Knifewear

Last Updated June 04, 2021

Kitchen knives should be crazy sharp, stay sharp longer and look cool. Knifewear is Canada's source for handmade Japanese kitchen knives- they also sharpen knives by hand while you wait, offer knife skills classes and sharpening classes.

Knifewear owner, Kevin Kent fell in love with Japanese knives when he was the Sous Chef to Fergus Henderson of St John Restaurant London. A few years later he began selling Japanese knives out of a backpack on the back of his bicycle, while working as a chef at River Café in Calgary, Alberta. He often travels to Japan to learn more about the ancient art of knife-making and on one of his trips, he brought cameras into one of the blacksmith shops he regularly visits. The result is the 'accidental documentary', Springhammer.

SPRINGHAMMER is a documentary about Japanese blacksmiths who dedicate their lives to making culinary knives (it's also the actual mechanical tool used by the blacksmiths). At the end of WWII, Japan was faced with a burdensome repurposing of many industries and with military swords no longer in demand, despite a tradition carried on since the samurai, the industry turned to the kitchen. Craftsmen, now applying ancient trade skills of blade making to cookery, go largely unnoticed by their countrymen and have to find a new place in the world for their craft. Thankfully, the world seems to be starting to listen.

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