All 6 Knife Shops in Kyoto — Aritsugu, Nishiki Market & Teramachi (2026)
Table of Contents
Six shops in Kyoto sell kitchen knives as specialists: Aritsugu, Kikuichimonji, Jikko, Kanetaka Hamono, Yagi Hocho-ten and Takegami. Every address, phone number and opening time below was checked against the shop's own website. If you only have one free afternoon, Aritsugu is the name to know; if that afternoon is a Sunday, Jikko is the one that will be open.
The 6 Knife Shops
450 years — Nishiki Market
1. Aritsugu 有次 錦店
Kyoto's best-known knife shop, and the only one the company runs directly in the city. Alongside hand-forged knives it sells copper pots and traditional Kyoto kitchen tools. Free name engraving on purchase, plus ongoing servicing of the knives it sells — the two reasons chefs keep coming back. Start here.
New orders taken until 16:30. Also closed 1–4 January and on 31 January (stocktaking).
- Also sold at: Aritsugu counters on 6F of Kyoto Takashimaya S.C. and 7F of Hankyu Umeda (both 10:00-20:00) — departmentstore counters rather than branches, but useful when Nishiki is packed
Details checked 2026-09-15
Swordsmith lineage — Sanjo-Teramachi
2. Kikuichimonji 菊一文字 本店
The shop traces its line to Norimune, one of Emperor Go-Toba's swordsmiths in the Kamakura period; the name comes from the chrysanthemum crest and single horizontal stroke he was granted for his blades. From the Meiji era the house moved into kitchen, craft and horticultural blades. Handmade scissors are a speciality alongside the knives.
- Known for: Knives in the swordsmith tradition, handmade scissors
Details checked 2026-09-15
Open Sundays — Teramachi arcade
3. Jikko Nishiki-Teramachi 實光刃物 京都 錦寺町店
The Kyoto outpost of a Sakai knifemaker founded in 1900 — which makes this the easiest place in Kyoto to buy Sakai-forged blades. The Teramachi shop is known for its "knife tower" display. It has essentially no closing days and stays open to 19:00, so it covers the Sundays and evenings when the older shops are shut. Two more branches in the city: Pontocho and Arashiyama.
Essentially no closing days.
- Other branches: Kyoto Pontocho (208-4 Shimokoregi-cho, Nakagyo-ku), Kyoto Arashiyama
Details checked 2026-09-15
Founded 1651 — by Rokkaku-do
4. Kanetaka Hamono 金高刃物老舗 本店
Founded in 1651 as a Japanese razor forge trading as Fujiwara Kanetaka, and settled at its present spot in front of Rokkaku-do since around 1770. The oldest Kyoto knife shop with a founding date you can verify from the company itself. Being off the main tourist route, it is the easiest of the six in which to have an unhurried conversation.
Closed on 17–18 and 24–25 July (Gion Matsuri). The shop’s own page gives its closing days in more than one way — call ahead on a public holiday.
Details checked 2026-09-15
About 150 years — Sakaimachi-dori
5. Yagi Hocho-ten 八木庖丁店
For roughly 150 years this shop has supplied knives to professional cooks in Kyoto and across Japan. It also carries copper, aluminium and brass pans and other cooking tools. The stock leans professional — tell them what you cook and let them pick. Note the Sunday and Monday closing before you plan around it.
Temporary and holiday closures are posted on the shop’s website.
- Known for: Knives, copper and brass pans, cooking tools
Details checked 2026-09-15
Founded 2010 — Kuromon-dori
6. Takegami 食道具 竹上 京都店
The youngest of the six by three centuries, and the most technical: honbazuke edge-setting, adjustment and full restoration are the core of the business, not a sideline. The stated philosophy is to sell things that can be repaired and kept, which makes this the shop to visit if you already own a knife that needs bringing back. There is also a workshop in Nantan.
- Known for: Knife sales, honbazuke, adjustment and restoration
Details checked 2026-09-15
Still deciding?
Make one yourself
Kyoto has the shops, and also the one knife experience on the whole store that confirms your date on the spot.
Kyoto Prefecture · 120 min
In the region that supplied Japan with its natural finishing stones.
from ¥34,650 per person
Details & bookingfrom ¥77,700 per person
Details & bookingGifu, reachable from Kyoto · 360 min
from ¥52,000 per person
Details & bookingMost of these are booked by request: you propose a date, the workshop confirms it afterwards. Only a handful confirm on the spot — the operator filters those here. Prices as listed by the operator on 14 September 2026. The operator sets them and may change them at any time. Affiliate links: if you book, we may receive a commission at no extra cost to you. These are the operator's listings, not editorial picks. We are an independent publisher, not connected to the operator.
Which Shop Should You Visit?
- One knife to take home from Kyoto: Aritsugu — engraving included, and Nishiki Market is worth the walk anyway
- You are only free on a Sunday or in the evening: Jikko Nishiki-Teramachi (essentially never closed, open to 19:00)
- You want the history: Kanetaka Hamono (1651) or Kikuichimonji (swordsmith lineage)
- You cook professionally: Yagi Hocho-ten
- You want a knife you already own put right: Takegami
About Kyoto Knives
Kyoto's knife culture is inseparable from kaiseki, the refined cuisine that grew up here. Kitchens chasing delicate vegetable cuts and exact presentation do not tolerate compromise on sharpness or precision, and the city's blade shops sharpened their craft answering that demand — thin, precise edges above all.
Kyoto is also one of Japan's great sources of natural whetstones (tennen toishi). The finishing stones quarried from the surrounding mountains have grown scarce as the quarries wound down, and they are now prized by knife enthusiasts worldwide.
Getting There
- Nishiki Market (Aritsugu): 8 min from Hankyu Kyoto-Kawaramachi, or 8 min from Shijo Station
- Sanjo-Teramachi (Kikuichimonji): 5 min from Keihan Sanjo Station
- Teramachi arcade (Jikko): 5 min from Hankyu Kyoto-Kawaramachi
- Rokkaku-do (Kanetaka): 5 min from Karasuma-Oike Station
- From Kyoto Station: Karasuma subway line to Shijo Station, about 5 minutes
- From Osaka: JR Special Rapid to Kyoto Station, about 30 minutes
- From Tokyo: Shinkansen to Kyoto Station, about 2 hours 15 minutes
Aritsugu, Kikuichimonji and Jikko all sit within walking distance between Shijo and Sanjo, so half a day covers three of them. Add Kanetaka and Yagi Hocho-ten and you want a full day.