October 2018 saw another great turn-out for Seki City's annual Cutlery Festival (Hamono-matsuri)

On the weekend of 6-7 October, Seki once again lived up to its moniker, 'the City of Blades', as Honmachi-dori Street became an open air cutlery market with over a kilometre of stall fronts. Residents and tourists entered the spirit of the Cutlery Festival by sampling delicious food, finding great bargains from local manufacturers, and enjoying special knife and sword demonstrations.



The sword-making tradition in Seki City goes back to distant feudal times. It can be said that Seki's modern cutlery industry, which focuses in particular on high-quality Japanese kitchen knives, grew out of this tradition. That is why the Seki City Cutlery Festival is dedicated to Motoshige, the legendary swordsmith who first brought the craft to this area. Read more about the history of Seki City and Motoshige here!


Here are some more images from the event!




A stall on Honmachi-dori.




A sharpening and polishing demonstration.




Crowds on the sunny main street.




Kitchen knives in action (from last year's outdoor stage).

We had a great time at the festival as always. If you are ever near Seki City in early October, make sure you drop by!

Don't forget that we offer great deals from Seki City all year round, so please take your time to browse our special offers as well as our full range of knives and implements. You may also enjoy reading the rest of our blog for knife selection and handling tips as well as previous news from our hometown of Seki City.


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