October7sat. 8sun. 2017

Event descriptionCutlery Market / Public Community Booth/ Various events / Janken (rock-paper-scissor) Tournament

Honmachi-dori / Sennen-dori

Seki Outdoor Knife Show 2017Apise Seki

Live demonstration of traditional Japanese sword forgingLive demonstration of sword polishing and ornamenting skillsSword exhibition

Seki Sword Tradition Museum

th Seki CityCutlery Festival,

Gifu PrefectureThe world famous cutleries of Seki

Public Transportation

Nagoya

Toyama

Gifu

Unuma

Shin Unuma Mino-Ota GifuCutlery Hall

Sakaemachi1-chome

Seki

JR Tokaido Main Line / Meitetsu Nagoya Main LineGifu Bus Gifu Seki Route

Approx. 50 min.

JR Takayama Main Line JR Takayama Main Line

Approx. 5 min. Approx. 15 min.Meitetsu Inuyama LineApprox. 40 min.

JR Takayama Main Line

Approx. 3 hr 15 min.

NagaragawaRailway

Approx. 20 min.

Approx. 25 min.

Approx. 1 hr 20 min.Jointly operated by Meitetsu /Gifu Bus Highway Nagoya Route Meitetsu Bus Center 4F Bus stop no. 23*

NagoyaNagoya Expressway

Approx. 10 min.Ichinomiya Interchange

Meishin ExpresswayApprox. 5 min. Ichinomiya Junction Tokai-Hokuriku Expressway

Approx. 30 min.Seki Interchange

Osaka Meishin ExpresswayApprox. 2 hr.

Tokyo

Tomei ExpresswayApprox. 3 hr 15 min.

Toyota Junction Tokai-Kanjo ExpresswayApprox. 30 min.

Chuo ExpresswayApprox. 2 hr.

Okaya JunctionChuo Expressway

Approx. 2 hr.

Toki JunctionTokai-Kanjo Expressway

Approx. 20 min.Tomikaseki Interchange

KanazawaHokuriku Expressway

Approx. 15 min.Oyabetonami Junction

Tokai-Hokuriku ExpresswayApprox. 2 hr.

Mino Interchange

Car

Contact Seki Cutlery Festival Executive Committee0575-22-3131 (representative line) Seki City Hall 3-1 Wakakusadori, Seki-shi, Gifu

Seki City in Gifu prefecture is a town famous for its cutleries and blade manufacturing with a history spanning over 700 years, and the “Cutlery Festival”is an important event held here in the fall. The festival honors the skills of the great swordsmith Motoshige and prays for the everlasting prosperity ofthis town of blades. During the festival, cutlery manufacturers and wholesalers of the town line up their stalls along the 1km long shopping street in the main venueof Honmachi-dori. This is the “Cutlery Market” where scissors, kitchen knives, and other knives are sold at discount prices only available during thefestival period.There are also outlet items only sold here, and so you may be able to purchase valuable cutleries of Seki for reasonable prices if you negotiate.Apart from these attractions there is the Seki Outdoor Knife Show (Apise Seki) where custom-made knives are on display and sold. In addition there areother special events specially held in this “town of blades” such as impressive live demonstrations of traditional Japanese sword forging full of sparks andheat (admission fee of the Seki Sword Tradition Museum exhibition is charged for watching), display of Iaido (sword art) sword testing / Battojutsu (artof sword drawing) skills, the sword examination “Hamoken” event, and knife sharpening. There are also plenty of other ways to enjoy the festival such asby eating local specialties at the “Public Community Booth”, “ Tabemono Yokocho (gourmet street) ”, and “Seki Local Delicacy Festival (Seki City Hall)” where local famous restaurants serve specialties such as sweetfish and eels, while friendship towns / villages also open booths.

What is the Cutlery Festival?

The first swordsmith of Seki emerged in the Kamakura period. It is said this was when the great swordsmith, “Motoshige”, moved to Seki and began the art of sword forging.High quality blade clay, pine coal for the furnace, and the clean water of the Nagara River and Tsubo River… thanks to the ideal natural conditions of this land, many swordsmithsbegan to gather. In the Muromachi period there were over 300 swordsmiths, and the swords of Seki became known throughout the nation as swords that were “strong, rigid, and sharp”.The swords of Seki were favored among warlords during the Warring States period for their outstanding sharpness. The person who made the “Sekiden (swords forged in Seki)” famouswas “Nidaime Kanemoto (Kanemoto the second)” , known as “Magoroku of Seki”. Kanemoto (Magoroku) developed an original sword forging technique called “Shihozume”(combining irons with different characteristics in four sections of the sword) in order to create amazingly strong swords. After this period Seki City prospered as the leading region ofsword forging in Japan, and its excellent traditional skills are passed down to modern day swordsmiths as well as the blade manufacturing industry. Today Seki is also known to be oneof the world’ s most famous regions for blade manufacturing.

How did Seki City come to be the town of blades? (Why did is Seki City considered to be the town of blades?)

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Please come and visit!Please come and visit!