When purchasing a Japanese chef knife online, an order placed on Sunday, Feb 6th, was shipped out by Mon, the 7th, from Osaka, Japan. Six thousand and seven miles later and a total of 2-1/2 days, my order was on my doorstep by noon, Tuesday, the 8th (FedEx kills it with shipping knives, volleyballs, to ice skates).
I got a Sakai Takayuki knife from Hocho-knife.com to share with all of you the details of purchasing a Japanese chef knife online. The knife I had chosen was a kiritsuke (ki-ri-tsu-ke, the “t” is silent like as in Django), which is a single-beveled edged knife, and it is a cross between an usuba and the yanagiba in profile.
I know I am not the only one that wants to know processing/transit times and the tracking number a second after I hit “buy now.” If that is also you, here you go. Every minute, locale, and all the details from the packaging to the unboxing before you hit “buy now.”
Chuck Noland : We live and we die by the clock, that’s all we have.
I Do Not Believe the Supposed User Reviews on Most Sites
Scrolling through the Hocho-knife website, I am like “bullish*t, bullish*t, maybe BS, and potential bullsh*t” when I was reading the 5-star reviews. Except, my mind brain just exploded because the product ordered on Sunday from Osaka, Japan was on my doorstep by Tuesday. Wow, I was wrong, those reviews are legit.
I Am on the Take
As of 1/1/2022, I am taking products as long as it does not fock with the integrity of my content, so I took it from Hocho-knife because they were cool with how I would utilize it. Also, an FYI, I still have them on my “Where to Buy” as a**hats who do not respond to emails (to be fair, I only sent one, but hey, how many emails are supposed to fall through the cracks?). I am also letting you know that if you were to purchase any product through my links, you support this site by doing that because, like that service writer at the car dealership, I get a cut.
About Sakai Takayuki
“Sakai Takayuki Knives by Aoki Hamono Seisakusho Co.,Ltd. has been cultivated through a long 600-year history in Sakai which is a city known best as a home of cutlery for the professionals in Japan. Each knife is hand sharpened to ensure maximum sharpness out of the box. We highly recommend you to experience the Takayuki quality.”
– Sakai Takayuki, Hocho-knives.com
Kiritsuke Product Details
- Manufacturer: Aoki Hamono Co.,Ltd. (JAPAN)
- Blade Steel Type: High Carbon Steel [Shiroko or White Paper 2 steel]
- Handle Material: Magnolia Ho Wood
- Knife Type: Kiritsuke
- Blade Length: 240mm (9.4in.)
- Total Length: 385mm (15.2in.)
- Weight: 170g
- Blade Edge: Single edged (for Right-handed persons)
- Made in: JAPAN
Shipping Times/Carrier Options
- DHL, days to months.
- FedEX, fast AF.
- JapanPost, 2-4 business days.
How long does it take for Hocho-knife.com to process your order: the Hocho team is a very lean team, so allow up to 3~5 business days after payment as “handling time,” excluding Saturday, Sunday, Japanese Public holidays, New-Year (Dec. 31–Jan. 3), and Obon-holidays (Aug. 13–15).
When is the optimal time and day(s) to put in an order? Weekdays, morning time JST (Japan Standard Time).
Now you just need to do the math of your time zone as it relates to JST which means 42.
The FedEX Timeline (“We Live and Die By Time”)
All times and dates are based on MST (Mountain Standard Time).
- SUNDAY, February, 6th
- Approx. 8am, order placed on hocho-knife.com.
- MONDAY, February, 7th
- 12:44AM, shipment information is sent to FedEX.
- 6:08PM, picked up from Osaka-shi Suminoe-ku.
- 8:15PM, Left FedEX origin facility.
- TUESDAY, February, 8th
- 1:35AM, in transit, Sennan-shi, JP
- 2:55AM, in transit, Sennan-shi, JP
- WEDNESDAY, February, 9th
- 12:43AM, arrived at FedEX hub, Indianapolis, IN
- 2:13AM, international shipment release – import
- 4:55AM, departed FedEX hub, Indianapolis, IN
- 5:13AM, at destination sort facility, Denver, CO
- 8:36AM, at local FedEX facility, Englewood, CO
- 8:41AM, on FedEX vehicle for delivery, Englewood, CO
- 12:25PM, delivered, Denver, CO
FedEX Text Message Alerts
- Tuesday 8th, 6:07AM, picked up, scheduled for delivery.
- Wednesday 9th, 9:40AM, “hi, your package is now out for deliver today.”
- Wednesday 9th, 12:26PM, “delivered 02/09 at 12:25PM.”
From Osaka, Japan to Denver, Colorado
Too bad, porch pirates, you did not get me this time either (surprisingly, in California, in 14 years in Los Angeles, I have never had anything stolen off of my porch either).
Yea, they did not slack or skimp on proper packaging.
The packaging could survive a Mars landing.
What comes in the box? A packing slip, two little hang tags with web and social media information, and a “safely delivered” label, which warns you to confirm that there are no damages to your knife before ransacking the packaging like a kid on Christmas Day. Also, I want to point out there is no “About Us” on Hocho-knife, so it is a surprise to see a letter with “Sincerely yours, Norimasa Kushida.”
Look at those details, and I can’t want to see one of my homies with knife skills to wield it correctly (they will have to be right-handed tho, it is not a left-handed blade for the likes of a Ned Flander).
Aside from all the shipping details, I also have 21 more pictures uploaded to Flickr.
Or you can go back to watching cat videos.
Here you can see all 9.4 inches in all its glory, but I took 237 pictures. 5 of those pics are here, but 21 more are up on Flickr. So if you want to take a gander at more of the details of the unboxing, head on over to the Oishii-Desu Flickr account. Also, if you are looking for a Japanese chef knife, head on over to my “Where to Buy Japanese Knives Online,” or from Hocho-knife.com (affiliate link bro/brah) featured here.
