Sakai’s History and Traditional Industries “Everything starts from Sakai”

Sakai city was once named “Venice of the East,” flourishing as one of Japan’s leading trading/international cities.

In the medieval period, people, information and money gathered in Sakai from all over the world, leading to the formation of much culture, including the tea ceremony, incense sticks, and Japanese-style sweets.

A saying that “Everything starts from Sakai” was created because so many of Japan’s first items and techniques and so much of its culture came from Sakai.

The manufacturing technologies of blades and bicycle parts, which play active roles throughout the world; and kelp products, which are indispensable to Japanese tables, have all been passed down to the present day as traditional industries from Sakai then, the center of commerce and industry in Japan.