Japanese Knife Sharpening Demonstrations Held in Luxembourg Ahead of Expo 2025 Osaka

The Embassy of Japan in Luxembourg recently teamed up with the Sakai City Industrial Promotion Center to hold demonstrations of knife sharpening in the traditional Japanese way.

As the embassy explained, Japanese cutlery has gained recognition all over the world. Sakai, a port city south of Osaka, is also the capital of traditional cutlery.

Public demonstrations took place during the “Yôkoso” Japan week at the Belle Etoile shopping centre in Bertrange on Saturday 1 February 2025 and at the cultural centre in Luxembourg-Cents on the afternoon of Sunday 2 February 2025. The Japanese Embassy hosted a private demonstration for invited guests from Luxembourg’s culinary world on the afternoon of Monday 3 February 2025.

On Tuesday 4 February 2025, the organisers held a demonstration for students at the École d'Hôtellerie et de Tourisme du Luxembourg (EHTL) in Diekirch. The morning session brought together students who will be heading to Japan for Expo 2025 Osaka - two groups of ten students will each spend three months in Japan as part of the EHTL’s partnership with the Luxembourg Pavilion.

A second demonstration (which Chronicle.lu attended) took place at the EHTL on Tuesday afternoon. The event began with a presentation (in French) by Eric Chevallier, International Market Development Coordinator at Sakai City Industrial Promotion Center, who explored the important role played by the merchant city of Sakai in Japan's economic and political history, not least for its openness to international (sea) trade. He also spoke about the process of manufacturing (forging) the premium knives from Sakai, which are used by 90% of professional Japanese chefs, and presented some of the different types of knives and techniques used for cutting food (raw fish, vegetables…). Eric Chevallier touched on the global appeal of these knives, noting that foreigners represent 70% of visitors to the Sakai Knife Museum (where the knives can be purchased for cheaper).

Following this informative presentation, master sharpener Hideki Ino demonstrated his knife sharpening skills (with Mr Chevallier translating his explanations from Japanese into French). Mr Ino, who began learning the craft from the age of ten and later took over the family business, showed the enthralled students how to sharpen a knife on stone blocks, as well as how to test its sharpness.

Some of the students later took the opportunity to try sharpening their knives themselves, under the watchful, expert eye of Hideki Ino.