Knife Store

One of the crafts that Japan is known for is the making of high-end knives for culinary purposes. (I had seen some of these knives in action at the cutlery shrine on Yoshida Hill.) The most famous knife shop in Kyoto is Aritsugu, near the city center in the Nishiki Market. I visited this shop in June to get a knife as a gift for my mother:

One entire wall of the shop was lined with knives of all sizes ranging from enormous cleavers to tiny paring knives:

These knives all looked razor sharp, but after your knife has been purchased it is taken away by a technician and sharpened even more using grinding machines at the back of the store:

They also offer a complementary service whereby your name (or the name of the person you are giving the knife to) can be engraved on the knife blade in Japanese characters. Here is the knife I purchased waiting to be engraved, with a piece of paper next to it with my mother's name on it. ("Anne" is just two letters in katakana.)