About the Blacksmiths: KAI Shun

KAI Shun is a Japanese company with proud traditions. Although they have gradually grown in size, they stick to old principles of good craftsmanship and good steel. The company is owned by Mr. koji Endo, who is based at the head office in Tokyo. KAI gets their knives forged at Mr. ONO who runs the forge in Seki, where their knife forge is located and where they forge the vast majority of their knives. However, Ono's daughter is being pushed into a position to take over the company - as it is often said in Japan that either the son or the daughter does this.

KAI Shun makes knives with a sense of the delta waist. With a good infrastructure in the company, it means that there is often not the long waiting time that we can otherwise experience with many Japanese forges. Koji Endo and the team are also always ready to help us when we come up with all sorts of fun ideas such as to sponsor the Danish participants at the World Cup in Sushi ´14.

We have had a long, good relationship with KAI Shun - all the way back to when Tommy Lund started Foodgear. We still keep in good contact even now, as the company has really started to take off.

KAI Shun is especially also known for making the Michel Bras series. This series is a result of Michel Bras' wife and Mr. Koji Endo's wife, who is French, are good friends, and brought the knife maker and the top chef together - and magic happened. See the series here

Every time we're in Japan, we go out to say hello to the KAI people, and it's always wonderful. They are incredibly friendly, and we have many good memories from various restaurant visits etc. - however, we keep them to ourselves.

See our selection of KAI Shun knives here