Bjorn Heiberg is a connoisseur of the cutting edge of Japanese knives. Japanese swords are famous around the world for their unrivaled quality. These days, smiths use the same techniques that were perfected for sword-making to craft top-quality knives. Heiberg is not a knife maker himself. Rather, he owns cutlery stores where he sells the finest knives made by the most skilled smiths. Many of these smiths can be found in Sakai, Osaka, one of the centers of the Japanese knife-making tradition.

The Japanese fondness for life in miniature dates back centuries, and from it arose many types of intricately crafted tiny items that are still common in everyday life today. This time on Japanology Plus, we look at the Japanese enthusiasm for crafting and appreciating miniatures. Our guests include the internationally acclaimed diorama artist Takuji Yamada. And in Plus One, the difficulty of punching a tiny hole in a piece of metal that is to be used in a realistic model of a train.