Crafts / Knife and sword making / Osaka

Knife making in Osaka

Five sessions, four of them in Sakai, the knife-making city about 10 to 15 minutes south of Namba by Nankai train. None has you forge a blade: you sharpen, fit a handle, or both. Prices run from about €56 for a walking tour with a sharpening lesson to ¥57,440 for a private session at a 150-year-old knife shop. Three send you home with a knife.

Prices checked 11 Nov 2026, in the currency each site showed; Wabunka prices are in yen, the currency it charges in · Some links may earn us a commission

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The short version

If you want to see the trade first Sakai knife maker walking tour A walking tour of Sakai's knife makers with a short sharpening lesson. No knife included. From €56 · GetYourGuide If you want to stay in the city BAC Knife Making Osaka A 90-minute sharpening and engraving class in central Osaka. You leave with a kitchen knife. From €141 · GetYourGuide If you want it private, in English Wada Shouten A two-hour private session at a 150-year-old Sakai knife shop. You sharpen and fit your own knife. From ¥57,440 · Wabunka

Side by side

Cheapest on the left, as listed. Scroll sideways on a phone.
Small groupSakai knife maker walking tour
Small groupMagocoro Base Sakai
Group classBAC Knife Making Osaka
PrivateSakai Toji handle-fitting workshop
PrivateWada Shouten
Price per person
From €56
€62
From €141
€232
From ¥57,440
Length
3.5 hours, on foot
1.5 hours
1.5 hours
2.5 hours, including the walk from the station
2 hours, starting with a visit to the Sakai knife museum
Group size
Shared group; at least 2 guests needed for it to run. Private option from €338.50.
Small group, up to 6
Shared class. Size not stated.
Private group. Size not stated.
Your party only, 1 to 8
Where
Sakai, about 10 to 15 minutes by Nankai train from Namba
Sakai, about 10 to 15 minutes by Nankai train from Namba
Minamisenba, Chuo (central Osaka)
Sakai; meets at Nankai Sakai Station, about 10 to 15 minutes by train from Namba
Sakai, about 10 to 15 minutes by Nankai train from Namba
What you do, as listed
A guided walk with a short sharpening lesson at a knife maker's workshop on Tuesdays and Thursdays. On blacksmith days you watch forging. You make nothing.
Sharpen practice knives on whetstones and fit handles to blades. No forging.
Choose a ready-made blade, sharpen it, fit the handle with a hammer and engrave the handle. No forging.
Fit the handle to a finished knife. A craftsman engraves your name on the blade while you watch. No sharpening or forging listed.
Sharpen a finished blade on whetstones and fit it to its handle, with the craftsmen doing the hot part. The itinerary says it does not include forging.
You take home
No knife included. You can order one, at a price the listing doesn't give.
Nothing. The listing says no knife is included.
The knife, same day, boxed
The knife, same day, engraved
The knife, same day, packaged. Your name is engraved in advance if you book ahead.
Getting it home
Not stated
Nothing to carry home.
Checked luggage only. The studio says it can show you how to ship it.
Packaged for travel, the listing says. Flying and shipping are not mentioned.
You take it with you. Flying and shipping are not mentioned.
English
English-speaking guide; French on request, not guaranteed
English-speaking instructor and interpreter
English-speaking staff
English-speaking host
English-speaking guide included
Free cancellation
Up to 24 hours before
Up to 24 hours before
Up to 24 hours before
Up to 24 hours before
Up to 15 days before
Reviews
4.8 from 99 on GetYourGuide.
5.0 from 8 on GetYourGuide.
4.9 from 154 on Viator. 4.9 from 552 on GetYourGuide.
5.0 from 4 on GetYourGuide.
43 on Wabunka. No star score shown.
Book
See on GetYourGuide
See on GetYourGuide
See on GetYourGuide
See on GetYourGuide
See on Wabunka

Before you book

Nobody here lets you forge. Every session on this page is sharpening, handle fitting or both, whatever the title says. One listing says outright that forging is not included. The closest you get is watching a smith on the walking tour's blacksmith days. For hammering hot steel yourself, see our Kyoto page.

Two of the five don't include a knife. The walking tour and the Sakai sharpening class use practice knives. On the tour you can order a knife of your own, but the listing doesn't give a price.

No swords. We found no sword workshop in Osaka or Sakai. A Klook sword-making listing that comes up in Osaka searches is in Aioi, in Hyogo prefecture, well outside the city.

The same knife shop has several prices. Wada Shouten's private session is from ¥57,440 a person on Wabunka, whose own price table runs from 48,000 to 78,800 yen depending on group size. A seven-hour Viator day tour that includes it starts at €654.

Plan how the blade gets home. A knife can't go in carry-on luggage. The central Osaka studio tells you to pack it in checked baggage or offers to show you how to ship it. The two Sakai listings that include a knife say it is packaged for you to take home, and say nothing about flying with it.

The five workshops

A knife maker works at a grinding wheel in a Sakai workshop while two visitors watch Photo: GetYourGuide
No. 002-1Small group

Sakai knife maker walking tour

3.5 hours · Meets at Nankai Sakai Station · Knife maker Tuesdays and Thursdays, blacksmith on other days · Listed on GetYourGuide as "From Osaka: Sakai Knife Maker or Blacksmith Walking Tour"

The cheapest way into Sakai's knife trade, and a tour rather than a class. You meet the guide at Sakai Station, stop at an old sweet shop for one sweet, visit the city's craft museum, then go behind the scenes at a working business. On Tuesdays and Thursdays that is Yamawaki Hamono, a century-old knife maker where blades arrive from the smith to be finished; you see the sharpening station and practice sharpening with a guide. On blacksmith days you visit the forge of Eric Chevalier, a French smith trained in Sakai, and watch. The listing contradicts itself on which days: its description says Mondays and Wednesdays, its booking options say Wednesdays only. No knife is included. You can order one and watch it being finished, but the listing gives no price. The group tour was €56.42 for the date we checked, the private version €338.50. The same operator sells the tour on Viator from €58.

Reviewers liked: Knowledgeable guides who explain the city's history as well as its knives, the museum, and the chance to see craftsmen at work up close. Several reviewers booked the French-speaking guide.

Reviewers didn't: No recurring complaint in the reviews we read. GetYourGuide's own breakdown scores value for money lower than the guiding.

Summarized from reviews on GetYourGuide (4.8 from 99).

Pick it if you want to see how Sakai knives are made, try a whetstone and decide afterwards whether to buy a knife, for the lowest price here.

Skip it if you want to leave with a knife you worked on. The sharpening is a short part of a walking tour.

From €56 per person · checked 11 Nov 2026 See on GetYourGuide
An instructor in a dark work jacket sharpens a knife on a whetstone Photo: GetYourGuide
No. 002-2Small group

Magocoro Base Sakai

1.5 hours · Up to 6 people · Shinmeicho-higashi, Sakai · Listed on GetYourGuide as "Sakai: Japanese Knife Sharpening Experience"

A short, practical class for people who already own good knives or plan to buy one. It starts with a visit to a knife museum, then you go back to the shop and learn to sharpen on whetstones, using the studio's practice knives, before trying the last step of the trade, fitting a handle to a blade. If time allows you try different grades of stone. Work wear, an apron and the stones are provided. You don't take a knife home: the listing says so plainly, and mentions a separate class that includes one, which we did not find listed. Not for children under 10. Arrive more than 30 minutes late and you can't join.

Reviewers liked: Clear, well-paced teaching that suits beginners, friendly hosts with good English, and the museum visit. One reviewer was glad not to have to buy a knife; another was the only guest and still got the full session.

Reviewers didn't: No recurring complaint, though there are only eight reviews.

Summarized from reviews on GetYourGuide (5.0 from 8).

Pick it if you want to learn to sharpen properly in a small group and don't need another knife.

Skip it if you want a knife to take home, or want a long track record of reviews.

€62 per person · checked 11 Nov 2026 See on GetYourGuide
Hands sharpen a kitchen knife on a whetstone set in a wooden stand over a water tub Photo: GetYourGuide
No. 002-3Group class

BAC Knife Making Osaka

1.5 hours · Shared class · Fuji Building, 2nd floor, Minamisenba · Booked as the Osaka option of GetYourGuide's "Japanese Knife Making Workshop (Sharpening, Engraving)"

The only class on this page in central Osaka, and the Osaka branch of the studio that runs the same class in Asakusa, Tokyo. You put on a work jacket, hear a short talk on the history of Japanese knives, choose a blade, sharpen it with the staff coaching you, then engrave your name or a design on the handle and fit it with a traditional hammer. Tea, snacks, packaging and a name key ring are included. The blades come ready-made; despite "Make Your Own Knife" in the Viator title, nothing is forged. Bigger knives cost extra: the listings don't say how much, and one reviewer quoted 4,000 to 5,000 yen. Friends who only watch pay an observation fee. To book the Osaka class on GetYourGuide you pick the Osaka option on a listing filed under Tokyo; it was €141.04 for the date we checked. The studio's own Osaka listing on Viator was €144.16.

Reviewers liked: Friendly, chatty instructors with good English, and hands-on help with sharpening. People like learning to look after a knife they will use at home.

Reviewers didn't: One Viator reviewer warned that sharpening is real arm work and that the knife is a good working tool rather than a showpiece. On GetYourGuide, some wanted clearer information on upgrade fees.

Summarized from reviews of the Osaka class on Viator (4.9 from 154) and of the shared listing on GetYourGuide (4.9 from 552).

Pick it if you want to stay in the city center and leave with a sharpened, engraved kitchen knife in 90 minutes.

Skip it if you want Sakai's workshops and craftsmen, or dislike add-on charges for larger blades.

From €141 per person · checked 11 Nov 2026 See on GetYourGuide
A smiling man holds a kitchen knife in front of a wall of Japanese knives Photo: GetYourGuide
No. 002-4Private

Sakai Toji handle-fitting workshop

2.5 hours · Private · Meets at Sakai Station · Listed on GetYourGuide as "Craft Your Own Knife in Sakai: Handle-Making, Name Engraving"

A guided private visit to Sakai Toji, a knife maker with its own small museum. You walk from Sakai Station through the old town, watch a short film on how knives are forged, sharpened and polished, look round the collection, then fit the handle to your own knife with help from the host and a craftsman. The finale is watching a master cut your name into the blade by hand. Your part is small: the listing mentions no sharpening, and the handle is the only step you do. The listing doesn't say which knife you get or whether you can choose. It says the session is not suitable for children under 15 or people over 70.

Reviewers liked: The guide, praised by name in every written review for his care and knowledge of Sakai, the company museum, and the engraved knives.

Reviewers didn't: No complaints so far, but there are only four reviews.

Summarized from reviews on GetYourGuide (5.0 from 4).

Pick it if you want a private, guided morning in Sakai and a knife engraved by a craftsman, and care less about doing the work yourself.

Skip it if you want to learn to sharpen, or you are over 70 or traveling with children under 15.

€232 per person · checked 11 Nov 2026 See on GetYourGuide
Two pairs of hands holding a kitchen knife against a whetstone on a sharpening bench Photo: Wabunka
No. 002-5Private

Wada Shouten

2 hours · Private, 1 to 8 people · Sakai · English-speaking guide · Santoku, deba or sashimi knife

A private session at a knife wholesaler that has finished and sold Sakai blades for about 150 years. Sakai knives pass through many specialist hands, and a wholesaler like this one does the last step, fitting the blade to its handle. The session starts at the Sakai knife museum nearby. Back at the shop you test a blunt knife on newspaper, learn to sharpen with a master, then fit your knife: an artisan heats the tang until it smokes and threads it into the handle, and you seat it with a wooden mallet. You choose a santoku, deba or sashimi knife; a left-handed deba or sashimi costs 7,100 yen more. The "from" price is not the whole story. The listing's own price table runs from 78,800 yen each for one person down to 48,000 yen each for five or more. Book at least 4 days ahead; payment is by card in advance.

Reviewers liked: The interpreter, mentioned in review after review, and patient craftsmen who let guests do real steps. People value learning how many artisans go into one Sakai knife and leaving with a personalized one.

Reviewers didn't: Little criticism. One reviewer wished the session were longer.

From 43 reviews on Wabunka. No star score shown.

Pick it if you want a private session with an interpreter at a long-established Sakai shop, and a choice of traditional knife.

Skip it if you are comparing on price, or traveling alone. This is the most expensive session on the page, and one person pays 78,800 yen.

From ¥57,440 per person · checked 11 Nov 2026 See on Wabunka