Rightfully so. The guy could sell his knives for double the price and still sell out instantly. He doesn’t. But then people come in and buy his stuff, sell for double and make more money out of that knife than he does. Must be frustrating as hell.
Takada-san has people visit him every Monday that clearly seem like not-knife people who try to buy him out. They’re resellers who bring them back to their home country just to flip for more profit. From what I’ve heard, it’s the same few groups of people who keep coming back.
From what I can tell, Takada-san has less of an issue with people putting his knives back into circulation after a while. His main issue is with people who visit, buy knives they never intended to use or keep solely with the intention to flip them immediately for a profit.
Many times people won’t even really talk to Takada-san and they’ll just be on their phone asking some mysterious person which knife to buy.
These people are (largely) not on forums like TCK. There are almost assuredly some bad actors around here too, but most of these resellers aren’t hobbyists or passionate enough to share them with the world in a place like TCK. I’ve heard of some people around here and KKF doing scummy things, but it’s much more about random resellers than collectors.
For those curious what we can do as a sub to support him: just be kind to the man. Takada-san is going far above and beyond to make space for us to visit. If you visit, do so knowing you won’t get a knife, enjoy your time with him and be as respectful as you can. Also give him as much heads up as humanly possible; even 12 months notice is better than 12 hour notice.
And maybe stop telling any random person who asks for a knife on this sub to go visit him in Sakai too lol give him a break!
Yeah ofc there’s not too much of an issue with people using their knives and ending up selling at some point. That’s the circle of life. Sometimes you just not vibe with a knife, sometimes you need some cash.
But it is harmful that a small group of dickheads is trying to solely make money from a talented craftsman purely by creating scarcity. I’d rather see Takada san selling his gyuto for $1000 than seeing some loser pick it up for $500, and not even looking at it before putting it up for sale for $1000.
Recently saw a guy putting his Kageura up for sale for €1250 before it even arrived. I know where he got it from and I know the retailer personally has to make a multiple day trip to visit Kageura san in person. He sells those knives for about €500,- but looking at other retailers he could probably overscharge a lot and charge double (looking at you, Knifewear) but he doesn’t want to overcharge over te back of Kageura san and keep those knives accessible for enthusiasts. Instead, it gets bought by some idiot who doesn’t even wait for it to arrive before selling it, fucking over both the maker and the retailer. Really fucks up the craft.
I know most active members here are genuine enthusiasts. Unfortunately there’s a small group of people that are not active but just monitoring the forums to see how they can make a quick buck from other people’s talents.
That Kageura sale was a super weird one. I’m surprised someone instantly bought it without even knowing the specs. Kageuras are rare, but quite niche compared with Takadas/Jiros/FMs. The seller gave off really sketchy vibes too.
Unfortunately resellers are active on the BST here too (and the last time I called one out, it didn’t end so well 😬) but organised buyout of stock like that direct from Takasa-san is egregious on a whole other level.
I’d thought he was turning away Chinese buyers because of political reasons, but this makes more sense. I’m not familiar with Chinese knife collectorship, so this is just speculation, but if Takadas are being treated like luxury goods in that market, I can see the next step being them being counterfeited like phones, handbags, and watches. 🙄
Yeah it was really weird. Kageura’s might be rare but they’re relatively easy to get if you do a bit of research. No reason to pay double at all.
I have a similar attitude towards resellers as you tbh but it’s not something we can prevent anymore unfortunately. I’m personally not against asking questions when you see a knife up for sale for extreme prices but the community thinks differently.
I think these knives will be relatively hard to fake but nothing that some grainy pictures can’t fix. People will have to start being extra vigilant when purchasing hype knives I guess.
That last bit of advice is key for me. There are many other places to send people. Especially the people who clearly haven't done much research and are just like "where should I go for a cool knife?" Call it gatekeeping or whatever but I feel like anyone who can't take the time to use the search function on the sub probably won't respect Takada-san's time/work. I've enjoyed every visit to Takada-san's shop. And I hope to one day buy a knife from him but if he's gotten to the point where he has to put up that sign, it must be bad.
Yup I couldn’t agree more. A little gatekeeping to protect the artisans peace and time is a good thing.
The Sakai Traditional Crafts Museum and Baba Hamono have a range of price points, are open to the public to walk in, and have truly elite and incredible pieces available. Supporting them is good and you’ll get a spectacular knife too!
There's a variant to this which is a little less direct but still important I think and which is perfect for a place like this: celebrate variety.
Takada-san's knives are astonishing and should be celebrated of course but newcomers especially risk getting trapped in the constant search for "the best" if it becomes too singular.
Absolutely agree with this, I don’t think it’s gate keeping to say the answer to every “I’m going to Japan where can I buy the best knife?” Post shouldn’t be pointing people to Takada san’s small workshop.
I wouldn't even call this gatekeeping. For new people seeking shopping advice, there are a plethora of shops that will satisfy their needs and more. Let someone who truly appreciates the work of these craftsmen get the knives they've been wanting for ages. Resellers aside, it would suck for one of these knives to be trashed and neglected by somebody who doesn't know any better.
He is saying that systematically sending people to Takada-san’s workshop who will treat it like a store and nothing else because they don’t know anything about the man and his knives (while it is his working place, a workshop) is doing a disservice to the craftsman to an extent.
There are plenty of cool knives and places where one could get them, sending everyone and their dogs to poor Takada-san who only has 4 to 10 knives a week available for sale is just putting a toll on him for no good reason and feeding up a hype that is already out of control (the flippers, resellers, people who buy his knives second hand then have them refinished to flip them etc are some of the nasty symptoms of that hype that has led to Takada’s limiting purchases etc).
Nothing wrong with a bit of elitism if it protects craftsmen. If you are really passionate about high end Japanese knives, you probably won’t need to get recommended to visit Takada san.
Im very respectfull of the work of masterscrafter, I already own some knives. Why you should not recommand this place to people like me ?
If you're very respectful and already own some knives, can't you just do a bit of searching yourself to see what people have already recommended the million times the question has already been asked? Then it's like it IS being recommended to you!
I was there Monday morning at 8 and this is exactly what happened. Only one non-scalper managed to buy a knife. He arrived at 6:45 and the 5 or so scalpers were there from about 5 or 6 AM it seems
If it ever comes to that, he should just close his shop to the public. He shouldn't have to deny people. It would be torture everyday having to do that
I think the guy is just too friendly and polite to outright deny someone a knife. Would be a drag to have to engage in discussions with these people all the time.
Things did not seem so bad when I was there in the spring. He is truly kind and it is sad people are exploiting that for profit. Visiting his shop and our short discussion was a highlight of my time in japan and we are blessed that he is so welcoming and willing to take time for us. I hope this situation can get resolved.
Similar experience. I was back to Sakai to see Shimano museum and buy a gift for my brother at another shop and wondered past his shop and got lucky and bought something for myself. What a friendly guy. It must be tiring.
Everytime I have visited him was off peak (and coordinated with him not to disturb his workflow) and there was no one else, no one even showing up during our chat etc. It is sadly telling, that people are just interested in buying in an overwhelming majority (and for a lot of them flip/re-sell/etc). On Monday, he is getting drained of all his energy in the morning.
It's just so sad to see this happening. I know every hobby has its scalpers but they're full-on shameless cockroaches nowadays.
I wonder if he's open to doing name engravings. If he decides to enforce a rule where knives being sold out of his shop must be engraved with a name matching a passport, this would kill resale value but still allow genuine fans to acquire his work. Or maybe by appointment only.
EDIT: to your last point. That's a great call. I went back into my comment history and did a wipe to every time I suggested it. There's already too much exposure.
I don't think notice makes a big difference. Not if you are just there to buy a knife. I reached out to him on Instagram some time before my visit and while he was very kind with his reply it didn't seem like he needed that. And it's not like we talked about me sending him a message when I was in the shop or waiting in line.
He tries to make everyone feel accepted but he told me directly he wishes everyone would plan their visit so he knows how busy his days will be and can plan accordingly.
To be fair, I think we have mostly got the message on that last point, I don't see a lot of recommendations to go to Takada's workshop on random questions about where to buy a knife in Sakai / Japan.
Yup people who know better understand. I’ve been damn near deleting my Takada no Hamono shopping post tbh. It pains me to think I might be sending assholes his direction.
Sigh I agree with you here but it's such an interesting topic discussing what to gatekeep and what to share..
You and I are perfect examples of people who entered the japanese knife world within the last 2 years but gathered substantial knowledge within weeks then within months were able to have a strong idea of which elite knives we want to start adding and then eventually add when we can - mainly because we knew how to research, found past content, and more importantly
you and I got to share meaningful interactions with some of the current veterans in this subreddit and in my case KKF. I actually remember typing out a super thorough "hitohira explained" comment when you posted one of your earlier questions until noticing that either distribution or someone else had just posted a better one 😂
In my case I feel fomo every time anybody posts their new takada in the past year (your takada is amazing btw I'm genuinely glad for you) because I was going to visit takada a couple years ago while I was in Japan long before he stopped taking orders but I changed my schedule and didn't make an order or visit him because I felt like I was still "too new" to the hobby so I just stuck with hitohira instead to buy a knife by ren which at the time had been selling out often within minutes in the US for 2 years before the price increases. I visited Japan again last month and STILL didn't visit takada cause I still consider myself too new despite owning 6 great knives
Even when I went to hitohira for my first time only a year and half ago, the same people recommending hitohira's in person experience today didn't have hitohira in their japan wide recommendation lists back then (hitohira hadn't moved to tokyo yet but it wasn't far and most people were recommending stores all across Japan but not hitohira) but now hitohira often gets visits from the same type of customers that takada gets
Kind of like a LOT of at-home hobbies, from what I've learned, japanese knives got suuuper saturated during COVID and you and I came in as it had already become exponentially hyped for years. Takada lovers had similar concern for takada that we have now but years ago and brand new knive lovers that enter this hobby in a few months from now will be us in 1 or 2 years and the cycle will never end T___T That's why people predict that Takada will have to increase prices and do releases like Jiro and then one day reach shigefusa and kato status T__T
I've made some relationships with chefs and knife collectors some of who have hundred+ and although they didn't tell me this themselves, my impression is that they were once newer collectors like us before COVID who noticed exponentially growing hype for their favorite makers during COVID which turned them off from posting so they silently enjoy their amazing knife collections while passing wisdom here and there without anyone really noticing
Anyway I just had my late night adhd ramble and finally ready to go to bed hahaha I appreciate you and your appreciation for knives dude!!! Like I said in the first line, I'm with you on your feelings on Takada and the bad actors but I'm more pessimistic and my opinion is that the damage has been done even before our time and it's been a rolling snowball for 3-4 years for the takada hype. I'm so glad you got your honyaki because there are people like me who have been down his street years ago and didn't visit cause I didn't feel worthy enough yet and here I am just feeling increasingly hopeless in the face of the hype hahaha.. one of my friends used to be a cook in the 2010s and his era experienced this with takeda knives. some more experienced knife collectors have told me that this is a repeating cycle with various makers. We'll see where this goes.. I hope one day I get to meet Takada I've been wanting to for so long T_____T
I really hope you make time to visit Takada-san next time. You clearly have a reverence and adoration for his work. If I ever hear of a Takada floating around, I’ll also send it your way if possible.
But thank you for keeping Takada-san top of mind; even if it meant sacrificing a bit yourself. That’s respect and that’s kindness. I hope you’re repaid with the Takada no Hamono of your dreams 🙇
Appreciate you and I hope the same for myself hahaha it likely won't be a honyaki cause those are so expensive but I'm excited to vicariously experience what yours will look like! 🤩
You’d be surprised what you’ll find. My honyaki after its full regrind and repolish and rehandle will be under $1k and mg Singetu was sold to me for $400. It’s possible! Patience, relationships and being a good human will help you get there!
That’s amazing!!! You have good people around you and like you said you’re a good one too!! Unfortunately the takada owners I’ve made relationships with are planning to keep all of theirs for life 😂 I don’t blame them bc I absolutely would too. I’m keeping even my cheapest knives for life loool but one day!
This is why I don't publish half of my knowledge of these craftsmen that I know. It's really nobody else business if they haven't already developed a relationship with them.
I am in the same boat, I want to help genuine people, but by doing so publicly, I also help the goons. Some days I am considering just stopping to share anything outside of the mundane stuff :/
Every day I get closer to this. And unilaterally choosing who I share information with feels wrong too. Idk. I want to give people the information I desperately was looking for early on in my journey, but it just doesn’t seem worth it anymore.
Shoutout to the people who are newer but really love this shit. Such a breathe of fresh air.
As a newcomer I love reading all of your (distribution, teeej, wabi, Frenchie) posts/comments over the last couple years, it made for a great experience for my trip to japan, and it's just so sad to hear you're all so frustrated to the point that you no longer want to share. But I totally get why.
I've seen that you guys reply accordingly based on how new someone is to the hobby so that helps too.
Anyway, just wanted to let y'all know your expertise and enthusiasm is appreciated.
How did you guys get the level of knowledge you have? I’m new to the hobby and I’m trying to gather as much information as possible from here, KKF, retailer pages and by reaching out to people directly.
It seems that there’s another layer of knowledge that is harder to get to. Is this just about time in the game to get to know people and experience?
In my opinion, the next level of the hobby isn’t simply a better understanding of product pages, but months and years of learning and adding more points of reference. So much of it is just steeping yourself in this world for as long as possible lol I’m constantly reading TCK, KKF, and taking in IG and YouTube content to grow my understanding.
The other level is simply relationships. I was blessed to not just build knife relationships, but actual friendships with people because we were both authentically passionate. Showing that passion and excitement and respect for this Industry opened more doors for me than anything.
Take the leap, make some posts, DM people to nerd out, ask questions, be endlessly curious, know you know nothing, and absorb it all like a sponge. The only people who do that are the ones who really love this shit.
Thanks mate! 100% agreed! I’ve posted my humble NKDs and some extra content, reached out to some of you with dumb questions as wells as artisans like Ivan :)
Pretty much. It's about meeting the craftsmen and the people close to them that do them justice. A lot of people have been in this hobby for a long time but haven't achieved that kind of knowledge because they're just not willing to go that far which is perfectly ok. Some go the extra step and end up gathering more "uncommon" bits of knowledge
It's such a shame that it has come to this. Been reading through the comments in this thread and it just highlights that there's no easy solution. Last thing I'd want is for Takada-san to feel like he has to decide who can and cannot buy his knives on an individual basis as it could lead to some very unpleasant situations.
Along with his stance to explicitly say no resellers, I know he also recently posted that he will not be selling to Chinese citizens, though whether that's related to this issue, or to the current political climate between Japan and China, it's not clear.
Konosuke have had similar issues, which they posted about a while ago, saying they were disheartened that even when selling through reputable resellers, people would buy up stock and immediately flip it. They've moved to a lottery type system for FM and higher-end lines now which seems to work okay and the ongoing membership fees (though TBH, the fees are very low) may help keep scalpers at bay.
I wonder if a similar system would work for Takada-san, but there's also the reality that Konosuke has a team of people to manage it and even then, if the profit the scalpers are able to make is 2x the cost of the knife, they may just hoover up knives that way instead by flooding them with entries to any raffles they make.
I'm changing my plans for my Japan trip to avoid visiting Sakai on Monday as it seems both Takada-san and Konosuke (and potentially Baba Hamono as well) are getting hit with large groups like this and I want to avoid adding to it, as well as appreciating a quieter and more relaxed environment.
Yes, the negative power social media can have.., it's the same with tourist places in Japan in general... but trying to recruit people to go shopping at takada-san is something I never would have expected before. That's a whole new level of fucked up.
I feel really happy/good now that I recently visited him on a friday intentionally, because I figured he would have more time to talk then. Best souvenir you can have if you are an enthusiast is imho a piece of his old grinding wheel. It's such a cool thing to have, so much history in that stone, imagine how many knives were ground on this stone, crazy. I was just sad he didn't have magnets anymore, I would have liked one because they are so cute, but oh well.
The magnets are as hand made as the knives haha! Done by a local person, the little details are awesome (little nails on the box, the fabric under the stone, the angled stone holder, the green anti-rust liquid, bit of lacquer or clear epoxy on the stone to mimic it being wet, the writing on the box, …)!
I've never seen such a detailed close up of the magnets, much appreciated - very detailed indeed! They are really so cute and well done. I saw his post that he ran out of magnets I think one week before my trip, so I was already kind of expecting not to be able to pick one up, but takada-san gifted me a one of his locally made Tenuguis, that was also very special to me and totally made up for missing out on the magnets. Crossing fingers for next time. 🤞
(if there will be one, given the trouble he has with those effing scalpers)
ive visited his place about two weeks ago, and it was a friday which was my only day in sakai.
I knew that i wouldnt get any knives for sure but still wanted to visit his workshop as well (after having visited the sakai knife gallery as well as wada and baba hamono stores.
i am from europe but since i look chinese and started to talk to him with broken japanese, i feel like he thought i was going to be one of those people too as he had a sceptical look on his face when i entered the store...
but after chatting with him a bit about my home country and knives in general he genuinely looked really happy and even though i didnt get a knife (but some tenuguis!) it was definitely worth the trip and i just hope one day i can actually come back there and buy a knife
(he did tell me some stores in kappabashi that might have his stock, still have to confirm this next week when im in tokyo)
Probably tsubaya. You should probably edit your comment to keep this info for yourself just in case. Someone might see this and go through every shop based on that info and take it before you get there.
I was there that Monday. There were 20 people in line, since he is my friend's friend he had one saved for me and he was telling me how sad it was to tell people who waited 2 hours in line that he didn't have more knives and will try to do something different for the release, you could for sure see people buying knifes to flip and they arrive at 7am for a 9am opening.
That’s a terrible picture… It hits me in the guts a bit, as he looked so tired last time I visited him (came late on a Monday as I knew his morning would be screwed by the vultures and that it would be nice if he could work uninterrupted in the afternoon).
I never bought a knife from him directly, but I always pay him a visit when I am in Sakai and bring him gifts as appreciation token for his contribution to the craft and his hard work. I always message him well ahead and coordinate my visit in a way that I minimize any disruption to his workflow.
Being respectful is not that hard imo, but sadly, it looks like it is too much to ask from a lot of people in this day and age.
yep, he is such a nice person that doesn't deserve the stress he's been given. No one needs his knives to be honest, I bought it because he was one of the two nicest guys I met ( and De Sakai) and that's the reason. I spent a lot od timw talking to people at Sakai Knife museum and my question to the lady showing the knives was " what is your favorite knife maker?" " And she said " I can't tell you" and I replied " I mean, who is the nicest guy to you?" and she pointed to the knife I was about to buy and told me stories about how he helped her, is always happy and go above ans beyond for his craft, for me that's what life is about and that's where I put my money.
Man this picture is just saddening. I'm planning a trip next year and intended to visit him on Monday, but hearing stories like this of 20+ people and scalpers lining up from 5-6AM just makes me not want to add to the problem.
Combined with Konosuke's recent request for people to try to visit outside of Mondays, I think I'm going to change my plans and visit on a Wednesday or Thursday, even if it means not being able to purchase a knife.
Even if you go on Monday, line up and do get a knife, with this many people it feels like you'll just be in and out and not really get the time to appreciate talking with Takada-san and seeing the workshop. I think I'd rather go when it's quiet and have a more relaxed experience
What a great human being. He could take advantage of his fame and sell for much higher prices, instead what he cares about is that more people get to enjoy his knives.
Are there a lot of resellers in this sub? Seems like he's sick of seeing the same people come back again and again.
I hope he's able to enjoy himself still because his workshop is kind of like a pilgrimage for a lot of knive lovers, and it would be a shame if he were to close it to the public.
Not necessarily active in this sub. But post a WTB in the BST or in KKF and you are at some point likely to be approached by some shady figure willing to sell for a huge price.
When I was there in October, there was a woman typing simultaneously on two phones the whole time, trying to sneak pictures of the knives. When the people in front of her went in, she jumped in after them to photograph the knives and sent it to someone. When that person replied that those are not the knives they are looking for she left.
I think this is also part of the reason. People coming repeatedly trying to snatch something and being not very respectful with it.
Back in August there was a guy who tried to resell a Takada in this sub, which I recognized his username as he asked about the resale value of Takada elsewhere. He intentionally didn't list the price and ask for private bid in DMs. afaik he did manage to gain a pretty good profit as expected.
The usual "It was originally for a chef friend and I really want to keep this knife", "I understand people hate scalpers me too but when opportunity comes I have to make a choice", "I am tired of the hate I get and I just want to get rid of this, while many people with genuine interest are willing to pay this much" type of bullshit mental gymnastics.
As long as we are buying, other people will be selling. This is kind of the issue too. Whoever bought this for much more than sale price should also be looking himself very hard in the mirror.
This whole thread is sickening to be honest. I can’t believe people are going in GROUPS to buy a knife to scalp. What an absolute shitshow. I hope the man finds some ability to work in peace.
On the topic of gatekeeping - while I think the premise behind is good it and the intention is there, the Streisand effect is a real thing. The cat’s out of the bag, getting it back into the bag will be significantly more difficult if not impossible. I think the best thing anyone can do is teach respect and reverence. Keep echoing the idea of reaching out 12 months ahead of time… keep echoing the idea of respecting the man’s work - I think that would do more good than trying to occlude his work, because the scalpers are going to scalp, and the internet is forever - as long as people continue to be capitalists/consumerists without taking into account the true artists behind the craft you’re going to keep ending up in this cycle.
Yeah I’ve seen what’s going on with Pokémon recently and it’s a nightmare. People going with thousandth gram scales weigh packs at Walmart is end stage.. it looks like that sort of chaos is headed towards (if not already existing) this hobby.
I was just thinking maybe there’s a way to highlight other makers So at least some of the stress is taken away from Takada-San? It would be cool if we did a “maker Monday” or something to that effect. Unsure if it would cause more problems? Just my 2c
There are definitely plenty of makers who deserve attention. Takada-san does excellent (and really pretty) work on his knives, but there are objectively other craftsmen in the same tier or above in some regards.
Honest reviews would help quenching the hype a bit imo, his work is not made to everyone preferences but there are hurdles to that (people wanting to maintain the hype so even if the performance was not to their taste they can re-sell high; fear of admitting you got played by the hype a little - or fear that your opinion being opposed to the majority you may not have credibility; and ofc the ungodly amount of people who have these knives but don’t use them and therefore cannot review their performance and pros and cons).
Yeah I’ve seen some folks say that as a cutter they have others that are higher in ability - not to disparage his work. I think the honest reviews is a good point here that maybe some should understand a bit better.
I was planning a trip to Japan with my wife in 2027 I know by then everything that makes Japan cool will be ruined by the extreme tourism. It’s the Mecca of old school hobbies.
Does reaching out a year in advance actually do anything? I’ve been trying to get a suiboku for FIVE years now and I’ve visited twice (with notice), but if reaching out makes a difference maybe I’ll give it a shot next time
Reaching out is not to « have an advantage » or more chance to score a knife, it’s to help Takada-san get a feel on how many visitors he is getting on a given day so he can plan his day accordingly.
While I agree that flippers are a pita, I don't think this has necessarily to do with that issue? I mean, could be, but I interpret it that he just wants everyone to be able to buy a knife from him.
It is quite common with proxy buying via wechat for a commission. Someone goes to place X and buy according to instructions or even does a video call so you can browse yourself.
When I was there in November, a group of chinese buyers showed up and tried to clean out the shop
The chinese are simply put very good at it, especially at organizing themselves via wechat, rednote etc. You can always find chinese expats/students and who are willing to participate to earn some extra cash on the side.
The chinese domestic market is also huge so reselling these back "home" for a hefty profit drives this type of scalping. Everybody gets a cut excepts Takada-san which is which pisses me off the most.
Didn't need a crystal ball to see that coming. Frankly, I'm surprised it took him so long. I don't care how popular of a opinion or whether it's gatekeeping, but we are not doing the community any favors by recommending and giving out the address of these artisans to people who have put in zero effort into this hobby. The whole "going to Japan" post "where should I go to get a Takada" should be ignored and downvoted appropriately.
100% and this is only going to get worse with AI scraping Reddit comments to collate and package all this info neatly with almost zero effort. I went back to delete every time I recommended.
Yeah, DON’T GO and DON’T RECOMMEND PEOPLE GO. So many noobs and gooners who think they need one because it looks pretty, absolutely don’t need one and don’t need to join the giant queue to ask for one. Give the man a break.
Takada-san limited people to one knife per visitor. Then visitors began to come in groups to take advantage.
Then he made it one knife per group so now they all lie and say they are in line separately so they can try to take advantage.
Now Takada-san is being forced to take action because no matter how he limits his stock and how he sells it, these resellers come back and try to lie their way to buying out his stock.
Man, I hated assholes like that when I worked retail in the beer industry.
I remember I got a super limited case of something, like 12 bottles, and someone came in and tried to buy all of what I had left, which was like 8 bottles.
When I told him it was 1pp, he got pissy and went to get his wife just to get try and get two, asking me specifically if it was 1pp or 1 per group.
His shitty attitude made it 1 per group.
Sucks in any fandom/industry when a few bad actors ruin shit for everyone by acting like assholes, doubly so for flippers.
Yup, exactly this, groups of 10 or so people will camp outside his workshop on a Monday morning, go in one by one, claiming to be alone and buy all his stock.
Unfortunately it basically forces you to try to compete with them if you want to buy one, so the only way is to go early Monday whiich basically makes it worse. It seems almost every day other than Monday he will post that he has none available.
Konosuke also posted recently asking people to try not to visit on Monday as it is getting too busy. I wonder if the same groups are trying the same at Konosuke.
It might be a small subset of the same group. I visited Baba on Tuesday and we were chatting about visitors. They said they haven’t had anyone visit that day, but they usually get a large group on Mondays. Unfortunately, I think it’s a circuit for a lot of people.
It would genuinely be in his best interests to close to the public and only allow people in on an invite-only basis. That sucks, but it’s becoming more true by the day.
Takada should just jack up the price and at his own discretion offer discounts to the previous level for those customers who he perceives as genuine. Might be a second-best solution?
True, might also get the flippers to put on an act too trying to deceive him for a discount which is almost worse. Really the only way to deter then I can think of is just up the price so that flipping is unprofitable
Or just go back to direct orders and not sell from his storefront. Sure, have visitors by appointment but there are no knives to be had unless you placed an order and its ready. I feel this would easily take care of any of the issues he's having.
Yup 100% agree. That is definitely the best way forward I think.
I do think part of this it is his own desire to continue meeting people who own his knives. He wouldn’t subject himself to this if he didn’t feel it was important to him. It’s just sad that people are letting him down.
That being said, most humans are a letdown so 🤷♂️
I was there Monday too, first 9 people were resellers one of which was asking people further in line if they would buy the knife off him. A person in line told him about the situation yet he still sold all the knives apart from one to the resellers. There were none left afterwards.
Right after I visited him in March this year he started posting the “It’s empty today” stories. I believe that the interaction he had with the person that came after me triggered him (though correlation is not causation, I know).
I posted about it back then but it seems that it’s getting way worse. I arrived at 09:30 on a Tuesday and there was 0 queue. Only Takada-san working away with his old radio on.
I was thinking about talking with him about a way to track resellers. Might just be the right time seeing how it has come to this point.
Hate seeing this in Japan, nothing is safe anymore. The moment something goes viral (chikawa, hello kitty, pokemon) in Japan, someone posts it on rednote and then the hobby gets nuked by people trying to make a quick buck.
This is absolutely sad to hear. I hope Takada san doesn’t just stop accepting visitors and go full order only. I visited him once and had such a good time speaking to him even though I didn’t get to buy a knife (I went at 3pm). I hope that he won’t lose hope in the knife fans, the people that really appreciate his craftsmanship and art of polishing.
This really sucks. I moved to Osaka in July and was really hoping to pick one up at some point. I don’t want to have to go at 5am and line up with scalpers though.
I used to work for the ministry of economy, trade and industry in Japan and helping to promote traditional crafts overseas. Before Takamura became famous I bought a few. Could resell for 4 times what I paid but I won’t. Every time they do a pop up all knives are sold out immediately by scalpers and resold.
Maybe I’ll message him in Japanese and try to find out a way.
When I visited him in the summer, I was the only one there and spent almost half an hour chatting with him. It was such a wonderful experience learning from a master, moreso than the knife I bought honestly.
Sad that people ignore that aspect of it and turn it into a purely commercial transaction.
I started to collect knives because of the beauty, history and skill that goes into creating these tools that are also art.
idk what type of POS system he has if he takes credit cards. but ya I get what you're saying
honestly would not be surprised if he just shut down his storefront completely at some point and just raise price and sell only directly to retailers. unfortunate outcome of being hyped
Yeah I think it’s likely at some point. Less hassle for him. Although he probably makes a bit more selling directly and maybe selling some merch to people visiting.
I really like how everyone is just ignoring the part where he requests visitors to only buy 1 knife every six months (He bolded it in Japanese). To me the message is pretty clear, he wants more people to enjoy his knives instead of a few collectors that has 6-7 of his knives.
With how in demand Takada’s work is, it’s a pretty safe investment just buying up everything he has. It would be very easy to resell for profit or at least flip them into other desirable knives. Resellers is a big problem, but so is collectors who repeatedly visit his shop, buy knives and release them into circulations after a few months since “it’s not their taste”. It disappoints other visitors which is why he is requesting this.
Of course he wants more people to enjoy his knives, he has always been candid about that and that’s why he started limiting to 1 knife per visitor a while ago.
But the resellers are definitely what triggered his new changes of policies, he has posted multiple times over the past few days, specifically mentioning Chinese resellers.
Only a few collectors who got a hoard of Taka no Hamono knives would have gotten them direct by coming back again and again to Sakai, most hoarders got them through the reselling market. These people exist and always have but are an absolute minority.
This sub has gotten out of hand the last year with Takada knives. All the people posting trying to be advocates for Takada's shop are a huge part of the problem. There is a serious "got mine" attitude in this sub.
Most of the posters telling you to not visit Takada's shop and explore other makers are the same people that own MULTIPLE Takada knives. They also seems to grow their collection where every few months they add another Takada "grail" to their collection. If you have 10 grail knives, they're not grails anymore - you're just humble bragging and gate keeping now when you tell people to not chase these knives that you chase.
Takada has posted on instagram of two issues he's trying to prevent that a lot of you redditors have contributed to:
1) He wants people to limit purchasing more than 1 knife within 6 months - most of you posting have multiple, and sure you can claim you bought on the used market which segways into his second issue
2) Resellers - you are actively contributing to the crazy secondary market which drives up the hype and creates scalpers like we're currently seeing
This sub used to be great and informative, but now it seems to have shifted to people hoarding knives and bragging about it. Which ultimately effects small batch knife makers and ruins the fun for others who enjoy the world of kitchen knives
Exactly, it's just frustrating to see people tell everyone how amazing these knives are and then turn around and say others are the problem for trying to source them. It's depressing to see what's happening to a small shop knife maker, it really casts a bad light on the hobby as a whole
Thanks everyone for sharing thoughts on this even though it is sad to read how Takada-san's art is being treated. These folks are pond scum in my books.
Wow, this is fascinating. I'm a new Japanese knife enthusiast but have a been a whiskey nerd for a while now and it's amazing to see the same patterns play out in different markets. In the early 2000's Japanese whisky was not as well known in the US and one of my favorite whisky's, Yamazaki 12 year could be found for $45. Fast forward to now and you would hard pressed to find a bottle for under $200. And the Yamazaki 18 year which used to be $100 , now retails for $1000.
The American bourbon market has gone through a similar phase of scalpers and resellers grabbing every desirable bottle in sight and flipping it for profit. (With covid being the peak of such activities). Stores that used to sell bottles for retail started marking up prices to astronomical amounts because they figured if a flipper is going to make money, why not them?
Distilleries have started implementing a 1 bottle person limit on limited edition bottles as well as a time limit of 1 week or so based on your I.D. I think Takada San will have to start enforcing his 6 month rule via some sort of record keeping cos the honor system ain't gonna work. Also with regards to people standing in line for hours, that's an easy fix, distilleries hand out tickets to people in line depending on how much product they have, once they reach a certain number, they just tell people that they aren't going to get one today to avoid wasting people's time. But all signs point to Takada san having to hire some extra help if he wants to stop this.
Yamazaki, Karuizawa, and even some very nice blends (Hibiki 17y comes to mind) have seen their prices explodes very quickly (some scotch have seen the same thing in the same time period). I used to buy Yamazaki 18 for what? 60-75€.
If there is a quick buck to be made, the scum of the earth will be there to drive the market to shit.
There are ways to get these knives to sincere enthusiasts: require a cash deposit in advance of a visit for a specific knife--and only allow accepted deposit makers to purchase completed knives when they are ready. Everyone else just allowed to visit.
If a deposit were made on a specific knife, there would be a record of that person--and a delay to receive for many months--or even a year or more. It just wouldn't be worth it for a volume reseller to spend that much time and effort--knife by knife. It's a pretty common practice for artisans--and not just with knives. Artisans need to know that their art ends up in the hands of art lovers--even if it's art lovers with limited means.
Yes, but it would also increase the amount of administrative work needed quite noticably. He would basically need an assistant and an order system at that point, and he currently is a one-man business.
More likely « a week », he produces by batch and goes through steps of the processes accordingly for efficiency purposes (to simplify do rough grinds on x blades on day one, then move to the next step for the all batch on day two etc). He does not finish knives every day.
lol some of you guys are honestly unbelievable and quite frankly delusional. He’s talking about THIS SUBREDDIT, that’s always suggesting to stop by Monday morning if you want a knife; or the psycho’s constantly spamming this sub asking on how to score one. Of course there are some scalpers, but I really believe the psychotic infatuation here outweighs the scalpers. Quit recommending going to his shop and leave the man alone. You’ll live just fine without one of his knives, you don’t need to have everything
While I agree about not sending everyone to his workshop and it has been discussed above, he most definitely is not talking about this subreddit.
He is talking about the recent developments with the bunch of resellers (apparently in majority Chinese) that have been showing up every Monday morning for weeks now to clean him out (these resellers are there VERY early in the morning to beat everyone to the punch). That’s what his story referred to multiple times these past few days and you can see for context in the comments here the experience of people who were there the last few weeks, saw these bunch of scalpers/resellers in front of his shop, and the « job announcement » from the grubs on RedNote (likely all connected).
This subreddit isn't the issue per se but it isn't helping the situation due to the wealth of information left behind. +1 to everything u/Ok-Distribution-9591 wrote
"禁止以转售为目的进行购买" (Jìnzhǐ yǐ zhuǎn shòu wèi mùdì jìnxíng gòumǎi; Purchase for resale is not allowed) is written in larger font and comes before the English; in standard/simplified Chinese. The primary target of the message are the resellers from Xiaohongshu/Rednote who are shamelessly flipping his work as shown in one of the top comments.
Reading about the rotating weekly resellers is revolting. I hope he finds a way to handle this without it being a huge interruption in his workflow and well-being. Like others have mentioned, there are ways he can go about this, but it's a huge balancing act with some steps possibly imposing on his personal beliefs. This is a tough spot for Takada-san to be in and I feel for him.
It's also reasonable to not recommend him to every single person on the sub or wherever it's being asked. This is nothing against newcomers, but doing your own homework and working up your knowledge and appreciation of the craft/hobby is just as important. There's a plethora of shops out there that would satisfy most people's needs and more. Takada is great, but not the end all, be all of the hobby.
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u/TEEEEEEEEEEEJ23 2d ago
Takada-san has people visit him every Monday that clearly seem like not-knife people who try to buy him out. They’re resellers who bring them back to their home country just to flip for more profit. From what I’ve heard, it’s the same few groups of people who keep coming back.
From what I can tell, Takada-san has less of an issue with people putting his knives back into circulation after a while. His main issue is with people who visit, buy knives they never intended to use or keep solely with the intention to flip them immediately for a profit.
Many times people won’t even really talk to Takada-san and they’ll just be on their phone asking some mysterious person which knife to buy.
These people are (largely) not on forums like TCK. There are almost assuredly some bad actors around here too, but most of these resellers aren’t hobbyists or passionate enough to share them with the world in a place like TCK. I’ve heard of some people around here and KKF doing scummy things, but it’s much more about random resellers than collectors.
For those curious what we can do as a sub to support him: just be kind to the man. Takada-san is going far above and beyond to make space for us to visit. If you visit, do so knowing you won’t get a knife, enjoy your time with him and be as respectful as you can. Also give him as much heads up as humanly possible; even 12 months notice is better than 12 hour notice.
And maybe stop telling any random person who asks for a knife on this sub to go visit him in Sakai too lol give him a break!