About The Ishikawa Houchou Manufactory's
Kajibee Santoku Knife (White Paper Steel/Black Stroke)

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 "Kajibee" brand is introduced. The craftsman who inherited this brand made it one by one earnestly with the skill of tradition.
It is a "blacksmith's knife" which carefully finished one by one.

The material is white paper steel (Yasuki white paper steel).

A material that is low in impurities, and superior in its sharpness.

Although it is a material that could rust someday, the durability and sharpening easiness are comprehensively excellent.
Therefore it is a finished product that relatively easy to handle, even at home.

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 Ishikawa Houchou Manufactory

It is a blacksmith located in Sanjo City, Niigata Prefecture.

They have been producing many of blacksmith products, but now they mainly produce kitchen knives.

The professional craftsmen who inherited Sanjo's traditional blacksmithing technique are making the knife one by one carefully everyday.

The Features of The Ishikawa Houchou Manufactory's
Kajibee Santoku Knife (White Paper Steel/Black Stroke)

Excellent Sharpness by Using The Yasuki White Paper Steel

The material is "Yasuki Steel White Paper".

This steel is a high quality steel, have less impurities, contains a lot of carbon, and has the advantage of sharp cutting edge.

If you compare it with a kitchen knife made of stainless steel material, we can see the clear sharpness differences between them.

Moreover, this "Yasuki Steel White Paper" is a material that is easy to sharpen.

Unlike rust resistant material such as stainless steel, rust may come out with this material.
In that case, we recommend that you grind the cutting edge with a grindstone, whetstone or the like.
Sharpening reduces rust and improves sharpness.

If you are a person who cleans knives yourself day by day, you can use as long as you sharpen according to your pace.

There is a inscription indicating the brand name, 「かじ兵衛」 (Kajibee).

The handle is made with light wooden material: "Shiraki", with a shape that is easy to grab.

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 Ishikawa Houchou Manufactory's Kajibee 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.

The Ishikawa Houchou Manufactory's
Kajibee Santoku Knife (White Paper Steel / Black Stroke) Product Gallery

The Ishikawa Houchou Manufactory's Knife List

Size / Specification

PRODUCT DETAILS

Size:	Length: 315mm、 Blade Length: 165mm
Weight:	131g
Material:	White Paper Steel (Yasuki white paper steel)
Country of Origin:	Japan (Sanjo City, Niigata Prefecture)