What It Is

The only remaining maker of the hand-forged 士林刀 (Shilin Cutter) — the sole knife ever invented in and named for a specific neighbourhood of Taipei. The knife was created by 郭合 (Kuo He) in approximately 1869–1871 in what was then called 八芝蘭 (Patsiran) — a phonetic rendering of a Ketagalan indigenous place name, later renamed Shilin under Japanese colonial administration. The knife's original name was therefore 八芝蘭刀; the Shilin name came with the district's renaming. The current proprietor is fifth-generation 郭明讓 (Kuo Ming-rang), who continues to forge each blade individually by hand. The storefront reads: 僅此一家，別無分號 — "only one shop, no branches."

The 士林刀 is a slipjoint folding knife with a distinctive deep-bellied 竹葉 (bamboo-leaf) blade profile and an 茄柄 (eggplant-shaped) handle, most traditionally in ox horn or deer antler. At the height of the tradition, more than ten knife shops operated on and around Da Bei Street in Shilin. Kuo He Chi is the only survivor. The knife won awards at industrial expositions during the Japanese colonial period.

The shop is a 5–8 minute walk from Shilin Night Market, which draws millions of visitors annually. Essentially none of them find it.

Location

District: Shilin (士林區)
Address: No. 74, Da Bei Road (台北市士林區大北路74號1樓)
Nearest MRT: Shilin Station (士林站, Red Line), exit toward Da Dong Road — walk northeast along Da Dong Road (大東路) to Da Bei Road (大北路); approximately 5–8 minutes.
Phone: (02) 2881-2856 / (02) 2880-5829
Website: shilin-knife.com.tw

Opening Hours

Monday–Saturday, 09:30–21:00. Closed Sunday. Call ahead for the traditional folding knife (士林折刀): each is made by hand in very small batches; stock may be exhausted or require a short wait. Kitchen knives and machetes are more reliably available as walk-ins. International customers have waited up to one month for a made-to-order folding knife.

Price Range

  • Hand-forged Shilin Cutter folding knife (士林折刀), ox-horn or deer antler handle: NTD 3,000–8,500 depending on blade length (1–6 sun / ~3–18 cm) and handle material
  • Own-production machete (開山刀): NTD 2,800–5,000
  • Own-production kitchen knives (廚刀), Bakelite handle: NTD 2,800–4,500
  • Stocked Japanese brands (Tojiro, Global, KASUMI, Masahiro): various

Specific Items Worth Buying

士林折刀 — Traditional Shilin Cutter folding knife, NTD 3,000–8,500. The bamboo-leaf blade with ox-horn or deer antler eggplant handle, forged individually by the fifth-generation proprietor. Call ahead to confirm stock. If none is available, a short order wait is typical. This is the primary reason to visit.
開山刀 — Kaisan machete, NTD 2,800–5,000. Same in-house hand-forged production; more reliably in stock as a walk-in. A working knife in the same tradition as the folding model.
廚刀 — Kitchen knife, Bakelite handle series, NTD 2,800–4,500. Most practical and reliably stocked option. A functional kitchen knife with documented five-generation provenance.

Why It Is Unusual

The 士林刀 carries a specific etymological thread: the Patsiran place name is a phonetic rendering of a Ketagalan indigenous word; the colonial renaming to Shilin created the knife's current name. No other souvenir from the tourist districts encodes that layered provenance — Ketagalan Aboriginal settlement → Japanese colonial renaming → modern district — in a single object.

The knife has been sought by both domestic and international blade collectors; US and Japanese customers have placed month-long orders. It appears in CommonWealth Magazine's century-old-shop series and Taiwan Panorama. It does not appear in Lonely Planet Taiwan, mainstream Taipei travel guides, or any tourist-facing promotional material.

Verified currently open and trading: Feb 2024 hand-forged folding knife acquisition documented by collector blog (Supply Kendy, Pixnet); BigGo price comparison data updated Nov 2025; active website (shilin-knife.com.tw); Taipei Travel official listing (travel.taipei/en/shop/details/592).