Hocho no Sakai Toku | [2026] Relax when sharpening knives

Hello, I'm Okudaira, owner of "Japan Knife Toku."
At our shop, we offer knives handcrafted by artisans from Osaka, Sakai, and across Japan. We sell them in Asakusa, and also provide sharpening and sharpening workshops.

Important points when sharpening a knife

When sharpening a knife, the angle of the blade is often emphasized.
Things like the angle of two 10-yen coins, or maintaining the angle and moving the knife parallel to the whetstone.
Of course, these are important points when sharpening a knife, but looking at the students who come to our knife sharpening workshop, almost all of them are exerting too much force.
It's like, "Alright, time to sharpen!" After sharpening for a while, they start complaining about their fingers and arms hurting.
If you're tensing up, you won't be able to maintain the angle or move the knife parallel to the whetstone. Being tense can cause your wrist to twist back or limit your range of motion.

It's important to relax

When sharpening a knife, stand in front of the whetstone, relax, and place the hand holding the knife on the whetstone. Then, instead of following the knife with your eyes, try moving your hand slowly for a while while looking straight ahead. By maintaining that relaxed state, you should be able to start sharpening without unnecessary tension in your wrists, shoulders, or fingertips. If you're relaxed, you should be able to move your hand back and forth quickly. Conversely, if you're tense, your wrist might twist back when you move your hand forward, or your range of motion might become restricted, making it difficult to move back and forth.

Sharpening is smoother when relaxed

When you sharpen with tension, you are pressing the knife against the whetstone. Sharpening a knife means rubbing the edge of the knife against the whetstone to create a burr. By removing this burr, the edge becomes clean and sharpness is restored. The knife is sharpened by moving it back and forth on the whetstone. Therefore, if you can move the knife back and forth quickly, you can sharpen it faster.

Meditation Sharpening

We sometimes refer to sharpening a knife while relaxed and absent-minded as "meditation sharpening." To be absent-minded, you shouldn't be tensing up, and you need to maintain that state of absent-mindedness for a long time. If you're thinking, "I'm going to sharpen it!" you can't be absent-minded or relaxed.
So, I hope you understand that sharpening a knife while relaxed and absent-minded is also important for maintaining the correct angle and parallel movement?
Please try sharpening your knives in a relaxed state.

For inquiries, please use LINE

Shop Information and Access

Japan Knife Toku Asakusa Store (Opening April 2025)

Business hours: 10:00〜18:00

Location: NW Building 6F, 1-11-4 Hanakawado, Taito-ku, Tokyo Map
•        1-minute walk from Asakusa Station North Exit on the Tobu Skytree Line
•        4-minute walk from Asakusa Station on the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line

※Please take the elevator to the 6th floor.
※It might feel a bit intimidating to enter, but it's perfectly fine to just "look" or "ask questions"!

We're also sharing information on social media!

We introduce tips for choosing and sharpening knives with videos and photos on YouTube and Instagram.
•        ▶︎ [YouTube channel is here]
•        ▶︎ [Instagram official is here]