A meal at Shirasaki-san’s Ebisu-an, one of Kurosaki-san’s regular places, with plenty to look at before the food arrives.
Kurosaki-san goes here often. That is the starting point for this meal, and for this series: the places I have eaten with the makers on my trips to Japan.
Ebisu-an is in Echizen, Fukui. Shirasaki-san, the owner, is a friend of Kurosaki-san’s and has been to Sydney as well. His specialty is tonkatsu. Inside, the bookshelves are packed with manga, the tables sit under round lamps, and bottles and little ornaments fill the counter.
This was dinner on 9 June 2026. There are photographs of the food, of course, but also photographs of us together, the room and all the things around the table. They belong in the story too.
There is manga everywhere.
Whole shelves run along the walls. You can see the spines above the chairs and beside the bamboo blinds, and the stacks continue around the corner. The room is cosy, with a lot fitted into it.
The photographs follow the shelves around the room and back towards the tables.
The tonkatsu takes its turn.
Shirasaki-san is known for tonkatsu. My notes for Ebisu-an say just two things: special tonkatsu, and Kurosaki-san’s favourite. The photographs show the cutlet sliced into pieces, cabbage piled beside it, and rice and soup on the table.
I took close-ups of the cut surface, the crumbs and the sauce dish, as well as the whole plate. Here they are together, rather than reducing dinner to a single picture.
The people are part of the meal.
With me at Ebisu-an were Yu Kurosaki, Takumi Ikeda, Jimmy Wang, Shirasaki-san and Seiji Akiyama. Shibata-san joined us later, and I probably did not capture him in the photos.
The wider photographs bring everyone back into view. Plates and glasses cover the table; behind us are the same shelves that fill the room.
Places like Ebisu-an capture what I love about dining in Japan. A small restaurant run by the chef himself, just a few seats, and no pressure to hurry through your meal. There’s room to settle in, and the owner’s personality comes through in the whole place. That’s the real charm for me.
It’s also part of what drew me into the knife trade in the first place. Over the years, my visits to Japan have become something much more personal. Through the makers and the friendships we’ve built, I’ve come to feel part of their everyday world, sharing meals and seeing a side of Japan I would probably never have found as a tourist.
That’s something I want to share with our customers too: the people, the places, and the moments around the knives. There’s a lot more I can’t wait to bring you.
Music: Dream Culture by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under CC BY 4.0. Excerpts edited with level adjustment and fades.
