Craftsman
柴田崇行
TakayukiShibata
10+ years at the stones
The story
Takayuki Shibata (柴田崇行) is a sharpener and knife designer based in Fukuyama, Hiroshima. Born in 1979, he leads IRONCLAD Ltd. as its president and representative director.
He came to knives by an uncommon route. In 1994, at fifteen, he left school to become a carpenter's apprentice. He stayed for seven years, then moved to an ironworks in 2002.
In 2006 he turned to kitchen knives and started Shibata Knives. A local cutler introduced him to sharpening the next year.
The business began as an export wholesaler for Japanese kitchen knives, with resharpening and maintenance services. Shibata saw that customers overseas often had no way to restore a dull knife.
That gap drew him deeper into sharpening and later into manufacturing. Around 2014, the company began making knives when Japanese supply could no longer keep pace with demand from abroad.
Shibata established the business as a sole proprietorship in 2009 and incorporated IRONCLAD Ltd. in 2015. Its knives now reach more than twenty countries.
IRONCLAD holds five brands: Masakage, Koutetsu, Tsunehisa, West Japan Tools and Tinker. Together they extend Shibata's work from knife design and sharpening to inspection and regional product development.
Masakage was Shibata's first brand, launched in 2008. Several smiths took part in its earlier work. Those collaborations belong to the brand's history.
Koutetsu (甲鉄) followed as a formal original-brand launch in 2014. Its name comes from Japan's first ironclad warship.
The knife combines traits of a gyuto and a nakiri, with a slightly curved edge and a sharp point. Its spine receives a high mirror polish for grip comfort, while the sides stay rough to reduce friction and help food release.
The established Koutetsu uses an SG-2 stainless powder-steel core with stainless cladding. A Chromax variant joined the line more recently. Shibata serves as the brand's sharpener.
Tsunehisa (恒久) arrived in 2015 as a response to growing orders. Its name means "Permanence." It is a curation and inspection brand, with knives selected for long service and inspected one by one.
West Japan Tools, launched in 2017, looks directly to Bingo and Fukuyama. Its regional partners include an ironworks for iron frying pans and furniture craftsmen for cutting boards and wall-mounted knife magnets.
The pan keeps a thick base for heat conduction but thins the sidewalls to reduce weight. In 2023 the brand also produced a limited run of 120 fish scalers, which sold out immediately.
Tinker joined the portfolio in 2018 as the fifth of IRONCLAD's brands. By then Shibata's work had moved from export and maintenance into a Fukuyama company that designs, sharpens, manufactures and exports knives.
That progression remains the clearest account of his craft. It began with the needs of people using Japanese knives far from their makers. Shibata answered first at the edge, then by redesigning the knife around everyday use.
The Knives & Stones take
Shibata-san is more than a supplier to us. He hosted me in Echizen once — hanging out with him and his smiths, fishing together, eating far too well. Early 2026 the traffic ran the other way: he and Yu Kurosaki came to us in Sydney, gave tutorials and talks, and thoroughly enjoyed the city. You learn a lot about a brand from how its owner treats people, and those visits are part of why Masakage, Tsunehisa and Ironclad have a standing place on our shelves. When a Koutetsu lands here, I already know the edge is right before I open the box.
— James Zhang, Knives and Stones
In photographs
Shot in the Knives & Stones Sydney store during Shibata-san's visit.
Works with
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Frequently asked questions
Who makes Masakage knives?
Who sharpens Masakage knives?
Who designs Shibata Koutetsu knives?
Who is Takayuki Shibata?
Does Takayuki Shibata sharpen every Koutetsu knife himself?
What brands does Takayuki Shibata own?
We trust this information is correct at the time of writing, but it is not an official document and details may change without notice. If you spot an error, tell us and we'll fix it.
