Why is there a sharpening workshop equipped with large rotating whetstones located inside the Sangenjaya store?
When entering a store that sells kitchen knives and seeing a workshop with large sharpening whetstones in the back, one becomes curious about the purpose of having professional workshop facilities inside a retail space.
It is to smoothly carry out the entire process in one place, extending beyond merely displaying and selling knives to maintaining, repairing, and resharpening them, as well as inspecting and shipping knives destined for overseas specialty shops.
Looking first at the number 2, the facility inside the store is equipped with two large 3ft rotating whetstones[1]. According to official materials regarding the HITOHIRA store located in Sangenjaya, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, it serves three purposes[2][3]: an exhibition and sales area showcasing over 300 types of knives, a resharpening workshop for grinding and maintaining knives, and an office space preparing products to be sent to overseas kitchen knife specialty shops[4][5][6].
The workshop set up in the back of the store is a place that directly handles the repair and resharpening of knives, going beyond simply displaying and selling finished kitchen knives[7]. Here, two 3ft rotating whetstones are used to re-edge and refine blades, and the office located in the same building also oversees the shipping operations for knives heading to overseas specialty stores[8][9].
Generally, when a store dealing in kitchen knives is equipped with professional sharpening facilities such as rotating whetstones, it is well-suited for carrying out precise aftercare to restore original cutting performance when a customer's blade becomes dull or damaged. hmmm, the structure where the display stands lead directly into the workshop with turning whetstones and the shipping office naturally shows that handing over knives and maintaining them exist within a single flow.
It has not yet been confirmed whether same-day resharpening can be requested at the workshop behind the store, or whether repair requests are accepted for other brands' kitchen knives that are not HITOHIRA products.