Yusuke Seki combines "danger and precision" for Japanese knife shop interior
Handmade knifes are displayed on a custom-built wooden shelving system inside this shop for Japanese brand Tadafusa, designed by Tokyo designer Yusuke Seki.
![Japanese traditional Blacksmithing knife factory showroom by Yusuke Seki Design Studio](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2016/03/japanese-traditional-blacksmithing-knife-factory-showroom-yusuke-seki-design-studio_dezeen_936_3.jpg)
The shop for Tadafusa – a renowned manufacturer of hand-forged knives – is located in Sanjo, a city in Japan's Niigata Prefecture with blacksmithing origins.
![Japanese traditional Blacksmithing knife factory showroom by Yusuke Seki Design Studio](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2016/03/japanese-traditional-blacksmithing-knife-factory-showroom-yusuke-seki-design-studio_dezeen_936_7.jpg)
As the store is situated adjacent the company's factory, Seki chose to use a portion of the existing building's exterior as an interior wall.
![Japanese traditional Blacksmithing knife factory showroom by Yusuke Seki Design Studio](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2016/03/japanese-traditional-blacksmithing-knife-factory-showroom-yusuke-seki-design-studio_dezeen_936_6.jpg)
The knives were a major reference point for the store's interior, but Seki was also influenced by other products on sale.
Displays and a central table were constructed from carbonised spruce, the same material used to create cutting boards, as well as knife handles.
![Japanese traditional Blacksmithing knife factory showroom by Yusuke Seki Design Studio](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2016/03/japanese-traditional-blacksmithing-knife-factory-showroom-yusuke-seki-design-studio_dezeen_936_16.jpg)
"The notion of a cutting board shop is also a thread woven deeply into the store concept," he said. "While the Tsubame-Sanjo area is famous for being a blacksmithing town, knives do not consist solely of blades."
![Japanese traditional Blacksmithing knife factory showroom by Yusuke Seki Design Studio](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2016/03/japanese-traditional-blacksmithing-knife-factory-showroom-yusuke-seki-design-studio_dezeen_936_11.jpg)
The store is accessed via the factory down two flights of concrete stairs. Knives are displayed at the bottom of the stairs in a grid-like formation, upon a latticed wooden backdrop with interlocking shelves.
![Japanese traditional Blacksmithing knife factory showroom by Yusuke Seki Design Studio](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2016/03/japanese-traditional-blacksmithing-knife-factory-showroom-yusuke-seki-design-studio_dezeen_936_1.jpg)
Aiming to re-envision the typical locked knife case, the designer concealed the products behind a set of glass doors that are intended to be opened by visitors.
![Japanese traditional Blacksmithing knife factory showroom by Yusuke Seki Design Studio](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2016/03/japanese-traditional-blacksmithing-knife-factory-showroom-yusuke-seki-design-studio_dezeen_936_14.jpg)
"The security zone most often represented by the locked glass case has been rebranded as a zone of reverence," said Seki.
"A raised threshold forces visitors into a heightened state of awareness as they enter the area, mimicking those found in shrines and temples."
![Japanese traditional Blacksmithing knife factory showroom by Yusuke Seki Design Studio](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2016/03/japanese-traditional-blacksmithing-knife-factory-showroom-yusuke-seki-design-studio_dezeen_936_15.jpg)
"Tadafusa's shop seamlessly blends notions of danger and precision together with natural elements, elevating the knife of daily use into an elegant showcase for the industry's resurgence," he added.
![Japanese traditional Blacksmithing knife factory showroom by Yusuke Seki Design Studio](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2016/03/japanese-traditional-blacksmithing-knife-factory-showroom-yusuke-seki-design-studio_dezeen_936_4.jpg)
Seki has designed a number of shop and exhibition spaces that promote traditional Japanese crafts, including a kimono shop in Kyoto and an installation using hemp fabrics for a Tokyo textile brand.
![Japanese traditional Blacksmithing knife factory showroom by Yusuke Seki Design Studio](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2016/03/japanese-traditional-blacksmithing-knife-factory-showroom-yusuke-seki-design-studio_dezeen_936_5.jpg)
Most recently project, he used 25,000 pieces of crockery to raise the floor of a ceramics shop in Hasami, a town in Japan's Nagasaki prefecture that has produced pottery for around 400 years.
Photography is by Takumi Ota.