Hado Whetstone Holder – Spring

Hado, which means the road of ‘ha’ (刃, blades). is the brand name for the knives crafted by Fukui Co & Ltd. Japanese artisans attach great importance to ‘tamashi’ (魂, soul). They pour their own souls into individual works. The word, ‘tamashi’ has various contexts. It can mean one’s spirit, determination, backbone, et cetra. ‘Tamashi’ is at the core of Hado project. We sharpen knives one by one, putting our tamashi into the knives. The feeling of the blades builds up something ineffable on our hands and hearts. Sakai ‘Uchi-Hamono’ (打刃物, hand-forged knives) has a long history. The root goes far back to the 5th century when iron tools for digging were produced in Sakai. From the 15th Century to the 16th century, swords production flourished in this region. In the early 17th century, craftspeople began to produce tobacco knives for cutting tobacco leaves, which is believed as the origin of Sakai hand-forged knives. Sakai has the blood of handcraft. The DNA has long been inherited from generation to generation. This heritage sometimes awakens craftspeople and creates new movement. One day in 2015, Maruyama, who was in charge of sales and warehouse management at that time, said to Ryuichiro Fukui, the chairman, ‘I want to quit this job to be a knife sharpener’. Surprisingly, Fukui said to Maruyama ‘Train yourself outside and come back after about three years. During the training, we pay your salary’. In fact, Fukui had been feeling the desire to begin the in-house production of knives for a long time. Maruyama followed Fukui’s suggestion and set out on a three-year training as an apprentice to the legendary Syotaro Nomura, while the company started to prepare for the establishment of an in-house atelier. In the spring of 2019, the in-house atelier opened when Maruyama entered the third year of his training. Motonari Fukui, the president and the son of the chairman, said ‘This atelier awoke our DNA as a knife seller. The day Maruyama confided his ambition to be an artisan was the turning point of our company in the history of more than 100 years. I want him to be the symbol of this company.’ Following the completion of the atelier and Maruyama’s challenge, the brand of in-house crafted knives, Hado, was born. In this way, Fukui Co & Ltd started to walk on the road of blades, repeating and improving the same process to pursue the highest quality. Some knives are also forged by the legendary Yoshikazu Tanaka and sharpened by Maruyama San, Hado is aiming at the top of the Japanese knife making. The Ginsan Series are equipped with Urushi Oak handles (a natural lacquer coming from the Urushi tree). Urushi lacquering is a traditional Japanese lacquering technique, mastered through centuries. Multiple layers of the Urushi lacquer is applied on the wood handle, making it resistant to alcali, acids and food safe.