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The business, or rather the master craft, has been in the family for over four centuries and 18 generations. Once a designated maker of Samurai Swords for the Imperial House of Japan, they have been adapting with the times and have changed to making knives, useful to everyday life in this new age.
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The 400 year old Nishiki Ichiba, where the Aritsugu store is located, is a market street that stretches 400 meters long. Like Aritsugu, the Ichiba and the shops that make up the market have been there for generations, passing down traditions and craft to this day. All the kitchen tools, fresh fish and vegetables, an array of pickles, tea, and sweets and other wonderful dishes you find here is why it is rightfully called "Kyoto's Kitchen". Like the Aritusgu Knives, this pocket of culture, even in the city of Kyoto, is dense with rich culinary traditions of Japan.
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The Kyoto Aritsugu knives are still hand forged in their original location in Sakaimachi, and the meticulous sharpening happens right before your eyes at the shop located in the Nishiki market in Kyoto, Japan. They have preserved their renown throughout history as master craftsmen, not as sword makers, but as blade and knife makers.
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An important distinction is the difference between the Aritsugu in Kyoto and the Aritsugu store in Tokyo's Tsukiji Market, which is also the only Aritsugu store online. Although formerly trained at the Kyoto Aritsugu, the two are not the same store, nor do they use the same techniques for production of their knives. The Tsukiji knives are mass produced using machinery and not by hand forging.
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