HADO

HADO (刃道), Fukui Co.'s Sakai knife brand

Shop HADO knives

HADO(刃道), a brand launched in 2021 under the banner of Fukui Co., Ltd. Its name translates directly to “The Path of Blade” and its founding has an interesting story to it. Being a company located in Sakai, its products are straight up a defiance to Sakai’s impression of old-school, traditional approach in knifemaking, and this young brand has shown us what Sakai is capable of in terms of innovation and breaking existing rules.

In 2015, Tadataka Maruyama, sales representative of Fukui Co. decided to quit his current position and pursue the craft of knife sharpening, particularly Hatsuke(刃付け)-the process of giving the knife its bevel geometry and edge. The then president Ryuichiro Fukui told him to properly train himself and return to the company after three years, and in 2021, under the support of Fukui Co., Hado was founded.

Typical Sakai approach in knifemaking would begin with a forged blade with intermediate thickness, sharpening in a lightly convex geometry where the bevel transitions smoothly to the Hira. After the finishing polish using a wooden wheel or sandblaster, the Kasumi finish would look like a uniform surface from the side. Hado took a very different approach in their knife design, staring with a slightly thinner blade that measure just above 2mm in the spine, they put a very aggressive bevel onto the blank, the Shinogi line is clear and defines, located close to the spine, which means a lot of material are removed and the bevel stays thin until very high up. This means minimal wedging in cutting even if you are dealing with a tough produce, and the sticking issue is solved via a subtle convex grind behind the edge.

The material choice is when you sense the tradition they the brand is clinging to, using mostly Blue, White and Ginsan, these blades forged with traditional materials are polished differently to create variety. What is consistent is their incredible sharpness and top notch fit and finish, with mirror polished spine and choil blends seamlessly into the organic Nashiji/Kurouchi blade and Kasumi finished bevel. Meanwhile, Hado is very open to newer material and manufacturing techniques too, the newly released Shiosai features a stamped SG2 billet and they can offer great value with the same Hado sharpening.

In July 2025, the sharpener Maruyama announced his independence from the company, and started his own store in Nara, his colleagues took over the sharpening task and held up the quality to the standard after the change. In the city of Sakai where tradition reigns supreme, we can still see innovation from a young brand. Initiating its journey backed up by the trust and faith of Fukui Co., Hado’s efforts have been proven effective by their popularity amongst knife lovers, their success have pointed out a path of innovation for the industry, and we will be happy to see more vitality getting brought into this market.

“The knife brand launched by Fukui Co. of Sakai in 2021.”

Est. 2021 | 令和3年

Known for Fukui Co.'s own knife brand from Sakai

Website hado-knife.jp Instagram @hado_knife

People

Current Head: Motonari Fukui 福井　基成

Craft

Known For: Fukui Co.'s own knife brand from Sakai
Steel: SG2, SLD

Location

Address: 1 Chome-1-10 Kukenchohigashi, Sakai Ward, Sakai, Osaka 590-0934, Japan
Region: Sakai, Japan
Coordinates: 34.58574, 135.48107

Brand

Logo

Native Name

刃道

Why HADO Matters

HADO is the knife brand of Fukui Co. (株式会社福井), a Sakai company that traces its start to a shop founded in 1912. Fukui says it opened a sharpening workshop at its head office in 2019 and launched HADO in 2021.

Does HADO Allow Unsolicited Visits?

The location is the factory, office and warehouse of Fukui Co. there are no display or showcase area dedicated for visitors and there are no reservation available.

Knives by HADO

Hado Shiosai SG2 Tsuchime

Hado Shiosai(潮騒, Tide Sound) is the brand’s value lineup, compared with their more traditional carbon series like the Kirisame or Sumi, this line uses stampe... Read more

Hado Shiosai(潮騒, Tide Sound) is the brand’s value lineup, compared with their more traditional carbon series like the Kirisame or Sumi, this line uses stamped billet to obtain a lower price. But from a practical point of view, this is a lower maintenance, better edge retention knife and you still can get the excellent thin blade produced by Hado, this is certainly a very competitive lineup in its price range. The highlight of the knife would be its grind, as the sharpening company, Hado will design and order billets from different sources to sharpen and polish them, and their approach on the sharpening is what makes them stand out. At a glance, we would notice the Shinogi line is positioned very high up the blade, close to the spine, this is neither a flat grind nor a Traditional Sakai convex grind, paired with a pretty thin blade thickness, Hado produces some of the thinnest knives we can get. These “lasers” have minimal amount of resistance even when cutting into the toughest food, and if you are worrying about sticking issues over the wide bevel, I can confidently say it is mostly avoided by the subtle convex built behind the edge. This very specialised and well designed geometry scores pretty high on performance, but Hado still leaves space for some aesthetic features. The stamped blade incorporates textures on its surface, covering the Hira with octagonal shapes of various sizes. Looking at the name of the line, these patterns easily link to the imagery of foamy bubbles created by the tide striking the shore, then the splashing sound of waves and bursting sound of bubbles just naturally comes forth in the brain. The surface of the knife combines a really refined brushing along the blade and sandblasting among the cladding, giving the knife a subtle and minimalistic look, the highly polished choil, spine and edge connects and forms a shiny edge, frames this knife using their contrast in textures. Despite the pricing, this is a very well thought after and well executed line in terms of appearances. The usage of SG2 billet is an excellent move in my opinion, although the traditional forged carbon steel can have a nice tapered spine and more aggressive edge, their pricing is still a bit too high and the maintenance can be tricky. Having a low maintenance stainless steel with premium level edge retention, while keeping the price reasonable shows that Hado is offering this line for the average user instead of enthusiasts, and from the availability of the Shiosai we see, there is also a more steady supply of these blades. We can clearly see Hado’s ambition in expanding their target markets, and Shiosai is a great addition in the superthin “laser” category as it is more available and carries some aesthetic features. Read less

Pros

Excellent performance
Great for professionals
Thin behind the edge

Cons

A little bit brittle

Sanmai - Stainless Clad Tsuchime

Hado/Ouru SLD Nashiji

Hado/Ouru SLD line is a lineup with a bit complex background, made with an excellent material that has great edge retention, maintainability and aggressive e... Read more

Hado/Ouru SLD line is a lineup with a bit complex background, made with an excellent material that has great edge retention, maintainability and aggressive edge, this forged lineup has a heavy duty blade that is sharpened pretty thin. It is a beauty and a beast, a beloved weapon for those who like to weld tip heavy knives, and its identity took me some digging to find out. The SLD steel strictly speaking is not a stainless steel, although having a pretty high chromium level, the high carbon content results in a lot of chromium carbides, leading to less chromium participating in rust resistance. But, unlike SKD, SLD will barely pick up a patina, so if dried properly, it can be very easy to take care of, and its edge when dulls, will retain some of the aggressive feeling like a carbon steel edge does. To talk about the build, I think it’s important to figure out its creator. Although labelled with “Hado Ouru”, I believe this is not a knife produced in Sakai. Ouru or Oul are just the different spelling of the same brand “翁流”, And Oul Sakai is the older name of the knife brand under Fukui Co. before they opened their in-house sharpening workshop in 2019 and launched the Hado brand in 2021. The knife is sharpened with a rather low Shinogi line, instead of the typical super wide bevel design Hado uses, its forging keeps the strong taper in the spine and a lot of thickness in the blade, and overall the style is full of Sanjo features. I found some Ouru knives with a similar SLD finish featuring a very familiar handle, identical with the Hocho Kobo series from Tadafusa, then it all started to make sense. Judging by the features of these knives, I can almost certain these are knives commissioned by Ouru to Tadafusa, these products are kept and carried over after the founding of Hado, and they are sold under the Hado/Ouru name with Ouru engraving to differentiate from the sharpened-in-house Hado knives. Tadafusa’s approach on sharpening is quite different from Hado, they kept the bevel rather thick and paired it with a convex grind, this is a design that emphasises food release, and indeed we found potato slices barely get caught on the blade. Although the thickness of the knife does cause some difficulties when dealing with dense and tough roots, the low thickness behind the edge still allows the knife to enter most of the food with little resistance, and the weight of the knife will carry the cut through the food with great smoothness. This is a very Sanjo knife under a Sakai brand, and I quite recommend it for users who like that reassuring weight from a heavy knife. The hand forging, rustic Nashiji finish and smooth hand sharpening lead to a very characterful lineup. It is a great line to work with for professionals or knife enthusiasts with its great cutting characteristics. Read less

Pros

Workhorse grind
Exceptional profile

Cons

High budget

Sanmai - Stainless Clad Nashiji

Frequently Asked Questions about HADO

Who is HADO?

HADO is a Japanese knife maker based in Sakai, Japan, established in 2021. They are known for Fukui Co.'s own knife brand from Sakai. Their signature steels include SG2, SLD. Available at Knives and Stones Australia.

What knives does HADO make?

HADO produces the following knife lines: Hado Shiosai SG2 Tsuchime, Hado/Ouru SLD Nashiji. We currently carry 5 products from HADO at Knives and Stones. They specialise in Fukui Co.'s own knife brand from Sakai.

Where is HADO located?

HADO is located in Sakai, Japan. Japanese knife-making regions each have distinct traditions. Sakai in Osaka has been a blade-making centre for over 600 years, particularly renowned for single bevel knives.

Where can I buy HADO knives in Australia?

Knives and Stones is an authorised Australian stockist of HADO. You can shop online at knivesandstones.com.au, with free shipping for knives over AU$200 Australia wide, or visit our stores in St Peters (Sydney), Crows Nest (Sydney), Braddon (Canberra) and Prahran (Melbourne) to handle the knives before buying.

Is Hado a blacksmith or a brand?

Hado is a brand: its own site calls it a Sakai knife brand.

The company named on that site is Fukui Co.