About Us

Hello and a warm welcome to Knife Japan. When you purchase a knife from the Knife Japan online store you’re dealing directly with Michael and Fumi Shaw. This page is about us. Hi.

Let’s start with a bit of personal stuff. Michael and Fumi met, married and started a family in the pre-internet days of aerograms and an-arm-and-a-leg international telephone calls. A few years of publishing (on paper!) in Sydney and Michael’s home town of Hobart in Tasmania and here we are now, after twenty five years of living in Japan, drinking green tea in the afternoons, bowing to our elderly neighbors and working to keep the Japanese weeds in our vegetable patch under control. 

Our home is Hiroshima, a green and welcoming river city in the Chugoku region of western Honshu. Home to Miyajima Island and world-heritage Itsukushima shrine, Mazda, the Hiroshima Carp baseball team, Otafuku okonomi sauce and the Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki we put under it. Hiroshima is also known for its role in world war two of course, and we would encourage everyone to visit the Peace Memorial Museum in Hiroshima for insight into that experience.

So why are we here? In this corner of the internet, we mean. Beyond the simple imperative of a roof over our heads, we like good knives. We like supporting craftsmen, and we like supporting the people around the world who appreciate their knives.

Many knife makers in Japan are traditionalists with little time for computers, smartphones, or social media. Most are lost with English. We provide a low-stress sales channel for them to reach overseas customers with none of the distractions that would otherwise involve. We provide the after-sales support that they would find vexing to offer in English themselves.  

For you, the knife buyer, we can provide access to a range of products that includes many knife styles you won't see elsewhere, at good prices, with the kind of support everyone appreciates. We do our best to accurately depict and describe the products we sell, and ordering is easy. 

If there's anything you need we're always available. We’ve been around a while and if there’s something you’re looking for – information, a particular knife, some other Japan-related item – feel free to drop us a line using the form below. If we can we'll be very glad to help.

Best regards,

Michael and Fumi
Knife Japan

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