"Never Enough Money" wrote in message
oups.com...
There's a 50-50 chance I'll be going to Japna this spring. If I
do,
where do I go to find the world class chisels and knives? I
just
thumbed through Lonely Planet (and the index, too) and didn't
see any
mention....


Cheers and TIA.


Partly it depends on where in Japan you're going.

For the most part, you're not going to find anything resembling a
BORG type store. The closest you might come to that would be
along the Ginza In Tokyo. Mostly what you'll find are "Mom & Pop"
type hardware stores, especially outside of Tokyo.

Your best bet is to get a decent translator's help in locating a
good Tansu Shokunin (Japanese storage chest/cabinet craftsman)
and respectfully request his assistance in locating quality
tools. You could also try a respected local carpenter (Daiku),
but the tool set (but not necessarily the quality of the tools)
will be a bit different. Shoji makers generally use high quality
tools, but their's tend to be more specialized.

The generic word for chisel, the tool as opposed to cheating
someone, is
"nomi" (no - mee). Of course nothing's ever that simple. Specific
types of chisels have their own names, in some cases different
names for the same chisel depending on the craft they are used
in.

There are a few good, and a host of junk, books out there on
Japanese woodworking tools and their terminology. A couple of
good ones available from Amazon.com a

"Complete Japanese Joinery: A Handbook of Japanese Tool Use and
Woodworking for Joiners and Carpenters", ISBN: 0881791210

and

"Japanese Woodworking Tools: Their Tradition, Spirit, and Use",
ISBN: 0941936465

They are a good way to learn the correct names of the various
edged tools.

Oh! Almost forgot, you may hear references to "blue steel" and
"white steel". Those terms have nothing to do with the color of
steel. They refer to the color of the labels by various
manufacturers, and by some manufacturers on different product
lines.

Len