About The Kawamura Houchou Manufactory's
Sanjo Yoshimune Tsuchime Santoku Knife

The Niigata Prefecture, Tsubame-Sanjō has been named as a place of manufacturing knives since ancient times, and many artisan cultures have been nurtured.

Known as the "Blacksmith City" which have prosperous blacksmithing technology, it is also known for making good knives.

In this Tsubame-Sanjō land, the "Yoshimune" brand is introduced. The craftsman who inherited this brand made it one by one earnestly with the skill of tradition.

The material is a three layer structure of white steel and stainless steel.

The knife is using the rare "Number 1 Yasuki White Paper Steel" among other white paper steel.
The steel then is placed between stainless steel so it could keep a sharp cutting edge and suppresses rust.

Santoku knife is a kitchen knife used for everyday cooking, so it's nice to have a knive that could cut well and also difficult to rust.

The design of the knife is also beautiful, that could make anyone can be happy by just having it.

About The Santoku Knife

The Santoku Knife (三徳包丁) is an all-purpose kitchen knife originated in Japan.

The word santoku in Japanese means "three virtues" or "three uses".
Therefore, it can be use for slicing, dicing, and mincing.

This knife is characterized by its relatively small size (between 13 to 20 cm) and a lightweight knife. The santoku knife's blade is thinner than any other knives, making it is easy to use for a precision cut.
The knife can be a double-edged / single-edged knife, so it can be used for both right or left-handed people.

Santoku knife was created by combining Nakiri Bocho knife (Japanese traditional knife used for cutting vegetables) and Gyuto knife (knife for cutting meat).

Learn more about the santoku knife in our article link below!

All You Need to Know About The Japanese All-purpose Knife: Santoku Knife
The santoku knife is one of the essential kitchen utensils both for a beginner cook to professional chefs. It is a commonly use knife in the Japanese kitchen.
Let's learn about the santoku knife's usage, the history of the santoku knife, and other useful information you should know before using the santoku knife.
Read more

The History of Tsubame-Sanjō, "The Blacksmith City"

The genealogy of manufacturing of Niigata Prefecture, Tsubame-Sanjō goes back to the Edo period.
The place was prospered as a place to create Japanese metal nails since the early Edo Period (1603 – 1868).

In the early days of the Kan'ei period, the farmers have difficulty making a living by doing agriculture alone because of the repeated flood from the Ikarashi River flowing through the center of the Sanjo Town.

Therefore, the farmer invited the craftsmen of Japanese metal nail making from Edo to teach them about their manufacturing technologies.

This is the beginning of the Japanese metal nail making in Tsubame-Sanjō.

After that, new blacksmithing technology is transmitted, and products are changed from Japanese metal nails to sickles and kitchen knife, etc.

At the same time, many blacksmith are nurtured.
The farmers who started the blacksmith job as side jobs are becoming professional blacksmiths.

When entering the Meiji period (1868 - 1912), the full-time blacksmiths had increased rapidly.

"The Blacksmith City", Tsubame-Sanjō is popularly known after merchants start to trade for hardware products with making use of rivers as the access to the town.

After the war, the mass production of the products progressed.
The product from Tsubame-Sanjō become widely distributed in Japan and also worldwide.

Currently, the manufactures in Tsubame-Sanjō are mainly processing metals.

Many of useful instruments like kitchen goods such as kitchen knives and kitchen tools and utensils, living goods, gardening goods, etc. are produced widely in the city.

About The History of Kawamura Houchou Manufactory

It is a knives manufacturer located in Sanjo City, Niigata Prefecture.

The craftsman who inherited the position made it one by one earnestly everyday with the skill of tradition of Sanjo City.

The "Yoshimune" brand is now handled by the fourt-generation.

In response to the customer's need of "well-cut and rust-resistant knife",
Kawamura Houchou Manufactory carefully selected the raw materials, and take plenty of time to make the knife diligently and carefully.

The Features of Sanjo Yoshimune Tsuchime Santoku Knife

The Reason for Its Sharpness: Using "Number 1 Yasuki White Paper Steel"

The materials are steel and stainless steel.

The "Number 1 Yasuki White Paper Steel" is used for the base of the knife.
It is a stee which is often used for high grade kitchen knife.

Steel has a low impurities and high carbon content, it could boast the knife's sharpness.
Moreover, steel have the good overall balance according to its durability and its ease of sharpening, etc.
Making it an excellent material to make knife.

This knife is using the "Number 1 Yasuki White Paper Steel" which has removed impurities even further and strengthened it by increasing the amount of carbon among the other white paper steel.

It is said that forging the "Number 1 Yasuki White Paper Steel" is considered as a hard work.
Therefore, only some of the limited skillful craftsmen can process it.
So a kitchen knife using this material can be said to be very rare.

Due to The The Three Layer Structure, It Cuts Well and Suppresses Rust

This knife has a three-layer stucture with the white steel metal as the foundation, placed between stainless steel on both sides like a sandwich.

White paper steel has sharpness but has the property of being easily rusted.
Therefore, by using stainless steel for the surface layer, it is suppressing rust from appearing in the entire blade.

However, if you are using it, eventually the part of the cutting edge will certainly get rusted.
In that case, we recommend that you grind the cutting edge with a grindstone, whetstone or the like.
Sharpening reduces rust and improves sharpness.

Using high quality steel as a key to sharpness by craftsmanship techniques, and a stainless steel to make it hard to rust.
It is a knife made by carefully selected raw materials.
Making it a knife that is a well-cut and rust-resistant knife.

There is a inscription indicating the brand name, 「義宗」 (Yoshimune).

The handle is a deeply colored wooden material, makes it easy to grab.

「Video」　We Actually Tried to Use The Knife!

How to Care and The Proper Usage

After use, please wash the dirt off, wipe it with cloth after rinsing it with hot/warm water, and keep it dry.

(Kitchen knife is weak to acid, salt, and moisture)

If you plan to not use it for a long time,
spray it with vegetable oil (such as Camellia oil) throughout the knife after drying it.
After that, wrap it in newspaper or thin papers and keep it in a place with no humidity.

Please avoid leaving it in a knife stand for a long time.
The handle may be too dry and the blade may come off or it may rust with moisture.

Also, please use special kitchen knife to handle frozen foods instead of this knife.

It is Also Good as Presents

The Kawamura Houchou Manufactory's Sanjo Yoshimune Tsuchime Santoku Knife is shipped in a special dressing box.

You can also use it as presents.

It is an ideal gifts for those who like cuisine, and having interest in using kitchen utensils.

Sanjo Yoshimune Tsuchime Santoku Knife's Product Gallery

Size / Specification

Product Details

Size:	Length: 350 mm Blade Length: 165 mm
Weight:	127 g
Material:	Stainless steel, White Paper Steel: "Number 1 Yasuki White Paper Steel"
Country of Origin:	Japan (Sanjo City, Niigata Prefecture)