Hinoura Hamono is a knife-making workshop by Tsukasa Hinoura (日野浦 司) & Mutsumi Hinoura (日野浦 睦), the father and son team. Knifemaking by Hinoura can be traced back to the Meiji era when first-generation Hinoura, Shintaro Hinoura founded the knife forging business. Having moved to Sanjo city in Niigata in 1912, the Hinouras have been making knives there for over 100 years. Tsukasa Hinoura is a very discerning and low profile Echigo bladesmith, who is highly respected by top tier knife artisans in Japan.
As the 3rd generation of the knife forging family, Mr Tsukasa Hinoura almost ended the family tradition when he was a rebellious young man refusing to learn knife forging. However, when his father, Yujiro the 2nd generation Hinoura, fell ill and couldn't forge knives anymore, Tsukasa changed his mind and became a bladesmith. And in the less than ten years, he excelled in every level and his works are greatly admired by artisans in Sanjo, not only because of the beauty of his knives, but also his expression of that artisan soul.
His son, Mutsumi Hinoura entered the lifelong career of bladesmithing in 2001. The talent of knife forging has not escaped the family - in merely 8 years Mutsumi won the highest award for his work at the Seki Outdoor Knife Show. Today the father and son team has been making knives that are highly valued in both Japan and overseas.
View our Hinoura collection