Why are high-end Japanese knives so expensive? What are you getting for that kind of money?
You can check the answer of the people under the question at Quora “japanese knife steel comparison“
About Reese
Written by: Reese
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Why are high-end Japanese knives so expensive? What are you getting for that kind of money?
You can check the answer of the people under the question at Quora “japanese knife steel comparison“
About Reese
Mainly because they’re handmade and have a high labour cost in them. They are also sought after which drives up the price.
They are sought after because they are predictable, well-designed and easy to care after, especially so if you cook a lot.
There is nothing particularly insane about them. There is a clear gradation of materials by their softness and consequently brittleness, which lets you choose a tool for the job. There are well-developed, traditional knife shapes aimed at a particular job, which, again, lets you choose the right tool for the job. And they are of high quality, which is expected from their price and they last a lifetime without degrading significantly. Other than that, there is nothing outstanding, but that’s enough if you’re looking for a tool, not for a bling.
That said, some Japanese knife makers such as Shun tend to overdo the bling aspect sacrificing the practical application.
To illustrate, consider these two Chinese cleavers.
This lovely looking tool:
and another one:
They both cost the same.
The top cleaver is made to look good, while the bottom one is made to do its job. The bottom one is way superior to the top one in use.
Therefore, even when choosing Japanese knives you should know where to look and what to look for. Not every Japanese knife is made for your needs and just choosing an expensive knife might be a shot in the wrong direction.
Wanbasion Black Stainless Steel Knife Set, Sharp Kitchen Knife
Conned and your ego stroked is what your getting. I spent years building, refurbishing and maintaining restaurants and I had this conversation with countless chefs. I would see that the head/sous chef and the culinary school graduates would usually have a beautiful roll of knives that they looked after as they would their firstborn. Then you would have the kitchen hands who were the the ones cutting slicing and dicing almost their entire shifts. These mainly used a basic colour coded handle knife from any catering supplies store.
Amazon Basics 14-Piece Kitchen Knife Block Set, High-Carbon
The expense is usually because it is handmade. The high end Japanese knives are always steel that can stain. Stainless steel knives are NEVER considered premium knives in Japan. Why? It is because stainless steel requires addition of chromium that ruins edge properties. Yes you will have a gleaming clean blade with a less exciting edge. It is all about “grain size”. The repeated beating and quenching techniques which can, of course be industrialised, (and ‘modernised’) as you say, is not trivial. For example, the beating removes the tiniest air bubbles making the edge and metal properties better. You need to know the recipe and the how’s and the dos and the donts. A good Japanese blacksmith is trying to reduce the grain size so that when you sharpen the edge you dont have the “powdering off” of the edge. The edge grain structure is so small that it actually takes a tapering edge without the edge powdering off.
Whether it keeps (or retains) this keen edge on practical use is yet another variable called brittleness vs softness. In any case, things like Rockwell Hardness is misleading because it does not tell you if your tool will take a keen edge. It gives you absolutely no clue about the quality and property of the grain structure. That is all there is to it. *One more point if I may: The addition of chromium for stainless ruins the grain structure even with best metallurgical techniques. No industrial solutions exist for this, as it is just chemistry. So it is a trade off that is embraced. Do you want a keen edge or do you want stain resistance. The Japanese aristocracy decided that the keen edge triumphs over the shiny stainless look. So premium Japanese knives are always easy to stain. Stains are harmless though. It is a willing trade off that is made in order to experience some of the best edges money can buy.
Thanks for reading. (first and last ones show a better edge… last one is a cutthroat razor )
Authentic XYJ Since 1986,Outstanding Ancient Forging,6.7 Inch Full Tang
You’re getting a piece of obsolete technology.
Steel alloy tech has come a long, long way since the early 20th Century. We now have “knife steels” that are damn near magical. CPM series steel alloys are at the cutting edge of this science.
You can read about knife steel tech here:
The most common “high-end” Japanese knife steel is VG-10, or its upgraded version VG-Max. These steel alloys were considered top of the line maybe 20 years ago when they were first developed, but have since been superseded by a whole host of more modern alloys.
You can get pocket knives in VG-10, but these would be considered mid-range at best.
The super high end Japanese knife steel is SG2, which is the first alloy made by modern powered steel tech. However, in 2021, this steel would be considered mid-range.
Misono makes a UX-10 series with AEBL, which is a Swedish steel that’s a bit tougher (less likely to chip) than VG-10 while retaining the razor edge.
More modest Japanese knives from MAC, Kai (not their Shun series) and other lesser brands would use common stainless steels (stainless steel just means it has a chromium content of 12.5% or higher).
—
Japanese knife steels have 2 big weaknesses compared to modern pocket knife steels:
Poor corrosion resistance:
This is a very bad quality on a kitchen knife that’s constantly getting wet. Chefs that use these knives have to keep the blade perfectly dry when not in use. Just storing them, even when dry, can lead to corrosion over time (there’s always humidity in the air).
Most modern pocket knife steels will basically never corrode unless you leave them in a saltwater bath for hours or days. There are some marine alloys like H1 that pretty much never corrode period, even when soaked in saltwater for days. I own a CPM4 pocket knife for almost 10 years now it has never had a single spot of rust. I’ve never oiled it or polished it either.
Poor edge malleability (easily chipped):
Traditional high-carbon crucible steel, while having excellent edge retention, is also very prone to chipping. It’s almost like a ceramic knife in this sense, but much more expensive.
The problem with chipped knives is that they’re very hard and expensive to fix. This knife you see above is basically done. It’s possible to take the edge up to the chip, but the effort it would require is not worth it, even with an expensive knife. You can’t do it on your own. You’d need to hire a specialist who will charge you an arm and a leg. Even if they fix it, the knife will look very different afterwards.
For Japanese cooking, chipping this is not a common fear, since they rarely have to deal with land animal bones. Fish bones are softer and don’t chip knives. But if dropped or otherwise abused, they can easily chip.
In the old days, high or low carbon steel was a trade-off. You either get good edge retention, or you get good malleability (and thus less chipping), you couldn’t get both. But with modern steels you can get both. The edge can be both super resilient, and malleable.
VG-10 is again the big culprit. VG-10 is very high in carbon, but lacking in enough chromium to balance it out. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that Japanese knife geometry is extremely fragile. They use 15 to 12 degree straight bevels for their double bevels and about 20 to 30 degrees for their single bevels. Misono uses an asymmetric bevel, which is… odd, but they claim it helps with right handed users.
These thin, straight bevels combined with the high carbon steel, make for an excellent cutting edge, like a razor. But they chip at the slightest abuse.
To remedy these chipping issues, rather than just using a modern CPM steel, the Japanese opt for softer cutting boards: end-grain boards that require their own maintenance (otherwise they will split apart).
A Japanese end-grain hinoki cutting board. These boards use cross sections of wood rather than slabs (called edge-grain). They’re super duper soft, like rubber almost. So you’re not likely to chip a knife. But they’re also horrendously expensive and require constant maintenance (you have to lube them up with mineral oil).
The bottom line is that high-end Japanese knives are not really worth their money for typical home cooks. You can get one if you cook a lot of fish, or softer vegetables/fruit. But any work with bones, hard stems, frozen meat etc. is a no go.
The better alternative are knifes that use “German steel”. This is mostly a marketing term, but if it refers to X50CrMo14, then you’re good to go. This steel, while far from a modern super steel, is unlikely to chip at least. Yes, the edge retention is poor when compared to VG-10, but you can just hone it on a $10 honing rod for a minute and you’re good to go again. Fixing a chipped blade requires far more time and effort, and your blade will look quite different afterwards.
X50CrMo14 got only about 1/2 the carbon as VG-10 (0.5% vs. 1%) while having the same amount of chromium (15% on both). So the corrosion resistance will be better. But you still want to keep it dry when not in use.
The best part of this kind of high-end German knife steel is that it’s cheap, or rather, available in cheap knives.
A real VG-10 will set you back at least $100 USD, even for a paring knife. X50CrMo14 can be had for less than 1/3 of that for the same type of knife. Sure, there are needlessly expensive brands like Wustof (made in Germany), but you can get the same steel with the same design from Mercer (made in Taiwan) for much less.
A Mercer 8″ French chef knife. Probably their most popular model. A high-end German knife steel made in Taiwan
There are some budget brands that also use VG-10, but… there’s no solid evidence that it’s real VG-10 even. These things are nearly impossible to check for even with mass spectrometry.
Despite this post… I, ironically, have a Japanese knife at home now, my Shun Kanso. I got it because it uses AUS10a, which is a softer steel than VG-10. I wanted to get another Mercer, but they just don’t make a small, lightweight santoku, so I went with the Shun in the end.
A Shun Kanso, one of the few Shun to use a soft steel, AUS10a. Worse edge retention, but better corrosion resistance, and less chipping. It’s more like a German steel knife.
Chicago Cutlery Belden 15 Piece Premium Kitchen Knife
I have to disagree with some of the answers. I am a huge fan of high quality Japanese knives. Brands like Misono are reasonably priced for their quality. There are very high end knives that are truly hand made with exotic handle materials. There are also high end steels which are highly corrosion resistant and can take a good edge. Personally, I prefer carbon steel blades. They are very easy to keep sharp, but do take more maintenance. Now, there are disadvantages compared to German-style blades. They have a much more acute grind making them sharper, but more prone to edge damage. This is great for vegetables and fish, but you need to be more careful when butchering a chicken. Anyway, I am a huge believer in simply getting one high end chef’s knife and one smaller knife….and maybe a bread knife. I cook a lot (not professionally) and the only knives I use is a Misono carbon steel chefs knife and a cheap Tojiro bread knife. I think I spent a little over $100 for my knife and you can get something similar in stainless for the same money. Oh, and ignore the Damascus blades if you want quality for the dollar. They are not better performing, but they do cost more…..they sure look nice though.
Spring Assisted Knife – Pocket Folding Knife – Military Style
Most ‘western’ knives are made of one piece of steel.
High end Japanese knives are made of multiple layers, forge welded together. Kasumi style blades typically have a hard steel core with a layer of softer steel on each side, which gives flexible support to the sharp but brittle core.
When you add in the extra materials cost and the extra labor of forge welding together multiple layers, and compound that with the generally small scale (artisan workshop) of lots of Japanese knife makers, what you get is very high cost. As others have mentioned, often what you are getting is a highly functional art object.
My best Japanese blade is a Usuba bōchō – made in layers (Kasumi) – and I can put a sharper edge on it than I can on my friend’s wonderful German blades.
12-Piece Color-Coded Kitchen Knife Set, 6 Knives with 6 Blade Guards
I’ve tried to figure this out myself, I believe it boils down to:
Craftsmanship: traditional craftsmen are much harder to find today, so to get a hand forged knife from an artisan is hard. You will hear chef owners talk about how good the balance is, and how effortlessly it cuts.
Materials: The type of steel used is top grade of course, and the material for the handles are special too. It maybe some rare wood, or deer antlers etc.
Scarcity and Privilege: If you add up the last two points, you will still be hard pressed to justify the price tag of a custom knife from one of the famous knife makers in Japan. So the last part is really more of a status symbol. It’s like asking why a Birkin cost 10k. Is it really that much better than other handbags, say, a Louis Vuitton? The answer is, “probably marginally better but infinitely more desirable.” (According to my wife…)
Mind you, I’ve never owned or used one of these custom made knives, and most sushi chefs I know wouldn’t let me touch theirs. (I’ve asked…) So can’t say for sure how much better they really cut really.
MOSFiATA 8 Super Sharp Professional Chef’s Knife
Allow me to discuss German knives as a regular guy who own’s some knives. German knives are generally stamped or forged. The majority are handmade particularly the expensive ones and the qc and the popular features of those knives such as the metallurgy decides the value. German knives costs are priced depending on their quality and employ, seldom as a result of exactly the brand.
The cost is results of many factors: the prime-end materials cost, extra labor of forge welding together multiple layers, the actual fact most of the high-priced knives are forged with a subtle and so they make them yourself (artisan workshop most often have 2-4 students blade Master orchestrating them). As others have mentioned, often what you are getting can be a highly functional art object.
Toughness will be the resistance with the knife to cracking. Cracks begin with a weak spot inside the steel, such as an inclusion or possibly a large primary carbide. So toughness is enhanced with a homogeneous structure that is certainly clear of impurities and large carbides. A fine-carbide steel grade will forever have higher toughness than the usual coarse-carbide grade which has a given hardness. Toughness is vital for professional and military knives.
Zelite Infinity Damascus Chef Knife 8 Inch, Japanese Chef Knife
Japanese knives are way more beautiful than German knives.
Let me discuss German knives as a regular guy who own’s some knives. German knives are usually stamped or forged. Most are handmade especially the expensive ones and the quality control and the features of those knives including the metallurgy decides the price. German knives prices are priced based on their quality and use, seldom because of just the brand name.
Japanese knives are however has a different characteristic and how it is perceived. Like others say, Japanese knives have been regarded as one of the articles that mattered many many years ago that people who makes it regard it as an are and part of a life and even soul. Tradition makes it more special. Blade making in Japan is not just business and factories, it is more personal (although most are created in modern day assembly-ish way), the way people look at it and how it is treated is of traditional level. You will notice that japanese knives can be ground to have and edge that is very very sharp. Compromise is focused on labor not on materials and design. They use multiple types of metal to serve good use. They want the sharpest and durable edge so they went to extreme measure by making a sandwiched metal. Western and German knives went for somewhere in the middle if you know what i mean.
Just look at the japanese blades especially how katanas are made. You will feel how special a good hand made japanese knife or any cutting edge are. Ive seen some japanese knives that i wont dare try to feel the edge coz it feels like it will cut you upon contact. Even some slightly cheaper (modern day damascus) knife looks so good you might want to carry it around the house, or in my case it is true.
ALBATROSS EDC Cool Sharp Tactical Folding Pocket Knife
Many of them are forged by hand. Yip. A guy sits at a forge and hammers your knife out of a block of steel, instead of it being cut from rolled steel. However, today often power hammers are used. This process has proven — even with all modern metallurgy — to have some advantages. It produces workpieces with
A more homogenous grain flow when compared to powder metallurgic or cast stock
less porosity
better response to heat treatment, especially when differential hardening is used (see below), due to the more homogenous distribution of austenite
amongst other advantages.
Some people here have made oversimplified claims, and I will try to clear up the fog a bit. First, there is a misunderstanding in the idea of a high end Japanese kitchen knife. They are not created to give the best bang for the buck or to be low maintenance. They are created to give you the perfect cutting results in their respective application. Keep two things in mind here: The produce to cut can easily cost several hundred dollar per kg, and anything less than a perfect cut is simply unacceptable for high end Japanese chefs. Imagine you are going to pay $150 for a wagyu teppan yaki, and your beef looks anything but perfect. I’d be miffed.
Also, steel was referenced. In my experience, steel has less of an impact on the performance of a blade than the heat treatment. You can have the best wonder steel in the world — if you fuck up the heat treatment, you have a piece of metal junk. And with proper heat treatment, you can make a mediocre steel perform extremely well. Next, it was claimed that the Japanese use sub-par steel. This claim is long obsolete and stems from a time where Japanese steel was made of ore-rich sand in a bloomery smelting process and the famous folding of the steel layers was actually required to homogenize the carbon content within the blade. Today, industrially produced steel is used.
What is true, however, is that often non-corrosion resistant, high carbon steel is used. The reason for that is that high carbon steels are easier to sharpen than corrosion resistant steels. However, they are not as prone to corrosion as some people think. Wipe them off after use (something you should do with ANY knife, anyway) and give them a light coating of food oils from time to time. I have several high carbon knives, and they are as spotless as my corrosion-resistant knives.
Let’s have a look at a good example for a lower high-end Japanese kitchen knife:
A Hitohira (brand) Kikuchiyo (smith) Kyuzo.
The blade shape is that of a gyuto, which of all Japanese kitchen knives is the one which is most comparable to a western style kitchen knife. Note the absence of hammer marks and the presence of the line separating the bevel. This line is called a hamon in Japanese, literally “waves”. It shows that the blade was hardened differentially, through a process called yaki ire . Basically, the part of the blade towards the spine is covered in clay or other heat resistant material, which prevents the covered part of the blade to heat up to the so called “critical temperature” (becoming non-magnetic), while the uncovered part does heat up to critical temperature. Now, why all the fuzz? Remember the more homogenous distribution of austenite in the blade caused by the actual forging? Here is where it comes into play: When the blade is quenched, the part of the blade heated up to critical temperature builds out a crystalline structure called martensite of the austenite contained in the blade. Martensite is what makes a blade hard. So now, we have a relatively hard edge and a relatively soft spine. A hard edge has a longer edge retention and — as grinding specialists have assured me (I am not super good with grinding) — can be ground to a better working sharpness than softer edges. However, the relatively soft spine retains more strength. BTW, it was mentioned that Japanese kitchen knives are more prone to chipping. While this is true, due to the high content of martensite in the edge, I question the relevance. A knive is a cutting tool, not a chopping tool and when you drop a blade, it does not make much of a difference: a bent tip or a chipped tip both have to be repaired.
High end Japanese kitchen knives are ground by hand (as opposed to fully automatic), to almost a mirror finish. This involves multiple steps, from a low grit to a high grit in various increments
Mind you, all this is done by hand, which requires time, which translates to working hours, which translates to wages. And Japan is not a cheap country to live in by any means.
It is for you to decide whether you can make good use of the properties a high end Japanese kitchen knife offers. In my experience, most people cannot. I for sure cannot.
hth
Bonus: You should refrain from those knives with hammer marks. They are just show, do not give you any advantage and actually make blade maintenance harder.
Smith & Wesson Extreme Ops SWA24S 7.1in S.S. Folding Knife with 3.1in
Jknives aren’t really that expensive if you compare their cutting performance, know the sweetspot for bang-for-your-buck, and look at the prices for western customs. The absolute peak of cutting performance (cutting ability + edge geometry + food release + ease of sharpening + edge retention) comes at a surprisingly low cost when you are looking at Jknives compared to high-end westerns. Below $300, in fact. Above the $300 range and you’re looking at additional labor, a greater focus on aesthetics, possibly a highly-demanded brand or a famous smith, and other factors such as handle materials and other stuff.
An added plus is the usual enhanced edge retention of Jknives. My friend’s Wusthof, for instance, will require steeling maybe an hour or two into heavy prep. My aogami #2 Kohetsu will keep a serviceable edge for days, even weeks, without any touch-up (although I usually strop it, at least). We’re not talking about a few hours extra edge retention. We’re talking days or weeks here, with some powder metallurgy steels more often used in Jknives lasting months without a proper sharpening and constant use. Yes, my Kohetsu was around $120 and the Wusthof was around $90, but the difference is night and day. Other traits, such as the Wusthof being like 60% heavier than my Kohetsu…..well, the Kohetsu is a bargain, I’d say.
Jknife makers almost always have great consideration for a knife’s edge geometry while creating knives, which is 80% of the knife’s cutting ability and food release properties. Sharpness doesn’t matter; sharpness is what you make of it over the stones once you receive the knife, so a 5/10 edge out of the box should not put you off. You’re already getting a knife with a better edge geometry and grind most of the time when buying Japanese. Jknife makers also EXPECT you to put the edge you like on the knife once you receive it, so a moderate out-of-box edge is not a defect. You’re supposed to know what to do with the knife.
Jknife makers are also masterful with heat treatment and forging. A Chinese factory or even a US production line will screw up heat treatment more often than Japanese smiths. A great steel doesn’t matter if heat treatment is crap or inconsistent. Think of steel as an ingredient like a vegetable or a meat. A master chef will obviously produce something far better than an amateur even with the same cooking method. Same with knife smiths. You’d be shocked to see how much of a difference a good heat treat makes compared to a shitty, inconsistent one. You don’t typically advertise an ingredient but a name or a brand. You go to The XYZ Restaurant for their XYZ signature dish, not to eat a plate of meat with onions.
Other characteristics such as maintenance, construction, or labor involved in forging vary wildly. Some Jknife makers save costs by buying pre-laminated steel billets, which are perfectly fine to use and very precisely centered. Others will use laser-cut, roll forged, or stamped laminated billets to cut down on labor, which is also fine. Others do everything the old-fashioned way, which will cost much more. This includes smiths who make honyaki blades, which are mono-steel blades thorough hardened with a clay temper line like the traditional Japanese katana. Honyaki are expensive because they are harder to sharpen and fail more often in the quench (they will snap in half) than laminated knives. Quench failure will also affect the price of knives. Aogami super laminated knives hardened to 63 HRC are relatively consistent to make compared to aogami super laminated knives hardened to 67 HRC, which will fail up to 70% of the time in the quench. Same steel, same construction, just different success rates due to hardness variation.
A knife clad in soft iron will generally be less expensive unless more labor was needed because the smith laminated the knife himself. Properties such as stainlessness and such will depend on the type of steel used. The smith’s responsibility is to bring out the best characteristics of the steel he/she is working with. The characteristics expressed by the knife are a product of that skill and experience. They will also differ depending on the steel even if the smiths are equally skilled since the formulae for the steels are chemically different. Knife steels constantly balance certain traits, such as resistance to corrosion, hardness, toughness, wear resistance, and ease of sharpening. The smith will often also choose an edge grind appropriate to the hardness and type of steel used, as well as the intended use of the knife (some steels cannot handle extremely steep edges and many steels exhibit different properties at different hardnesses, for example). It’s like a scale, you add to one trait and you often must take away from another. Each user has different preferences and each steel has different balances.
Furthermore, Jknife makers are very conscientious about the ergonomics of their knives. I’m not talking about a weird shaped handle. I’m talking about subtle details such as a relieved spine and/or choil, selecting handle material to move the point of balance foward toward the blade, thinness and taper to the blade to enable light weight while maintaining good food separation and cutting ability, etc. There is a lot more to usage and comfort than just a squiggly handle (which is arguably ugly and uncomfortable, anyway).
All in all, a good Jknife that boasts high performance and everything else you’re looking for starts at around $100. You obviously have to know what to look for, but the value is there. Performance maxes out at around $300, also again if you know what to look for. This is actually inexpensive compared to custom knifemakers who can easily charge like $800+ or even $1000+ for a knife. The knives that are $100 to $300 and good cutters usually feature pre-laminated steel with stainless cladding, some use stamped steel, and that’s about it. The skill of the workshop takes care of everything else aside from these labor-saving measures. For all that labor (try making a knife yourself), the price truly is low. I mean….look at Chelsea Miller’s knives if you want to see an overhyped knife that will be outperformed by almost any $150 Japanese knife made by one of the Takefu Knife Village masters. The Chelsea Miller is $800. Obviously, makers like Halcyon Forge, Carter, Bloodroot Blades, etc. are way better than Chelsea Miller, but their prices are very comparable to one another.
Yet, the Chelsea Millers have a waitlist of up to a full year. What exactly are people paying for and why are they waiting so long for that kind of knife? People don’t know what to look for, have money to burn, or incorrectly associate cost with quality as an absolute rule rather than a rule of thumb. Or they associate “custom” with the high price when, in reality, they can buy a stock knife and turn it into a “custom” for much cheaper by sending it in to someone who does handle work.
I’ll give an example. I consider Kurosaki Yu’s R-2/SG2 knives from his Shizuku line to be absolutely as good as kitchen knives can get. Yu and his older brother Makoto are both very talented knifemakers associated with the Takefu Knife Village. Yu uses a pre-laminated steel to save labor, chose a steel that has insane edge retention, treated the steel to a perfect hardness to enable good retention while keeping it reasonably easy to sharpen, has put an edge grind on the knives that enable them to slide through food with no effort yet offer good food release, has great fit and finish, and used a steel that is stainless so needs minimal maintenance. The knife has a relieved spine and rounded choil for comfort, the balance of the knife is slightly forward of my pinch grip enabling the weight of the blade to help me cut. Overall, the knife is only around half the weight of a Wusthof Ikon for easy, long sessions of comfortable prep. The knife offers a good flat spot at the heel for effortless push cutting as well as enough curve at the tip to enable comfy rock chopping. The tip is thin and precise enough for detail work but sturdy enough to do things like fillet a fish. The blade features a fine distal taper and is just thick enough to enable a convex grind and good stiffness, just thin enough to eliminate a lot of weight and wedging.
Price? I got my 210mm Kurosaki Shizuku gyuto for only $260. Yet it is functionally superior, more comfortable, and better priced than several more expensive knives I’ve handled, some of which are over $1000. I’ve had it for 2 years, love cooking often, and I’ve literally only needed to sharpen it TWICE. This is coming from a guy whose legs and arms are half-shaved from testing knife edges all the time and is obsessive about keeping everything sharp. Is it worth it? Seeing how I have around 50 more years to live according to statistics and this knife will outlast me, I would give it a resounding “yes.” Let me repeat that…you are getting one of the best knives anyone can possibly make for just $260. That’s not expensive at all. It’s less that some car payments you guys might be making. The cost of 2 or 3 bottles of whiskey you might like.
A lot of people think knives are just thin pieces of metal put on a handle and finished off with a sharpened edge, but there is SO MUCH more than that when it comes to a great knife design. Japanese smiths are far ahead of most western knife makers. If you know what you’re looking for in a knife and don’t abuse your things, you’d choose a Japanese knife every time. If your idea of expensive is something over $30, you’re probably not going to be able to afford a good Jknife. However, if you recognize that a $200 blade that far outperforms an $800 custom is a good buy and as good as any knife can hope to get, Jknives are relatively INEXPENSIVE. There are also more than enough of these knives to go around if people only did their research.
Here are some pieces from my collection (my Kohetsu and my Kurosaki are the third and fourth knives from the left, respectively, in the multi-knife picture):
imarku Japanese Chef Knife – Pro Kitchen Knife 8 Inch Chef’s Knives