Shimane Blacksmith

Tachiku’ekyō Gorge is a renowned scenic spot with strangely shaped rocks soaring 100-200 metres into the sky. The area was designated a national Place of Scenic Beauty and Natural Monument in 1927, before becoming the prefectural national park in 1964.

The Takahashi family became involved in folkcraft from with Takahashi Tsutomu’s father. When the Izumo Mingei Kan (Izumo Folkcraft Museum) was founded it became clear that there were no smiths who knew how to forge iron using the age-old wakashi (forge welding) technique. His father became involved when he was invited to forge iron at the museum by Tonomura Kichinosuke, the then director of the Kurashiki Museum of Folkcraft, as he was pleased with his father’s skills. This came at a time when his father began realizing that the curtain was closing on the work of smiths as a result of machines replacing agricultural tools such as plows and hoes in the 30s of the Shōwa period (1955-1964). 

The Takahashi Smithery used to make agricultural tools such as plows and hoes, as well as candlestands. There were some 45 different products being made when Takahashi Tsutomu took over. Whenever he participated at events held in Tokyo he would receive requests such as for a variety of products that would better suit urban daily life in condominiums. The types of products thus increased as he meets these demands. 

The steel is first heated in a coke oven preheated to 1300˚C. It is then beaten alternately manually and with a spring hammer. The steel is repeatedly and carefully beaten. Once the steel has been beaten to the desired length, it is then cut to pieces using a grinder. Each piece of beaten steel makes about 10-11 knives.

The roughly finished piece is further beaten to form the shape of a knife. Once the desired shape has been achieved, a hatchet is used to mark where excess area is to be cut off. Once the excess area is cut off, the knife is placed back into the fire and then beaten again to a certain point, before it is beveled using ther grinder. 

After wet sanding the blade using a machine, it is meticulously sharpened using a whetstone. A vegetable prepared aside is then used to check how well the knife cuts. If it does not cut too well, it is returned to Takahashi to be sharpened again. How well a knife cuts depends on the slightest thickness invisible to the eye.