You've heard of Slow Food, well Hida is all about Slow Woodworking. It's the anti-Home Depot. If quality, craftsmanship (and dare I say, the Zen of woodworking) are for you, Hida is your place. Check out the beautiful calendars for yourself or the carpenter in your life, as well as random Japanese wares like geta or the super-fantastic "lil' smoothie" nail file on the back wall. read more

They were very helpful in finding a super sharp knife to replace my $6 chunk o metal from Target. The lady took her time to explain the differences between the steel and handles. Def recommend coming here for the best knife in the drawer. read more

Excellent salesman helped my dad and I pick out a kitchen knife. He was knowledgeable and friendly, and -- most importantly -- his priority was getting the right knife for me, not selling me something expensive. 5/5, will return. read more

I'm working on an Ikebana installation for the Oakland Museum and needed advice about cutting slots in fresh bamboo. One of the workers at Hida spent at least a half hour with me. She not only recommended tools, she took me in the back, showed me how to use them and let me practice. Outstanding! read more

Lovely place and lovely people. Tried their sharpening services, based on sterling reviews. What an exciting prospect to find a place close to home that takes pains to sharpen properly! Sadly, I can report that I won't be needing protective gloves to use my knives. One Henckels, one Forschner, reasonable quality knives that received far too little attention. My dear spouse had abused them - trying to carve stainless countertop, banged around in a drawer unprotected, etc., but I had high hopes of restoring at least to original sharpness. Based on this initial foray, I might be back with a similarly mistreated set of Chicago cutlery steak knives? Didn't happen. I admit I tried to get something for nothing, but I will now be headed across the Bay to a place on the peninsula that will give any knife the attention required. That said, it was a delightful experience, and I will probably be back to browse the unique tool selection. read more

This place is amazing-- knife sharpening, and bonsai tools like you wouldn't believe!! I will be recommending this place to anyone who is interested in bonsai, as an indispensable resource!! read more

Fun small store consisting almost entirely of sharp things. Also the best place to make a reservation to have a knife sharpened.

What can I say if you want quality gardening tools, knives or wood working tools this is the spot! The staff is very helpful and knowledgable about everything in the shop. Pro tip if you want your knife sharpened there is a waiting line out a few months so plan accordingly, but it's well worth it. read more

VERY cool store. This place has all the legit gear you need to keep your knives sharp. Employee was very polite, listened to my use-case, and gave me what seems to be a great product at a fair price. I can't wait to come back and buy some knives. read more

What a wonderful find! Unusual selection of wares and lovely customer service. Got a gardening tool. Got a gardening tool here today that the recipient would never expect, but definitely will use-- the perfect kind of gift. read more

These guys are the best when it comes to Japanese wood tools. I only come here when I need hand tools to buy for my business. Great service and very knowledgable staff. read more

This is a terrific store specializing in Japanese tools. I am definitely happy with the carbon steel Hori Hori knife I bought at Hida Tools. It definitely does the trick as I'm able to easily battle the neighbor's encroaching crab grass with my handy Hori Hori. On another note, the Hori Hori does make for a great (albeit a little heavy) backpacking trowel. I will definitely return to Hida Tools for my gardening tools. read more

Very good place to get fine Japanese wood tools. Aesthetically pleasing space as well, always a pleasure.

Thank you!!! Beautiful and magical store, and the only hardware atore in the área with a metric and US standard measuring tape! Thank you for your unique and masterful shop!!! read more

If Chris had only spent as much effort finding out WHY Hida's knife-sharpening policy has changed instead of merely calling it ridiculous, he could have found out that the reason is that its former "super-sharpener" no longer works there. Instead, another member of the staff will sharpen knives bought there,but with his other chores in the business, doesn't have time to sharpen all of the knives that people used to bring. read more

I adore this place. Excellent tools. I'm a professional gardener and love their hori-horis, hand hoes, various knives, and sharpening services. Highly recommended. read more

Hilda is an absolutely wonderful shop for those who covet fine craftsman tools! Such selections are not available in conventional tool stores, and the staff are extremely knowledgeable. read more

Hida is known as the best place to get knives sharpened in the East Bay, and it's cheap (just $6/knife) but you have to make an appointment. I asked the lady, "Is it hard to sharpen knives on a wet stone?" She was very nice and said, no, and that she would show me. She showed me how to do it, and said I didn't need a fancy stone. She sold me a $28 stone -- I had almost bought one of those crappy knife sharpeners they sell at a high end cooking store for $100. It works great! Hida is a jewel. read more

Specialized Japanese tool shop with an impressive collection. Staff was very knowledge, helpful, and patient in describing the differences in traditional Japanese knives. Very unique place. read more

Used to love Hida Tool for their amazing hand sharpening service... no more! They have apparently changed the policy to only allow knives purchased at Hida to be hand sharpened. That's pretty ridiculous. They've lost a customer. And I was even thinking about buying an additional knife here. Why would I do that if I have to take them different places to get sharpened? read more

Just created a yelp account purely to review this place. Yep I'm usually to lazy to review anything but this place just destroyed a $120 Knife of mine. I usually sharpen my pocket knives on my Spyderco sharpmaker which works really good usually, but this particular knife has a really hard steel for the blade and was not responding well to my usual tactics. So I took it here because I had heard pretty good things from various people, plus when I went in they were backed up about 2 months out for sharpening so I figured they must be pretty good at it not to mention they carry quality Japanese Chef's knives. So I waited for them to do it and went to pick it up today and DAMN!!!! It looked like someone took a grinder to my blade man!!!!! it was scratched and gouged and crooked. It was messed up!!!!!! This place sucks!!!!!! read more

This used to be a good place to have knives sharpened, but now they say they are booked up for 4 months. Sharpening a knife should take no more than 5 minutes. read more

As a woodworker that has had years of experience, It is nothing short of a small wonderland at Hida. The absolute joy Of doing business with a company that is so concerned about your needs cannot be understated. Ive bought gifts of kitchen knives, small sissors - good for fly tyers, nail clippers gardening gear. Expensive yes, but quality Always comes at a price. Although tools can take you into A cost area few can afford you are never pressured to buy Anything you don't need. I live 75 miles from Hida and go when I can. Once I walked from the Bart station after taking Amtrak,, the gentleman Said - please in the future call us and we could pick You up from the Bart station- how wonderful the world Would be if this was the way all did business. I never try to shop prices, Hida wants you to Be happy with your purchase, and when you return That second time you are greeted as a friend Not just a customer. Everything I have bought works above expectation, I feel the need to visit Hida soon. To replace my Broken mitsukawa.... read more

This is THE place for gardening tools or any tool that cuts, including excellent nail clippers. Great place for gifts. I even like their vegetable peeler, which is better than the offerings at Wm Sonoma and half the price and super sharp. Hida often has discounts at Christmas time and, if you're lucky, will offer a gorgeous Japanese calendar with purchase. A gem of a store. read more

Visited Hida for the first time yesterday after attempting to go to Japan Wood Worker in Alameda. They have been our main place for high quality Japanese tools for years so we were disappointed to find out that they had closed. Luckily, Hida is a great replacement. We brought our Japanese kitchen knives to be sharpened and even though they usually require an appointment, Chica was nice enough to sharpen our knives while we waited. She did an excellent job too! After 2 years of use, they are like the day we bought them again. We took the opportunity to peruse their excellent collection of knives while we waited, and ended up purchasing another excellent kitchen knife. I highly recommend this place if you're looking for the highest quality Japanese tools for the kitchen, garden or woodworking. As an added bonus, their customer service is excellent as well. If you happen to walk by their shop, you might just see the Hida mascot (a pretty grey cat) sitting in the window. read more

I brought a very dull serrated bread knife to Hida and they sharpened and re-serrated it. $8! Sharp as new. And the knife guy at Sur La Table told me it wasn't worth trying and I should replace it. read more

This place bar non has the best gardening tools you will find on the planet. After buying mediocre tools at places like Home Depot I am hooked on the place. A fantastic variety of pole pruners most of I've never seen before. If you even a minor amount of gardening investing in a really good tool is going to make that activity faster, less tranuous, and a lot more fun. read more

This is one of the best places to buy steel knives. They have a great selection at an awesome price. Besides the knives, they have all sorts of useful Japanese garden tools. I recommend checking this place out! I have a lot of knives and they stay sharp forever. Plus they'll sharpen the knives there for you! read more

Very classic, established Japanese woodworking store. Planes, chisels, saws... delightfully small and local. Plus, there's a very sweet shop cat. read more

Great place for japanese woodworking and gardening tools. Beats even the venerated Soko Hardware in SF's Japantown. Great team of people, too. Very knowledgeable about their products. read more