Katie | United States

Katie came to Japan from California and stayed for several weeks in Shimokitayama, a mountain village in Nara. While taking part in a permaculture work-study stay, she began looking for quality Japanese knives to help improve her cooking.

A mutual friend and longtime customer, Roach, introduced her to Yoichiro Knife. As someone still learning about knives, Katie said that the English descriptions helped her understand the differences and choose with confidence.

Her first order was delivered to her stay in Nara. We later met in person at a soba restaurant in Namba, Osaka, where I handed her another knife directly.

Before returning to the United States, Katie also chose knives as gifts for her friends. We met once more in Shinsekai and shared a meal of kushikatsu together.

One of the most memorable parts of the meal was Katie discovering beni shoga kushikatsu. She liked the deep-fried red pickled ginger so much that it quickly became one of her favorite things from the meal.

After leaving her many bags in a station locker, Katie headed from Shinsekai to Kansai Airport for her flight home. It was a memorable ending to a journey that began with a simple question about shipping knives within Japan.

Thank you, Katie, for choosing Yoichiro Knife, for meeting me twice in Osaka, and for making our time together such a warm part of your visit to Japan.