Kisuke Manaka

Manaka Hamono, located in Saitama, Japan, has been in the knife-making business since 1872. 

Kisuke Manaka is the 5th generation. He is completely self-taught. With nothing but a small forge full of blacksmithing equipments and books on knife-making, Manaka-san started to teach himself how to make knives from scratch: from forge-welding to heat treatment to finishing.