What other travelers are saying about G. Sakai Knife Museum, Seki
We participated in a Knife making experience at the G Sakai Knife Museum. Our instructor Sumi was friendly, patient and obviously both a master at his craft and an experienced instructor. There are many knives made there as well as holsters, leather accessories and souvenirs.
The class consisted of polishing the blade, painting a design, Shaping the handle, polishing the handle, etching the knife, assembling it and sharpening. You could select the type of knife to be made from a variety of patterns. All knives were Damascus blades.
Throughout the class our guide Hiro, and Sumi provided expert advice and assistance. The resulting blades were beautiful and functional knives to bring home.
In addition Sumi is an artist and prepared a hand painted beautiful certificate of completion with drawings and kanji.
All in all we enjoyed the experience and spent a lot of time learning the knife construction phases and steps. Please note that this is not a forging class. Proper protective gear was provided at all times. I would highly encourage you to schedule this experience.
The kitchen knife experience is amazing, and I encourage everyone to give it a go. It isn't the cheapest thing you can do, but it is very much worthwhile.
I had almost three to one assistance, with the two knife experts and a facilitator. I speak English, and the people were good speakers, and I had no problem understanding them, or they me.
I will treasure the knife that I helped to decorate, polish and assemble. The guides were careful to make sure that I was the one to be hands on, doing most of the work.
There wasn't time on my visit to check out the actual knife museum, but I enjoyed looking around the shop, and will check it outt the next time I'm around.
Kia ora, it's great!
Such a perfect experience to start a Japanese trip! (Create your Samurai knife experience)
Hiro, Sumi and Yoshi were a very good team, each guy has his own talent and all will make everything to make your day amazing. The knife we were able to produce is a good kitchen knife, first come first to choose which color and shape! We learned a lot of other things on this day, for example how to write your name as kana or kanji and the meaning of each kanji, we were able to ask everything to those guys and yes we had million of questions! The lunch was the best I had in my whole trip, we were able to choose between 3 different type of meal and I can only recommand the sushi!!!! Now we have wonderful pieces we can bring home being proud of them! Thanks a bunch for everything, you guys are the best!
Amazing time assembling a knife with Yoshi-san. He's a wonderful and patient person. I highly recommend doing any workshop here or buying any of their knives. Top quality and very friendly. I will definitely be visiting every time I am back in Japan.
The exterior doesn't look like a museum, this is basically their workshop.
I went with a buddy and we took the 15000 yen knife making experience.
To our surprise, we found out that the elderly gentleman teaching us was the previous CEO!
He was so nice and patient.
We enjoyed the experience.
The G. Sakai Knife Museum is open from 10:00 to 16:00 on weekdays only. The museum is closed on Saturdays, Sundays, and all public holidays. Visitors should plan their trip accordingly, as the museum operates a limited schedule throughout the week.
Admission to the G. Sakai Knife Museum is completely free. Visitors can explore the collection of approximately 1,500 knives from around 30 countries without any entrance fee. However, if you wish to purchase knives from the adjacent shop or participate in knife-making workshops, additional costs will apply.
The museum houses an impressive collection of about 1,500 rare and valuable knives from approximately 30 different countries. The standout exhibit is the Gulliver's Special Knife, a five-meter-long blade that was once registered in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's longest knife. The collection showcases the evolution of knife-making techniques and highlights the exceptional quality of Japanese cutlery craftsmanship.
Yes, the G. Sakai Knife Museum offers hands-on workshops where visitors can create their own unique knife. As a special memento of your accomplishment, you'll receive a personally inscribed certificate from the shop owner himself, written in beautiful calligraphy. This makes for an unforgettable and meaningful souvenir from your visit to Seki City.
The G. Sakai Knife Museum is located at 7-3 Hiraga-cho, Seki City, Gifu Prefecture. You can contact the museum by phone at 0575-24-2132 for inquiries about workshops, special visits, or any other questions. The museum is situated in Seki, known as the "City of Cutlery," which is accessible from major cities in the Gifu region.
