MARUNAO began as an engraving business decorating temples and shrines in Sanjo City, Niigata Prefecture.
Today, Marnao produces a wide variety of woodworking products such as chopsticks.
The products, which inherit the traditional techniques of carving and the experience of handling fine wood, are characterized by their high functionality and sophisticated appearance.
We offer products that are beautiful down to the smallest detail, combining the skillful handcraftsmanship we have accumulated over many years with the latest technology.

The Beginning of MARUNAO’s “Chopsticks

The Tsubame-Sanjo area is located slightly northwest of the center of Niigata Prefecture. Yahiko and overlooking the countryside of the Echigo Plain, lies the factory that also serves as the store for MARUNAO (MARUNAO Corporation). In this modern factory surrounded by forests, wooden cutlery, such as octagonal chopsticks and other high-end chopsticks and spoons, are carefully handmade one by one by craftsmen.

Marnao was founded in 1939. The company was founded in 1939 (Showa 14), when the grandfather of the current president, Takahiro Fukuda, started manufacturing carpentry tools in anticipation of postwar housing demand, based on the traditional techniques of temple and shrine and Buddhist altar carving that he had been engaged in until then. The company’s main product was the Sumitsubo Guruma, one of the three sacred tools of carpentry and a necessity for drawing straight lines. Since then, the company has continued to manufacture carpentry tools even though the year has changed to the Heisei era. However, as the times changed, demand for construction work declined and construction methods changed, necessitating a new business development. The third generation of the company, Mr. Fukuda, then, decided to use his craftsmanship in making hand tools to create chopsticks, which he saw as “something close to the human body and close to the delicate senses of those who use them.

Marnao Products Spreading Around the World

Carpenters who continue to use the tools they are accustomed to will never use them again once they are betrayed by them. Knowing this, Marnao wanted to produce only tools that they could be proud of and confident in. After much trial and error, they arrived at the octagonal wooden chopsticks with a tip of only 1.5 mm. When held in the hand, the even-numbered angles that fit the middle finger were the most stable, and the shape was both easy to grasp and pleasant to the palate. The shape of the chopsticks was also found to be suitable for hard woods such as ebony and ebony, which have a high density and do not allow water to penetrate easily. In particular, ebony, which is a representative wood for Marnao products and belongs to the family of Oysteraceae, has excellent water resistance, which is essential for wooden chopsticks that do not have lacquered surfaces, and the wood itself has antibacterial properties that are hygienic and beautiful to look at as well as being extremely durable. However, the use of rare and precious wood naturally led to high selling prices. At the time of the launch, the most expensive pair of Wajima-nuri chopsticks sold in department stores was priced at 5,000 yen, while the most expensive pair of Wajima-nuri-chopsticks was priced at 12,000 yen. Buyers were skeptical, asking why wooden chopsticks were so expensive. Nevertheless, Marnao’s chopsticks received high acclaim each time they were sold in person at major department stores, and consumers who actually enjoy eating with chopsticks began to understand how easy they were to hold and how good they felt in the mouth. In 2004, when torrential rains hit Niigata Prefecture, causing the Igarashi River running through Sanjo City to overflow and forcing the replacement of all machinery and materials at the Marnao factory, Mr. Fukuda, who had a solid response to the chopstick production, decided to change the course of his business plan to focus on chopstick production and persuaded his father, the second generation The following year, Mr. Fukuda assumed the position of representative director. The following year, Mr. Fukuda assumed the position of representative director and began to further develop the chopstick manufacturing business in earnest.

In 2009, the company exhibited its chopsticks alone for the first time at Ambiente in Frankfurt, Germany, the world’s largest international trade fair for consumer goods. The response was not bad. The following year, with an eye on demand for Western-style food, the company added wooden spoons to its lineup, with a base pressure of only 2 mm, which were both pleasant to the palate and beautiful to look at. The spoons and chopsticks caught the eye of Joel Robuchon, a master of French cuisine, who happened to be in town and decided to use the spoons and chopsticks at his Japanese restaurant in Monaco. With this as a foothold, the company next exhibited at Maison & Objet, an international exhibition held in Paris. Once the spoon and other culturally-appropriate products were accepted, chefs from prestigious starred restaurants began to seek out cutlery produced by Marnao’s advanced polishing techniques, and the company’s name recognition in Europe grew rapidly.

Tradition and innovation create MARNAO’s tools.

As Marnao’s products began to gain recognition and many buyers began to visit the factory, the craftsmen began to experience undue stress from having to interrupt their work every time a visitor came to the factory. In order to open the factory to the public at all times, a new building with an open factory and a directly-managed store was established in 2014 at the current location, where consumers can freely observe the manufacturing process. The glass partition between the manufacturing site and the gallery blocks out the presence of visitors, and the dark tone of the space on the visitor’s side makes it difficult for the craftsmen to see the visitors, allowing them to concentrate on their work. The design also allows visitors to feel the passion of the craftsmen for their craftsmanship up close, even through the glass. This structure led to a moderate sense of tension among the craftsmen, which positively contributed to the improvement of their technical skills.

In 2017 (Heisei 29), the company opened a directly managed store in Tokyo. Two years later, he opened his first overseas store in Paris, a long-sought-after first for Niigata Prefecture, as he wanted to “take on the challenge in a place with a different food culture and food history.

Plans are underway to build a new restaurant on the factory grounds to provide a place where visitors can actually eat with Marnao chopsticks and spoons. Marnao’s craftsmanship, which began with traditional carving techniques before World War II, has become the creation of beautiful and ideal tableware with the same high level of craftsmanship as at that time. The main focus should be on food, and the utensils should play a supporting role,” says Fukuda. The utensils should be easy to hold, easy to use, and clean. We have a strong awareness that we are making eating utensils that are touched by hand and put in the mouth,” he says proudly. This confidence and pride in providing the world with products that are truly good will continue to support Marnao’s further development.

Marnao’s craftsmanship began with the traditional techniques of engraving. Today, the company skillfully utilizes the outstanding skills of its elite craftsmen to produce products with high precision and beautiful workmanship. We will continue to produce tools that fuse tradition and innovation based on the trajectory of our predecessors.

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The post Beautiful MARUNAO “MARUNAO” luxury chopsticks created with pride of craftsmanship and fine wood / Sanjo City, Niigata Prefecture first appeared on NIHONMONO.

World-class cutlery by Seki Kenji

Seki City, Gifu Prefecture, is a “cutlery town” where about 300 cutlery-related companies are concentrated.The city is located in the Chuno region in the central part of Gifu Prefecture and is rich in nature, with the Nagara River, Itadori River, and Tsubo River flowing through the city.It is said that two swordsmiths, Motoshige and Kinju, who are considered the founders of Seki smithy, fell in love with this area, which had all the necessary elements for sword making, such as high-quality burnt blade clay, water, and pine charcoal, and moved here and started making Japanese swords.In the Muromachi period (1336-1573), the area produced such master swordsmiths as Magoroku Magoroku, known as “Magoroku of Seki,” and Kanesada Izumi-no-kami, known as “Izumi-no-kami.At its peak, Seki was a major production center with more than 300 swordsmiths, and is known as one of the world’s three major production centers of cutlery along with Solingen in Germany and Sheffield in England.

Seki Kanetsugu Hamono, established over 100 years ago, is a kitchen knife manufacturer founded by a descendant of the swordsmith “Kanetsugu”.There are several “cutlery towns” left in Japan, but Seki is the only production center that has its origins in swordsmithing.We train our knives every day to make them as sharp as Japanese swords,” says Mitsuyasu Kawamura, president of the company.In fact, Japanese food has become popular worldwide in recent years, and Japanese kitchen knives have gained a growing reputation around the world as a result.The reputation of Japanese kitchen knives as the most suitable knives for cutting Japanese foods has spread, and now about 30% of Seki Kanetsugu Knives’ sales come from developed countries overseas, including the United States and Europe.

To become a knife needed by many people

The distinctive feature of Seki Kenji Knives’ kitchen knives is the cross-section called a “clam shell blade.This technique is also used in the 100th anniversary model of “Zuigumo,” a special cutlery knife.According to Kawamura, there are two theories of how a kitchen knife can cut: the “slope theory” and the “sawing theory,” and Seki Kanetsugu Knives produces products that reflect the characteristics of each.The former theory states that a proper amount of warping allows knives to cut objects like Japanese swords, which are warped to produce a sharp edge.The latter theory is that cutting objects is achieved by moving the blade back and forth like a saw.The craftsmen led by Mr. Kawamura pursue the possibilities of knives based on the principles of the Japanese sword and fuse them with modern technology to create knives loved by chefs around the world.

He also says that hints for developing new products can be found in everyday life.I made the ‘Nami’ steak knife because I love steak (laughs).I thought that if I had a knife that could quickly cut through tough sinew and melt-in-your-mouth tender meat, I would be able to enjoy steak without stress.It was a lot of work to develop this knife, but now that we have it, we have raised the level of our technology,” says Kawamura.Kawamura’s words are true, and the “Nami” is extremely popular, with customers waiting several months to obtain a copy.In addition, Kawamura has been developing products that fit modern life, such as a kitchen knife that remains sharp even without sharpening, and a bread knife that can easily cut both soft, high-quality bread and hard bread, in response to the fact that many families do not sharpen their kitchen knives.Although the Japanese sword has been replaced by kitchen knives, craftsmen who can cut with their brains and knives that cut well will always be valued.

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The post Modern cutlery with the sharpness of a Japanese sword produced by one of the world’s three major cutlery centers: Kanetsugu Seki, Mitsuyasu Kawamura / Seki City, Gifu Prefecture, Japan first appeared on NIHONMONO.

This workshop makes Tosa knives, a traditional craft that has been passed down in Kochi for over 400 years.
While 90% of Japanese kitchen knives are made in Osaka and Sakai, 60-70% of these knives are actually made in Kochi.
The workshop is constantly improving its skills to “raise the value of Tosa kitchen knives even higher.

Tosa knives have been handed down for more than 400 years.

The traditional Kochi craft of “Tosa cutlery ” is said to have started when Motochika Chosokabe, the lord of the time, brought back sword smiths when he participated in Hideyoshi Toyotomi’s conquest of Odawara. Thus, the history of Tosa cutlery is long, and it has been carefully passed down through the years to the present day.

Makoto Tadokoro of Tosa Kitchen Knife Studio Tadokoro Cutlery, one of the best sharpeners in Japan, says that he first trained at an “edging shop” in Susaki City.

At first, I just watched and was not allowed to touch the knives. I hated to lose and felt frustrated, so I began to think that I should learn the technique too, and before I knew it, I was hooked. The harder I worked, the more skill I acquired, so it was much more fun than studying or playing.”

Incorporating Sakai’s knife technology into the new Tosa cutlery

After 17 years of training in his hometown, Mr. Tadokoro traveled around the country to various knife production areas in order to further enhance the value of Tosa knives. There, he met his current master in Sakai, Osaka, the home of kitchen knives.

He said, “I wondered what I had done in Kochi, and my previous skills and knowledge were not applicable. If we were to do the same work in Kochi, there would be 10 processes, but at my master’s place, there would be 20 or 30. Anyway, he puts in a lot of time and effort to sharpen the work. I really felt that I had to learn this technique.

The sharpening process is divided into “rough sharpening,” “medium sharpening,” and “finish sharpening. Mr. Tadokoro, who was shocked at Sakai, spends a whole day carefully sharpening his knives in order to breathe new life into Tosa knives.

He grinds by feeling everything: the vibration, the sound, and the color of the sparks transmitted to his hands. As I gain more experience, I acquire a sense of these things.

The sharpness of the knife makes the food tasty.

Tadokoro’s knives, the result of his careful work, are beautiful and have excellent sharpness.

A knife that sharpens well does not put pressure on fish, meat, vegetables, etc., so the food tastes better,” he says.

In fact, if an ingredient is cut with a knife that is difficult to cut, it may taste bitter and cloying, and the flavor may be lost. A sharp knife is not only beautiful to look at, but also has great power to change the taste of food.

It is said that 90% of Japanese kitchen knives in Japan are produced in Sakai, but in fact, 70% of them are made in Kochi.

We cannot continue to be a “subcontractor” to Sakai forever. I think we must somehow raise the value of Tosa kitchen knives.

Mr. Tadokoro continues to pursue sharpness today in order to enhance the value of Tosa kitchen knives.

Japanese kitchen knives are attracting attention not only from Japanese chefs but also from all over the world, so much so that French chefs sometimes come all the way to Japan to buy kitchen knives. If you use a good kitchen knife, your food will taste better. Please try a good knife and see how sharp it is.

You can find more information here.

The post Traditional kitchen knife sharpening makes cooking more delicious Tosa Kitchen Knife Workshop Tadokoro Cutlery Makoto Tadokoro / Tosa City, Kochi Prefecture first appeared on NIHONMONO.

“Sakai” where metal casters live and work

Sakai is a town where the ancient Emperor Nintoku rests in the giant tomb. It is believed that the tomb was built around the first half of the 5th century, but with such a large construction, a good quantity of tools must have been required. As evidence that such tools existed in the past, many old plows and hoes have been uncovered from the soil of Sakai. Sakai was an area where metal casting and forged metal craftsmen gathered to live and work from long ago.

Around the year 1570, knives to chop tobacco leaves were mostly made in Sakai. Later in the Edo period, tobacco became one of the listed items in the government monopoly system and the cutlery made in Sakai, as represented by tobacco knives, became famous across the country.

Experiencing the traditional method of smith forging

A traditional artisan, Tadashi Enami, has been making cutlery with the traditional method that has been passed down for 600 years. He still manufactures cutlery products with traditional fire-polishing. Fire-polishing is a method of forging hot iron with a hammer. Yes, it is very close to the typical blacksmith image of hammering red-hot iron with sparks coming out of it.

Nakata was given the chance to observe and actually try this fire-polishing method. Unlike pouring melted iron into a mold, this method requires time and labor. You have to hammer each stroke with care and attention to make a good piece of cutlery.

After guns were introduced to Japan, many craftsmen in Sakai made use of their skills to make parts for guns. The town of Sakai has observed different times of history, but it remains to cherish and pass on the traditional method even to this day.

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