Hatayama Jyukichi, the blacksmith behind Hatayama Hamono, has been forging blades for over five decades in Shinanomachi, Nagano Prefecture, Japan. Shinanomachi has a rich history of forging all varieties of sickles and Hatayama-san has taken his knowledge of the highly complex processes of making sickles and applied them to the art of kitchen knives, forging beautiful and durable kitchen knives that will last you a lifetime.

The knife models featured on this website use Hitachi's premium Yasuki Aogami #2 blue steel, which is sourced from ironsand in Shimane Prefecture and is particularly free of impurities. Every knife is heated up to 820˚ to give the steel hardness before being tempered again at a lower temperature to give it pliability (so that the edge does not chip easily). This process, referred to as yakimodoshi, and the temperatures at which this optimum balance of hardness and pliability is obtained, is one of the prized secrets of Hatayama Hamono.

We hope that our knives give you long service of use and much pleasure, and we thank you for your interest.