ALEXCIOUS

Exceptional quality for a lifetime of kitchen use

In 1987, the Culeus series won the Designers Choice award at the Magazine of Industirial Design (ID).

"You can keep sharpening the edge and no matter how small the blade gets you can keep using it."

700 years of tradition in every high-quality, hand-forged blade

Cutting no corners

Each knife is hand-forged by a master craftsman from a single piece of stainless steel, and is exceptionally sharp and easy to use.

Mark of distinction

Specializing in the creation of high-quality, traditional Japanese blades, in 1980, Echizen (in Fukui Prefecture) was the first production center for forged blades to be awarded the nationally recognized Traditional Craft Product accolade. Blades have been hand forged here since the Muromachi period (1392~1573).

Kazuo Kawasaki

Though there is a healthy market for traditionally forged knives in Japan, the forward-thinking people at Takefu Knife Village secured the talents of internationally famed industrial designer Kazuo Kawasaki to design new blade products. Takefu products appear in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian Institution, the Cooper Hewitt Museum, and the Montreal Museum.

Brief history

Legend has it that Echizen Uchihamono (forged blades) originated in 1337, when a Kyoto sword-smith named Chiyozuru Kuniyasu set out for Fuchu (today Takefu) and began making sickles for local farmers on the side. As rustic forging was already well underway in the area, it’s likely that local forgers got advice on ways to improve their techniques from this famous craftsman. During the Edo period (1603-1867), a Guild system was formed under a protective policy enacted by the Lord of Fukui. Sales routes were established throughout the country by Urushi-Kaki (men who collect tree sap to make lacquer) as they travelled nationwide in search of the raw material. Their efforts led to Echizen sickles becoming popular in every region of Japan.

In the words of a forging master

"The distinctive feature of Echizen forged blades is their strong, sharp cutting edge, which is the product of various different techniques, all of them done by hand. Most of craftsmen start young and work long, hard years to get to where they are. They are people who have cultivated their craft. One doesn't acquire that skill in a day. Just getting to the first stage takes at a minimum of ten years. It's more than just technique. There's the question of spirit. That is, do you have the tenacity to make things, the passion? At the same time, you have to have precision. If you have both of these at the start you can make good pieces. That's why Echizen forged blades are lifetime objects; you can keep sharpening the edge and no matter how small the blade gets you can keep using it."