When you open the box of a brand new Minamoto Akitada (源 昭忠) knife by Mizuno Tanrenjo (水野鍛錬所), the first thing to greet you is an unmistakable scent of pine charcoal — an instant 4th dimensional reminder of the prestigious status of this 150-year-old family-run Sakai workshop, which produces honyaki knives with the “Tamamono Tairan” engraving, the Japanese equivalent of a British Royal Warrant.
