CO Sakai Blades

Video Sakai blades :

This video deals with the hand-crafted Sakai blades industry in Japan.

These blades are handmade by blacksmiths in Sakai.

Tanaka is one of them and he works alongside his son, who is also his apprentice. They are part of a small community of artisans involved in this craft.

Heating and hammering (martèlement) are the main phases of a blade creation process.

This method is not found in any other places in the world ;

and since the blades are handmade, they can’t make a lot.

But they will continue to make what machines cannot manufacture

The tradernomics of Sakai blades began a millennium and a half ago in the Fifth century when the artistry of the Sakai blacksmiths put the city famous.

It was the tobacco trade between Portugal and Japan that forged an industry : the Japan blades were used to cut the tobacco leaves in Portugal

In 2016, the Sakai knife industry earned 12 million $ but only 11000 of that came from online sales

The city has introduced training facilities to maintain production and an English language website to boost foreign sales.

This will serve to increase the number of craftman which is decreasing due to bad working conditions and the lack of success.

But e-commerce could save this industry and is opening perspectives

After watching a video dealing with craftmade industry in Japan, it seems interesting for me to answer this question : What should a craft industry or firm do to persist ?

Around the world, the beauty and cultural wisdom of age-old craftsmanship is on the verge of extinction. Highly-skilled craftsmen and women have become an endangered species as more young people have chosen other career options. This, and the proliferation of mechanised, globalised production has brought many traditional, craft-based businesses to their knees. Those that remain are often small, family-run enterprises, without the financial resources to attract and develop new talent and without the skills to create sustainable business models. How can traditional craftsmanship survive in the modern world?

- I guess one of the ways to survive is to offer something truly unique so that if a customer wants it he really has to go to that company because no one else can recreate it. Unique items are not for everyone, only for those who like and appreciate the uniqueness, quality and originality.

- Artisans struggle most of the time and still need to keep teaching the customer of the value of this pieces, but explaining who is the artisan and how many hours it took to make each piece, I think it could become easier with time and hopefully the customer will stop doubting the costs behind each piece. That is for example what fairtrade chocolate market is doing when they write behind the tablet the process to make this product.

- Another key for traditional craftsmanship

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