Knife Factory Tour: Handmade Cooking Knives Experience

Experience a fascinating tour of Sakai’s historic knife factory, where you can witness the craftsmanship behind handmade cooking knives and even order your own customizable knife.

Duration: 4 hours
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • 八百源来弘堂本店 - Learn about the 400 years old origin story of the Traditional Japanese cinnamon mochi and receive one as a present. Chance to buy more if you want to.
  • 山輝刀物製作所 - This is probably the reason why you will join our Walking Tour in Sakai. Visit a traditional Japanese Knife Factory with over 100 years of family history. Go inside the…
What's Included
  • Visit of the Knife Factory
  • Knife Sharpening lesson
  • All Fees and Taxes
  • Snacks
  • Bilingual Guide
What's Not Included
  • Extra Food
  • Shopping and souvenirs
Additional Information

Get the privilege to enter a real knife factory, with over 100 years of history, where the raw blades arrive directly from the Blacksmith. Visit the Sharpening Station and the main office. Observe the blades being turned into proper handmade cooking knives. Learn and practice the traditional Sharpening techniques with a professional and get the chance…

Location
3-chōme-22 Ebisujimachō
The meeting point is located at the Nankai Sakai Station, East Exit, in front of the Gates. Please make sure to arrive at least 10 minutes before departure time, so your guide has time to check the guest list and give you the basic info needed before the tour starts. Thank you.
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.7
(43 Ratings)
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Philm373
Oct 30, 2025
Excellent visit to knife master maker. - Scott was very informative, funny and insightful. Would highly recommend. Watching the sharpening was a highlight if the experience and the prices available at the factory shop were great.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Sonias544
Oct 15, 2025
Very interesting - It was a unique and recommended experience. The very friendly guide. Sage a lot of the history of the area, I explain very interesting things
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Laura_d
Jul 31, 2025
Scott was a terrific... - Scott was a terrific guide and we really enjoyed seeing how the beautiful knives we crafted. It was a fun day!
Review provided by Viator
Oliveroli83
Jul 13, 2025
VIP behind-the-scenes experience! - My girlfriend motivated me to join the Sakai knife factory walking tour, and to be honest, I’m not really into knives and not a big fan of walking either...BUT it was actually super interesting and felt really authentic, plus, there wasn’t too much walking! It’s totally way off the usual tourist track, and among other things we did during that tour, walking into the knife workshop really felt like a special VIP behind-the-scenes experience :)
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Gladys_s
Jul 9, 2025
Awesome day! - Fantastic and informative tour. Jean-yves was knowledgeable and kind. Toured us around Sakai and knife factory. We enjoyed our day out. Thank you! Wonderful recommendation for lunch and mochi!
Review provided by Viator
Aleksandra
Jun 29, 2025
Great! - Great experience, very informative. Would recommend! If you want to know more about knives and be sure of your choice, do the tour. I would have bought the wrong knife not suitable for my needs were it not for the tour.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Nell_r
Apr 21, 2025
We learnt a lot about the... - We learnt a lot about the whole knife making process and about Sakai as well, thanks to our friendly and knowledgeable guide Rémi.
Review provided by Viator
Robdo5287bg
Jul 5, 2025
Authentic and informative. - Really interesting look around a small knife making company with a demonstration of knife-sharpening technique. Of course you can buy knives and we found them much better priced than in Tokyo. There's also a visit to a local knife museum and a random but interesting diversion to an authentic old shop selling the local sweet delicacies. The tour guide was knowledgeable and fun. One reservation: if you buy a knife you will need to go and grab some lunch and wait around for a couple of hours before it is finished off and engraved for you, so plan for the whole morning and half the afternoon. We had another place to be so had to return the next day to collect.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Dawn_b
Oct 25, 2025
The big advantage is to... - The big advantage is to get access to purchase knives. Most of the other things you can do on your own.
Review provided by Viator
Shaun_l
Oct 28, 2025
I wanted to like this tour but did not - I was really excited for this tour and left pretty disappointed. First, the tour presents the history of Sakai from an off-putting Euro-centric lens. And secondly, the guide did not appear to be very knowledgeable about knives and knife-makers in the area. The highlights of the tour were: visiting Sakai Traditional Knife and Craft Museum (which you can and should do alone, because you'll have more time to browse and to make a purchase if you want), and the visit to De Sakai -- where the blacksmith, Eric, makes his knives by hand in traditional ways. To the company, people who join a knife tour in Sakai are likely to want to purchase a knife in Sakai. Please hire tour guides who know about knives and knife-makers, and who will support people in buying knives rather than rush us from place to place.
Review provided by Viator
From $66
up to 10 guests
1 - Adult
Cancellation: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your experience (local time).