shokunin (craftsman)

Last week I had the pleasure of visiting the small town of Takefu in the Fuki Prefecture. Takefu is the home for Japan's finest producers of sharp cooking knives. Following the traditions of the sharp samurai swords, Japanese cooking knives are so sharp that it would leave a clean cut where the tissue of the food is not damaged. Apparently meat and vegetables taste better when the tissues aren't damaged.

Upon entering the factory where the blacksmiths worked, I was taken by the scenery that unfolded before my eyes. I felt as if I travelled back in time by 50 or 60 years. Or was this China? The window light was a photographer's dream, just beautiful. You don't find places like this anymore, as the younger generation all move to the big cities to find cleaner jobs that pay better. The elderly gentleman in the third picture is 78 years old, and has been working in this factory alone, making just one style of cooking knives for 60 years