Sakai Traditional Crafts Museum and Knife Shop

This place is a must if you want to buy a nice Japanese hand crafted knife. On top of a small exhibit showing how the knives the made, and another showing the different crafts that utilize the locally used tools, there is an amazing knife shop on the first floor exhibiting the knives from a bunch of local smiths. I could have stared at them for hours.

The exhibits are beautiful, and while most of the displays are in Japanese, there is an English language guide and staff to answer questions. The customer service I got from the shop while I purchased my knives was excellent. They were very patient and identified my needs to help me make a good choice. This is a small museum but the showroom for knives is quite sizable. I recommend this to any cooking professional or anyone with a passion for quality cooking tools. Prices for the quality of the tools were very good compared to department stores. I will come again if I ever want another knife though I may never need another after today.

This is THE place to learn about, adore, and buy knives in Japan.
They have a significant and very lovely section of knives from local Sakai knife makers.
Other crafts exhibited are incense, textiles and seaweed. But the knives. They are gorgeous and modestly priced - especially in comparison to what you’ll find at “specialised” knife stores in the major cities of Japan. This place remains competitive on pricing, despite not offering the tax-free shopping incentives that others might.
Tower, Seisuke and others have got nothing on this place.
Customer service is impeccable and delivered with the utmost care and respect. Purchased knives for just over ¥100000 and am looking forward to doing it again when we visit next time.
If you like or love knives - make the detour to this place. You can thank me afterwards.

A small and well organized museum with free entry. The knife shop is amazing and one can select from a variety of different blades, steel, shapes and local makers. I would recommend this place even if you had to travel from Osaka especially for a visit.

A small and well organized museum with free entry. The knife shop can select from a variety of different blades, steel, shapes and local makes.

Absolutely amazing experience and the selection of hand crafted knives they offer is simply astounding. We did not speak any japanese but a wonderful woman named Nakamura spoke fluent English and was incredibly helpful and knowledgeable, taking the time to show us a wide variety of options.

Wanted to get knives, so I found this place. Everything was exceptional and the staff was very friendly. The museum is informative and has great displays. I would highly recommend visiting, and if you're looking to purchase wonderful knives, this is the place.

Great experience and authentic place!
I would definitely recommend this activity for anyone who may be interested in learning more about the japanese knives, how they are made and experience the craftsmanship.

Visited early Dec 2023 and just read many of the previous reviews. It's just as described by others. It's certainly a place worth visiting if you are in anyway interested in knives. I really can't add more that what's already been described, but importantly highlight that it's a great place to purchase from a wide selection of knives which can be tricky if visiting a single manufacturer.

If you are a chef like me, just get here to get some knifes made in Sakai. The city offers a large amount of knifes shops but here you get a very nice varieties of them, from medium to over-the-top quality. The prices are very competitive, and the man upstairs manages to explain in English if you cannot speak Japanese.

For those who have fond appreciations for Japanese handicrafts (especially Sakai Knife), visiting this place while in Osaka is a "MUST"! Although this museum is not big, it detours all the fame-earning traditional arts of Sakai! They occasionally have some live-demonstrations (just check their schedule in-advance)! The museum also has a boutique shop that carries a great variety of knife, knitwear, incense, etc and for those who are looking for unique and neat souvenir, you should be fascinated by this boutique!

Calm atmosphere, great knives, really nice people. A very good selection of knives for sale from different makers.

There is no cost to enter. There are a variety of knives to choose from. They also have a souvenirs shop with other products that are made in Sakai

Great place to visit and see exhibits on knives and tengui & chusen. There are a lot of other items that are Sakai specialties - confections, other food specialties and incense all available at the museum shop

Nice display of knives from Sakai makers. Friendly staffs who try to answer questions from visitors. There is an English speaking staff who help a great deal on picking the right knife.

Sadly, I've learned that many of the makers in this area are selling the same goods that are charmingly presented in their little shops.
This place does a decent job bringing together knives from various makers.
I ended up buying one that's pretty neat.
The prices here go from 10000¥ up to 100000+
You can get reasonably priced products as well as pretty fancy options.

Overall, this might be the best place to shop for a knife here.

Very helpful and knowledgeable staff! Glad I visited here, huge selection of knives available from local knife makers

Gregor was extremely helpful when I needed a saya for my sakimaru by Sakai Takayuki. He went through some effort to find out if the factory stock item would work and this was an excellent fit. I thought it was unlikely that I would find a saya to fit but Gregor was amazing to meet & went beyond duty to help. Thank you Gregor for 6 star service.

Great museum, the whole visit would be approximately 1h and there is no admission fees! The museum is free!
Two shops on 1F, one for knives with a large selection of knives made by local craftsmen, renown and less renown but great quality blades. The shop is maintained by an association and they keep the prices super low for high quality blades.
For all Frenchies coming by, there is a French speaking blacksmith who really knows his stuff. Really interesting to speak with him.
The other shop contains goods from Japan, incense and tea and other foodstuffs.
The 2F is the museum. Multiple languages available and vast amount of different blades.
Would highly recommend.

A very welcoming place, intersting as a museum but it is also a place where they sell handmade knives. A large choice of carbon steel knives (made in Sakai) and also stainless steel ones (those come from Seki town). Museum sells items made by Craftsmen and takes no money. Some of the best quality you can find in Japan for a very reasonable price. Advices and info can be provided in English and French.