Japan's hand-forged knives a slice of samurai metallurgy

Have 6 Japanese knives varying in size and quality.

The best 2 are really excellent. They Sharpen well on whetstones - 400, 1000, 3000.

The next 2 are pretty good but don't hold edge like the other 2.

The last 2 are dogs imo, but my wife likes them because they're smaller and lighter.

All Japanese knives are not the same. All Japanese knives are not great.

But the better ones are top notch. I've given many as presents to overseas friends / family over the years.

And Japanese knives retain the flavours of food intact - now come on - lol.

Try using a Shigefusa from Sanjo Niigata.

"Japanese steel allows the flavors of the food to remain intact," Matsuo added.

Don't know about all that, but if I were back in America and able to BBQ and buy meats like before, I'd absolutely invest in some Japanese knives.

Japanese knives are harder (HRC 58-62) than German/French ones (HRS 56/58).

Steel honing rods do not actually sharpen. They correct the edge rolling that occurs on softer steels, and is properly used on German knives. But Japanese knives will not benefit from a steel rod, and using a ceramic rod is usually recommended. And that's only if a rod is desired. Japanese knives do best solely on water stones.

True "damascus" imade from Indian wootz steel. What we all call damascus today is pattern welded. And this is what the Japanese folding method is close to. No Japanese swords were ever made in damascus.

The subject of knife and blade making is fascinating. For more than a thousand years, Europeans were unable to duplicate the swords made in Arabian countries. Finally, with high tech analysis, it is only in the last few years that scientists have been able to analyze and duplicate what Arabian artisans figured out over a thousand years ago.

Japanese knife and sword making is also mind bogglingly artful. Using two different layers of steel, to perfect a perfect blade, is something I think no one else in the world figured out how to do.

I am curious if Japanese sword makers were influenced by ancient Arabian sword makers. The very term Damascus steel suggests that the possibility is real.

I have about 9 or 10 Japanese-steel knives that I have had forever. They sharpen right up with a steel (once in a while I use water stones to really sharpen them) and they look brand new after all these years. German knives require a lot of wet-stoning so I gave those away. Get Japanese knives in your kitchen. You won't regret it.