Follow a ramp up to an observation area for the workshop.
Main workshop
Multiple makers with different brand logos were working simultaneously.
Power hammers
Many hammers are strategically placed around the Eastside of the building. Some of them are placed on both sides of one forge. Each then have access to the otherside of the forge. Seems efficient.
Powered abrasives
One of the myths of Japanese knife making is that there are no powered sanding tools. We've heard this from loads of folks, including sales reps of Japanese brands. In every workshop we've been a visitor in Japan, including this one, we've see powered sanding equipment. Myth busted.
Retail + another workshop & art
An installation of one of the main knives from Takefu is available in the form of a sculpture in the second peaked building.
In the rear of that second building there is another workshop. It's continually fun to learn from makers around the world (from Italy to Japan) that they prefer abrasives from our home town of Minneapolis and Saint Paul in 3M. In these cases there is a little of our hometown cross over in the knife making process in these workshops.
Return taxi
Our contact at the village was adamant that we purchase a coin from them for a taxi that they would call for us. It was lovely and cheaper. This parking job however was one of the only times I noticed something a bit out of order on this trip. It had nothing to do with the hospitality. We'll be back.