The complete encyclopedia of Japanese hand tools, blacksmith lineages, and metallurgy. Where the forge meets timber.
Japanese hand tools — whether the laser-sharp Shirogami steel of an Oire Nomi chisel, or the impossibly thin shavings of a Hira Kanna plane — represent the apex of metallurgical science and artisanal tradition. These instruments were shaped by swordsmiths who turned their art to the service of architecture.
This reference traces the steels, the tools, and the lineages that have defined Japan's timber architecture for centuries.
“The edge is not cut — it is revealed.”— Traditional blacksmith proverb