Comments on: Where to Buy Real Kyoto Knives: Shigeharu vs Aritsugu Knives

By: james

james — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 08:42:23 +0000

hey chai,
this link to watanabe blade is a good comparison, even though these appear to be on sale they are about the same as at shigeharu normal prices.

http://watanabeblade.com/english/standard/5knife.htm

By: mo

mo — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 10:18:04 +0000

ha! A 120cm utility knife thanks for the read, it was both wonderful and inspiring.

By: Kevin G

Kevin G — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 19:18:29 +0000

I visited Shigeharu in 2010 after reading this article. Left my wife and daughter to see the Castle,while I headed off to the knife shop. Found the owner sharpening knives in the window. Very friendly though neither of us spoke each others language. Bought an Usuba and whetstones. He showed me how he likes to sharpen the knife.
Aritsugu was a nice shop but full of tourists.
Would definitely visit the shop again if I get to Kyoto in the future.
(watanabeblade.com is worth visiting. Make their own knives and is a fun site. Have purchased one of their Santoku knives.)

By: chai

chai — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 04:11:01 +0000

James,

Hi there , ive been trying to get myself a shigeharu knife for ages but ive yet to travel to japan.However my friend is heading back there, and she is willing to get me the knifes from this particular swordsmiths, the only thing now is i cant budget how much i should spend on the knifes. I was hoping you could help since you’ve been there a few times.
Im thinking of getting myself a deba, shashimi and gyuto.
your assistance would be greatly appreciated!

I look forward to your reply.

chai

By: james

james — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 02:42:25 +0000

ive just come back from my 2nd trip to japan in 12mths. I’ve been to Shigeharu both times and cant wait to go back and build on my collection.
the whole experience of the small ‘homely’ store as opposed to the other bigger commercial ones, adds to the value in my opinion and is part of the character of the knife.
but it helps to have a guide or other japanese speaker with you to fully understand what you are buying and be able to compare prices with other stores.

definitely recommend it.

By: Roman Urban

Roman Urban — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 11:41:44 +0000

Hello Michael.
Thank you for your review with maps. I have bought today a nice knife at Shigeharu.

By: Justin

Justin — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 12:59:06 +0000

My wife and I found this page the night before we went knife shopping in Kyoto in January this year. We wanted to get some Japanese knives when in Japan but didn’t have the time to shop around so we went straight to Shigeharu. Shigeharu himself was so friendly and very patient as we drooled over his knives. We ended up getting a Nakiri, a Gyuto and 2 petty knives.

A couple of days later we took a cooking class. When another lady in the class asked our teacher where to get a good knife in Kyoto, the teacher replied Aritsugu. When I mentioned that we had bought knives from Shigeharu, the teacher became very animated and exclaimed “Shigeharu?! He’s very famous!” She was pretty impressed and wanted to know how we’d heard of Shigeharu.

Not much to go on, and I’m not an expert on knives. Also, this isn’t a comparison to Aritsugu. Have to say though, I was a little chuffed that I’d bought a knife off the bloke who made it.

I’d buy from there again – in fact we did. We returned to buy a small pair of scissors for my mother.

By: Greg

Greg — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 07:53:11 +0000

Hi everyone interested in good Kyoto kitchen knives,

I have just visited the various Kyoto knive manufacturers’ shops and what a difference in quality, price and atmosphere. Sure you can buy your favourite knife in any of the different places. I will only mention two: Aritsugu is fine if you look for a well-illuminated and (over-)stocked shop, perfectly English-spoken service, your name on the knife as a special – but you really pay for it! Personally, I found that it very much looks and feels like a tourist trap (even a nice one with reasonably good tools but sky-high prices).

In the end I was very satisfied with what I saw and bought at Shigeharu. A far more authetic place, in which the owner speaks no English, but with a smaller but full range of marvellous knives costs approximately 30% of Aritsugu’s price range. My Japanese friends buy from Shigeharu for years and are very happy with the durability and long term sharpness of his knives. I shaved the back of my hand with one stroke in the shop with both his 30cm carbon steel sashimi knife and the 27cm Inox chef’s knife.

Would buy there any time again. The place is easy to find just diagonally across the street on the southeastern corner of Nijo castle and then one block further down south.

By: will

will — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 03:18:25 +0000

I went to Shigeharu after a visit to Aritsugu.

I thought knives at both places were relatively similar. I bought from Shigeharu (stainless steel wrapped carbon) because the knives were about 30% less than at Aritsugu – and we met the person who actually made the knives. The Shigeharu knives felt to me to be more genuine and hand made.

Shigeharu also sold me a whetstone

By: jim goodwin

jim goodwin — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 02:14:13 +0000

I went to Aritsugu a few times, staff were always friendly, bought a 120cm utlity knife and they offered to and did put my name on it. Would have liked to check out some other stores, this would have been handy if I’d known about it earlier, still I plan to return next year. Picked up a natural (fine) whetstone at a flea market for ¥3,300.
Also went to Yamashita’s store in Namba in Osaka and picked up a(n) Usuba for a reasonable price, came in at round Aust$250 (I think, if only I could find the receipt). A Sakai Takayuki blade, I reckon same thing over here would probably be at least $100 more. Packed all in the bottom of suitcase, had no problems.