Knife Shops in Sakai, Osaka and Kyoto: A Visitor's Guide

Researched. This guide is based on the official websites of the Sennichimae Doguyasuji shopping street association, the Osaka Convention & Tourism Bureau, Sakai Denshokan, the Kyoto Nishiki Market association and each shop named, checked on October 7, 2026. We have not visited for this article. Shop hours and services change, so check each shop’s site before you go. This article contains no affiliate links.

Osaka, Sakai and Kyoto each have places where visitors can buy Japanese kitchen knives: a kitchenware arcade in Osaka’s Namba district, a traditional crafts museum and makers’ shops in Sakai, and long-established shops in central Kyoto. This guide collects what the official sources say about access, hours and services.

In short: Sennichimae Doguyasuji is an arcade of about 150 meters, 3 minutes on foot from Namba Station, where each shop sets its own hours. Sakai Denshokan is open 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. with free admission and closes on the third Tuesday of each month. Aritsugu at Nishiki Market in Kyoto is closed on Wednesdays, and Kikuichimonji on Thursdays.

Osaka: Sennichimae Doguyasuji

Sennichimae Doguyasuji shopping arcade in Osaka, August 2014. Photo: Mc681, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Sennichimae Doguyasuji is a shopping street in Namba, Osaka, that its association describes as a specialist street for cooking tools. The Osaka tourism bureau describes it as lined with specialist shops for cooking utensils and kitchen equipment.

Where: the Osaka tourism bureau gives the location as the Namba-Sennichimae area of Chuo-ku, Osaka.
Size: the association’s history page says an arcade of about 150 meters was built in 1970. The tourism bureau also gives the length as 150 meters.
History: the association dates the street’s beginnings to around 1882, and says that by 1925 it had about 20 second-hand tool dealers and was turning into a street of specialist shops making, wholesaling and selling cooking equipment.
Getting there: the association lists a 3-minute walk from Namba Station on the Nankai Railway and on the Midosuji subway line, and a 5-minute walk from Nippombashi Station on the Sennichimae subway line and the Kintetsu Namba Line.
Opening days: the tourism bureau lists hours and closed days as varying by shop. The association’s shop list adds that the hours and holidays it shows may change, and asks visitors to check with each shop.
Parking: the association says the street has no parking lot and no bicycle parking of its own.

Doguyasuji Matsuri 2026

The association says it held the 41st Doguyasuji Matsuri (festival) on Saturday, October 10, 2026. Its notice before the event gave hours of 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and mentioned a bargain market and a prize lottery. As of October 12, 2026, it has not announced the next festival date.

Knife shops on the street

The association’s shop list includes several shops that sell knives. The details below are what two of them state on their own websites. We list only services the shop mentions.

Shop	Hours (as published)	Engraving	Sharpening	English	Tax-free
Sakai Ichimonji Mitsuhide	Mon–Fri 9:30–18:30; Sat, Sun and public holidays 10:30–18:30; closed January 1–2, shorter hours around New Year	Its Japanese site says name engraving is free on knives bought there	Its English site says one free sharpening ticket comes with each knife, usable at the Osaka store; it notes shipping charges are required	Its store guide says staff can assist in English, Chinese, Spanish, Korean and Thai, depending on shifts	Its English store guide shows a tax-free logo; details not stated
Jikko (Ura-Namba store, Doguyasuji)	10:00–18:00; the shop says it basically has no closing days	Offered; the engraving page gives up to 3 characters for hand engraving	Sharpening repair and handle replacement listed as after-sales services	Not stated	Not stated

Sakai Ichimonji Mitsuhide

Sakai Ichimonji Mitsuhide is at 14-8 Nanbasennichimae, Chuo-ku, Osaka, on Doguyasuji. Its English site says it has been in business “from 1953 to today” and that the store is 3 minutes on foot from Namba Station on the Nankai line. The site lists shorter hours of 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on December 30–31 and January 3–5. Its Japanese site says a sharpening ticket with no expiry date is enclosed with knives from three of its own series. The English site also has a page for knife sharpening classes, which it says last between thirty minutes and one hour.

Jikko

Jikko is a Sakai knife maker; the association’s page describes it as a workshop that has passed down Sakai knife-making since 1900. Its Ura-Namba store is at 9-11 Namba-Sennichimae, Chuo-ku, Osaka, on the first floor. Jikko gives the walk as 3 minutes from Nankai Namba Station and 5 minutes from Namba Station on the Midosuji subway line, and says the store has no parking. Jikko also lists other stores in Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo on its site. For its main store in Sakai, see below.

The association’s list also includes Tojiro Knife Gallery Osaka, which it shows as open 10:00–17:30 and closed on Wednesdays. We did not check that shop’s own pages for this article.

Sakai: Sakai Denshokan and makers’ shops

Display space at the Hamono (cutlery) Museum in Sakai. Photo: Gpwitteveen, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Sakai Denshokan, a facility for the city’s traditional industries, says Sakai forged blades have a history of about 600 years.

Sakai Denshokan

Sakai Denshokan displays and sells products of Sakai’s traditional industries. Its site lists knives and other blades, chusen-dyed and wazarashi cotton goods, kelp and incense, along with Sakai sweets, tea, soy sauce and sake. Its site names the operator as the Sakai City Industrial Promotion Center, a public interest foundation.

What is there: the floor map shows a first-floor shop for knives and whetstones, described as ranging from household to professional knives, and a second shop for other Sakai products. The second floor has a traditional industries exhibition and the Sakai Hamono Museum CUT, which the site says explains the history of Sakai as a blade town, the manufacturing process and the craftsmen’s techniques.
Address: 1-1-30 Zaimokucho-nishi, Sakai-ku, Sakai, Osaka 590-0941 (堺市堺区材木町西1丁1-30).
Hours: 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Admission is free.
Closed: the third Tuesday of each month (the next day if that Tuesday is a public holiday) and December 29 to January 3. The site notes there may be other temporary closures.
Getting there: the access page lists a 3-minute walk from Myokokuji-mae stop on the Hankai Line, a 15-minute walk from Sakai Station on the Nankai Line according to the Japanese access page (the English page says 10 minutes), and a 1-minute walk from the Hanataguchi stop on Nankai Bus.
English: the FAQ says staff who can assist in English are on site.
Engraving: the FAQ says its online shop does not take engraving orders in principle and asks customers to consult individually. It does not state an in-store engraving service.
Demonstrations and events: the site says demonstrations and hands-on events are held and refers visitors to its events page. We found no fixed program, price or booking method on the pages we checked, so check the events page before you go.

Makers’ own shops in Sakai

The details below are what each maker states on its own website.

Shop	Hours (as published)	Engraving	Sharpening	English	Tax-free
Jikko (Sakai main store)	Mon–Fri 10:00–18:00; Sat 10:00–16:00; closed Sundays and public holidays	Offered; the engraving page gives up to 3 characters for hand engraving	Sharpening repair and handle replacement listed as after-sales services	Not stated	Not stated
Mizuno Tanrenjo	Weekdays 9:00–17:00; closed Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays	Not stated	Not stated	The site asks overseas customers to send product questions through its official Facebook or Instagram page	Not stated

Jikko’s Sakai main store is at 1-1-9 Nishikinocho-nishi, Sakai-ku, Sakai (錦之町西1-1-9). Jikko gives the walk as 1 minute from Ayanocho stop on the Hankai tram and 10 minutes from Shichido Station on the Nankai line. The site also lists a separate floor for honyaki knives at the main store that is by reservation only.

Mizuno Tanrenjo is at 1-1-27 Sakuranocho-nishi, Sakai-ku, Sakai (桜之町西1-1-27). Its site describes it as a workshop founded in 1872 that forges Japanese swords and kitchen knives. The site does not say whether the workshop can be toured.

Both makers list Sundays and public holidays as closed days.

Kyoto: two long-established shops

Aritsugu, a kitchen-knife and tools shop in Kyoto’s Nishiki Market. Photo: matsuyuki, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The details below are what each shop states on its own website, with the Nishiki Market association’s page for Aritsugu as a cross-check.

Shop	Hours (as published)	Engraving	Sharpening	English	Tax-free
Aritsugu (Nishiki store)	10:00–17:00, new sales accepted until 16:30; closed Wednesdays, January 1–4 and January 31 (stocktaking)	Not stated	Repairs and re-sharpening for Aritsugu (Kyoto) products only, in store or by delivery; usually about 1 to 2 months	Not stated	Not stated
Kikuichimonji (Kyoto main store)	11:00–19:00; closed Thursdays	Not stated	Re-sharpening and repair of knives and scissors bought from the company, also accepted by post	English website	Not stated

Aritsugu

Aritsugu’s Nishiki store is at 219 Kajiya-cho, Nishikikoji-dori Gokomachi Nishi-iru, Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto (錦小路通御幸町西入ル鍛冶屋町219), in Nishiki Market. The shop says it was founded in 1560 by the swordsmith Fujiwara Aritsugu. It gives the walk as 8 minutes from Kyoto-kawaramachi Station on the Hankyu Kyoto Line and says it has no parking. The Nishiki Market association’s page gives the same hours and Wednesday closing.

Aritsugu’s repair page says it does not accept other companies’ products. As one example of its published prices, it lists re-sharpening of a gyuto up to 21.9 cm (219 mm, about 8.6 in) at 2,750 yen including tax. The shop page also lists Aritsugu counters in the Kyoto Takashimaya and Hankyu Umeda department stores.

Kikuichimonji

Kikuichimonji’s Kyoto main store is at 14 Ishibashi-cho, Sanjo-dori Teramachi Higashi-iru, Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto. Its English site traces the name to 1208 and says that in 1876 the company started manufacturing cooking knives, carpentry tools, gardening knives and other related products in Kyoto.

Before you buy

None of the shop pages we checked states how tax-free sales are handled, so ask in the shop. Japan’s tax-free system for visitors changes to a refund method on November 1, 2026. Our guide to buying a kitchen knife in Japan explains the change, the rules on carrying a knife in public and how to take it home. For background on Sakai and other knife-making areas, see our guide to Japanese knife regions.

Sources

We check facts against the sources above, as described in our Editorial & Accuracy Policy. If you spot an error, please tell us through our contact form.

Osaka, Sakai and Kyoto Knife Shops: A Visitor’s Guide (2026)