About

For most of my career, I worked for foreign chemical manufacturers and trading companies, building long relationships with clients from around the world. Visitors and colleagues from overseas would often ask me to take them to a shop specializing in Japanese kitchen knives whenever they came to Japan, and together we visited many such shops. I still remember how delighted people were when I gave a Japanese knife as a gift.

Through these experiences, I became fascinated by the beauty of Japanese craftsmanship, the excellence of Japan's forged blade-making, and its power to captivate people well beyond Japan.

In Japan, there are still blacksmiths who forge a blade entirely by hand. I have deep respect for their skill - for their constant pursuit of knowledge, for their ability to sustain a livelihood and a workshop through that craft alone, and for the strength of character that draws people to them. These are the craftsmen I recognize as Master Blacksmiths, and it is their work that Oak Bay Knives exists to champion. I believe that is what will carry this craft into the future.

My aim is to create the opportunity for chefs, collectors, and enthusiasts around the world to connect with Master Blacksmiths, and to deliver a hand-forged blade that exists nowhere else in the world.