This listing is for an attractive small box set of some fine examples of old Japanese steel cutlery.  It includes four Maruei carbon steel "sushi chef's paring knives" (other eBay users label them as such anyway) and the box is labeled as being from Yokohama.  The original box is heavily worn.  The blades show signs of use and they could use some truing/sharpening if you intend to use them (cutting paper with them takes a bit of effort - the knives don't glide through it).  All of the edges and tips are intact (no chips), with one of them having a very minor bend at the tip.  However, the blades, which are made substantially thick pieces of steel (, all do have patina and aging (so do the pins in the handles), as well as residue from the wood sheathes.  The wood handles and sheathes are in varying condition (some feel dry, some look fresh) but they all do smell strongly of oils/waxes used to treat the wood and I'm unsure whether this is due to how they were cared for over time, if this is a recent change, or if this is how they were originally packaged.  These are offered as-is, as-found, for use, display, preservation, or restoration.  I have not and will not do anything to these pieces as many buyers prefer to decide what to do and how to do it.

These could be quite old, either pre-war or post-war, likely the 1940s to 1960s.  Similar items I can find online have been listed as such, and are also deemed Samurai Sword Steak knives and silly stuff like that - at least one of the knives does have a Samurai-sword style wavy finish to it when illuminated from certain angles.  The box is labeled "T 3[?]", "50", "1 Set", and "Yokohama Japan".  If it does indeed say "T 3", and if it stands for "Taisho 3", that would date the box to 1914(!)... this is doubtful but wouldn't that be impressive (as it would imply the box and these knives inside are antiques)?  I'm not knowledgeable enough to confirm this.  Yokohama would have been fairly newly open for trade at that point in history, and the name Maruei is associated with cold-rolled steel as well as a department store chain -- finding information is hard (please chime in if you are in the know, or if you can translate the box label).

The sheathes are a very tight fit and this may be related to the condition of the wood involved.  TAKE EXTREME CAUTION WHEN ATTEMPTING TO UNSHEATHE THESE BLADES!  Each knive measures about 8" (inches) sheathed, 7.5" (inches) unsheathed, with about a 3" (inch) blade.

Check out the images provided above.  Thank you for looking!