Okubo Kajiya / Tokushima

2025.2.14 Notice regarding handles and delivery times for Okubo san's knives.

Takenoko nakiri aside, Knife Japan's product pages for Okubo Kajiya knives show hounoki/horn handles fitted to each style. Supply of these handles and the octagonal handles of the same materials has been problematic for close to a year now and unfortunately the situation does not appear to be any closer to being resolved.

Okubo san has been sourcing similar handles in small numbers when possible, but fitting of them can't be guaranteed. Hardly an ideal situation.

Locally Okubo san has been fitting walnut handles with a plastic ferrule. These are currently available for all knife styles other than the takenoko nakiri. We've been holding off on revising our product pages in the hope normal handle supply might be restored, but it seems like it's time to give up and run with the walnut. At least for now.

At present we can arrange any knife from Okubo Kajiya without a handle. Santoku knives and nakiri knives can be ordered with a walnut handle with black plastic ferrule. Yanagiba and deba knives *might* have the hounoki/horn handles available, otherwise, walnut.

It's possible to source a nice handle from a third party seller and have Okubo san fit it for you, but bear in mind not every handle suits every tang. Contact us if you'd like to explore options in that direction.

At time of writing we are receiving Okubo san's knives four to five weeks from the time of order. Thanks for your understanding! (Late March '25 update: currently receiving knives around seven weeks after placing our orders.)

That's how it's done. Wordless coordination and a perfect strike.

Tokushima Prefecture lies between the knife-making powerhouses of Sakai city in Osaka Prefecture and Tosa city in Kochi Prefecture. From a smithy point of view things have always been fairly quiet in Tokushima. 

But nestled in a small valley just far enough from Tokushima City to be called the country, there's a small, elven-like forge producing traditional edge tools of wonderful quality.

Okubo Kajiya is the sole knife maker in the prefecture and without a great deal of information to uncover beforehand we weren't quite sure what to expect on our first visit. What we found was a rich spirit of craftsmanship, and that welcoming generosity that makes traveling around Japan such a pleasure.

Wow. What an experience. The kind of experience that makes all we do at Knife Japan more fascinating with each passing year. Seated inches from Okubo san's anvil and forge we witnessed a wonderful demonstration of the craft. Great cleaving strikes of the long hammer through to delicate final shaping, all the while the younger Mr Okubo sharing a patient and thoughtful explanation of his father's work throughout the forging process. Wonderful.

Output from this small family concern is modest, and there's usually a wait involved in purchasing one of Okubo san's fine knives. But what will arrive will be a beautifully-executed hand-crafted tool, with lovely cutting feel right out of the box.