Taking a Japanese Knife Home

A knife from Kyoto flies home in your checked bag, never in the cabin. Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism bans all bladed items from being carried onto aircraft, and for checked baggage it tells passengers to ask their airline, so check your airline’s rules before you fly. Flying from an airport in the United States, the TSA allows knives in checked bags only, sheathed or securely wrapped. Until the airport, keep the knife wrapped and out of reach: in Japan, carrying a blade over 6 cm without a justifiable reason is not allowed, and taking home a knife you bought is named as a justifiable reason.

On the plane: Japan

The ministry’s security page puts the rule in one line: 刃物類その他凶器となりうる物品全てについて、航空機への持込みを禁止 — “all bladed items and every other article that could serve as a weapon are banned from being taken onto aircraft” (Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, checked November 2026). That covers a knife you made, a knife you bought and a knife you sharpened in a class.

The ministry’s page for passengers does not set a rule for checked baggage; it tells you to ask your airline. Read your airline’s page before you pack, and the page of every airline on a connecting route.

On the plane: the United States

The TSA’s own page is short: knives are not allowed in carry-on bags, and are allowed in checked bags, sheathed or securely wrapped (Transportation Security Administration, page updated 14 September 2023, checked November 2026). Flying anywhere else, ask your airline.

Before the airport: carrying it in Japan

Japan’s rule on carrying blades is explained by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department: a blade longer than 6 cm may not be carried without a justifiable reason, and buying a blade at a shop and taking it home is given as an example of a justifiable reason. “Carrying” here means having it with you ready to use at once (the department’s page on knives, updated 14 August 2025, checked November 2026). In practice: keep the knife packed, not loose in a pocket or a day bag.

On trains, the transport ministry’s guideline asks that a blade over 6 cm be kept so that it cannot be taken out at once: in a sheath, or wrapped, for example in newspaper, and put in a bag or a box, or in the packing the shop gave you (Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism guideline, checked November 2026). The forged knife from the Sakyo Ward workshop goes home in a box with a bag, which is that kind of packing.

Each rule from the issuing body’s own page, checked November 2026.

Packing it

Keep the box or the shop’s wrapping the knife came in; it is the simplest way to carry it on a train and to pack it in a checked bag. A knife that leaves a workshop is sharp, so wrap the edge before it goes in the suitcase. Once you land, the rules on bringing a knife into your own country are your own customs authority’s to set; check them before you travel.

If you have not made or bought your knife yet, Kyoto knife making class compares the workshops and Kyoto knife shops has Aritsugu’s hours at Nishiki Market.