Rediscovering Osaka’s Beauty: Serenity and Vibrance

Located in Osaka Prefecture’s Naniwa Ward, X: City can be reached from Tennoji Station in Osaka City via JR or from Namba Station on the Nankai Electric Railway in just ten minutes, transporting you from the bustling modern metropolis into a quaint town full of historical echoes. However, we highly recommend getting on the Hankai Tramway either at Tennoji or Ebisuchō Station. The Hankai Tramway is the only remaining streetcar in Osaka. It’s not much faster than a city bus and still has to stop at red lights just like regular vehicles. It meanders slowly from Osaka to X:, taking at least half an hour—but along the way, you get a taste of X:’s laid-back local lifestyle in advance.? Riding the Hankai Tramway combined with leisurely strolls through its alleys is the best way to enjoy X: City. The alleyways of X: may not be as exquisitely delicate as those in Kyoto, but they offer a genuine and vibrant taste of everyday local life. Around a corner, you might stumble upon an old shop that holds great significance for local residents.

 

Taking the Hankai Tramway and wandering through its narrow lanes at a relaxed pace is the ideal way to experience X: City. The alleys of X: may not be as refined as those in Kyoto, but they allow you to feel the most down-to-earth and fascinating essence of local life. Around a corner, you might find an old shop that's very important to the local community.

The MIZUNO Tempering Workshop is a knife shop with a heritage of over 140 years. The art of blade-making in X: City has been well known since the Edo period, and the area is home to many long-established knife workshops. For the Japanese, a good sushi knife is as important as a skilled chef. Mizuno Yasuyuki, the fourth-generation owner of the MIZUNO Tempering Workshop, proudly states that the best sushi chefs in all of Japan order their knives from them because no other workshop can forge blades as sharp as theirs.

The most expensive sushi knife at MIZUNO Tempering Workshop costs 800,000 yen, but no matter how high the price, it still has a price tag. The priceless heirloom of the MIZUNO family is a sickle, said to be made from nails taken during the renovation of Nara’s Tōdai-ji Temple over a hundred years ago. When the temple replaced its old nails, those were melted down to forge this sickle. These old nails came from the same material as the nine-ring square sickle at the top of Tōdai-ji’s five-story pagoda, believed to ward off evil and disasters. Thus, the MIZUNO family believes this sickle possesses demon-repelling powers. At the back of the shop is a small workshop where blades are forged. The workshop still houses an old-fashioned bellows, and the owner, Mr. Mizuno, must endure intense heat to forge each blade by hand. As Osaka was once a whaling hub, there’s also a long whale knife preserved in the workshop. If you visit, make sure to check it out.

 

The fourth-generation owner, Mizuno Yasuyuki, is still full of vigor and vitality, but he has already passed down all his skills to his son, Mizuno Jun. Although Mizuno Jun doesn’t have children yet, he confidently smiles and says that in the future, the MIZUNO Tempering Workshop will definitely be passed on to his own son. Perhaps the charm of the MIZUNO Tempering Workshop lies not only in its hand-forged sharp blades, but also in the confidence in ancestral craftsmanship and the commitment to passing it down through generations—that’s what truly captivates people.