Separate place from maker
堺 means Sakai and 越前 means Echizen. They locate a tradition or production area; neither is a maker by itself.
Blade mark investigation · Case 001
Who forged
this blade?
Upload a clear photograph of the engraving on your Japanese kitchen knife. Mei compares the visible characters, place names, and construction clues against a researched maker archive.
⌁ Private OCR + opt-in cloud vision
◎ Sources on every match
57 identities in the casefile
151 inscription forms
0 retailer catalogs cross-checked
01
Start here
Photograph the maker’s mark
Box only the inscription
Drag tightly around the complete inscription, or tap its center. Diagonal marks are fine; exclude the counter, handle, blade edge, and any model number.
Best result · Fill the frame, turn off direct flash, and let light rake across the mark from the side.
Full photo stays on this device02 / READ THE MARK
Transcription workspace
Confirm what the camera sees.
Japanese knife inscriptions may be chiseled, stamped, laser-marked, diagonal, vertical, or worn. Cloud vision compares an untouched crop with locally normalized and angle-corrected views; private in-browser OCR adds a relief-enhanced fallback. Confirm the proposed characters before relying on a match.
No photo analyzed yetUpload above, or enter the mark manually.
Ranked comparison
Most likely identities
Compared with the full maker-mark casefile.
Important: a mark can identify a brand, wholesaler, workshop, or smith. Mei does not authenticate age, steel, or resale value from a photograph.
Source-backed reference
Maker mark atlas
A practical index of frequently encountered Japanese kitchen-knife inscriptions. Every record separates the visible mark from the entity it actually names, grades the evidence, and links matching examples from 0 specialist retailers.
No reference records match that search.
Read with context
The mark is a clue,
not a certificate.
Knife identification is strongest when the inscription, region, construction, packaging, and purchase history agree. A convincing kanji match alone cannot prove who forged or sharpened a blade.
Remove boilerplate
登録 means registered, 作 means made by, and 御料理庖丁 simply means cooking knife. The distinctive name usually sits between them.
Respect divided labor
Sakai’s traditional system divides forging, sharpening, and handle fitting among specialist workshops. A branded knife can therefore have several makers behind it.
Field guide
Photograph both faces.
One side may carry the brand; the reverse may name a smith, steel, production region, or line. Include the whole blade in one photo, then add a close, square-on detail of each inscription.
- LightTurn off direct flash. For a shallow stamp, move one lamp to the side so highlights and shadows cross each stroke.
- AngleKeep the blade face parallel to the camera; the inscription itself can run in any direction.
- ScaleInclude the heel, spine, and handle junction.
Evidence desk
Every clue gets a grade.
The archive prioritizes official maker pages and public craft records. Kitchen Knife Forums adds valuable field identifications, while 0 retail catalog correlations provide labeled product-photo cross-checks. A retailer listing supports provenance but is never silently upgraded to a personal smith signature.