Aki Moheji – Traditionally Handcrafted, Wooden Kitchen Gear for Home Chefs
Hatsukaichi has been known for the quality of their woodwork since the Edo period when Miyajima locals started crafting wooden rice scoops. Traditional wood crafts in the area are known for their exquisite decorations carved right into the wood and minimalist processes that highlight the wood’s natural beauty. But far from being museum pieces or decorations for your bookshelf, Hatsukaichi’s wood products, despite their beauty, are often functional items. And in keeping with the tradition of the shamoji rice scoop, are commonly used in the kitchen.
Aki Moheji, a kitchen supply store, helps people find their own piece of Hatsukaichi woodwork that’s more than a souvenir but a treasured kitchen tool.
When you walk into their small shop located at the front of the ferry terminal to Miyajima, you’ll notice a variety of beautiful, wooden kitchen items like hinoki cups and acacia cutting boards. Some items, like the famed Miyajima rice scoop, Westerners may recognize. Yet others, like the “bamboo demon grater,” used for roughly grating firm fruits and vegetables such as green ume and daikon radish, are less familiar.
True to Hatsukaichi woodcrafts, you can find exquisitely fine carvings on their locally sourced, sakura wood plates. Each plate is hand turned using the old Miyajima potter’s wheel technique. And they are carved with a variety of traditional, Japanese motifs that symbolize human aspirations like prosperity, health, harmony, and an endless future.
On the modern end of the kitchen woodcrafts are parquet cutting boards made from local hinoki and magnolia trees. Hinoki, a kind of Japanese pine that is traditionally used in the construction of temples and shrines, has natural antibacterial and antifungal properties that help keep the cutting board clean. Plus, the magnolia in the board is gentle on knife blades and helps water drain off more easily.
By far the most popular items at Aki Moheji are their handmade, professional chef’s knives. The blades are fashioned in Kochi, the prefecture on the far side of Shikoku — just a five hour day-trip away. Kochi is famed throughout Japan for their “Tosa Uchi-hamono” knives. They use 400-year-old, Edo period metalworking techniques and minimal modern technology to produce blades fit for a samurai. The refined metal structure of these forged knives makes them sharp, resistant to the grind of daily wear, and difficult to break. At Aki Moheji, the Edo traditions of Kochi’s samurai steel meet the Edo traditions of Hatsukaichi’s temple woodcrafts in tosa knives that get hand-worked, cherry, chestnut, quince, or ebony handles from Hatsukaichi craftsmen. And since these craftsmen work in the town you’re visiting, you can even get your knife handle custom engraved with your name. It takes one week to get the handle engraved. And you can arrange to have the knife shipped to your address anywhere in the world.
Not everyone who comes through is looking for kitchen items. Other popular items at Aki Moheji include compact nail clipper sets that are perfect for traveling or for nail care at home. Kids enjoy the samurai sword mini scissors. And foreign customers will get a kick out of the prickly, hedgehog-esque, traditional “tawashi” body scrubbers made with natural materials like sisal and coconut fibers.
Aki Moheji is located in the shopping center at Etto shopping mall which is attached to Miyajimaguchi Ferry Terminal. Prices range from ¥550 to ¥3,300 for most items. Knives range from ¥5,500 to ¥33,000. If you have access to a car and want even more knife options, visit their store, Tasuku, at The Outlets Hiroshima, a large mall in the mountains above the city.
Hiroshima, Hatsukaichi-Shi, Miyajima-guchi 1-11-8 etto1F
Tel: 0829-30-7550
Hours: 10:00-18:00
Closed : Open all year round
IG : @aki_moheji
CREDIT : OK
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