Echigo Yoita Uchihamono

Tools for professionals

Yoita's forged blades are made by hi-zukuri, shaping hot steel by hammer, and are known for their cutting edge and ease of use. The range is led by kanna planes and nomi chisels, with axes, adzes, carving chisels and kiridashi knives: tools made by craftsmen for professional carpenters. They are made in Nagaoka in Niigata.

Heat and hammer, again and again

• Steel and soft base iron are drawn out to size, the steel is laid on the iron, heated red and hammered together.
• The blade is annealed to refine the steel, then polished.
• It is quenched and tempered, the steps called the life of a blade. Temperatures range from over 1,000°C down to about 160°C, judged by the smith's eye.
• Finally it is sharpened and fitted into its wooden block or handle.

Swordsmiths of Uesugi Kenshin

In the late 16th century a retainer of the warlord Uesugi Kenshin invited swordsmiths from Kasugayama to Yoita to forge blades. By the mid-Edo period Yoita carpentry tools were known as Dohi or Hyobu chisels. In the Meiji era the swordsmiths turned to making planes, which became known across Japan.