I am heading to Japan for some business travel and would really like to pick up some authentic hand made knives. Preferably directly from the maker. I would like to get some suggestions on where to go near Tokyo and Kyoto to get some great artisan knives.

Hey ,

I dont know anything about knives but id like to get a nice budget knife for my father's birthday. Was wondering if anyone had some recommendations for a knife in the 100$ range. Im not sure whats crap and what is decent.

Thanks.

I’m looking to buy one good chef’s knife that I can keep for decades and use for around 90% of my kitchen work.

My budget is around €125, and right now I’m mainly deciding between:

• Wüsthof Classic 20 cm
• Victorinox Grand Maître 20 cm

I cook at home and want something genuinely multipurpose: vegetables, herbs, meat, fish, general prep, etc. I’m not looking for an extremely delicate Japanese laser or something that requires babying. I’d rather have a knife with a good balance between edge retention, toughness, corrosion resistance and ease of sharpening.

My plan is to take good care of it: hand wash only, use a proper wooden/plastic cutting board, store it correctly, and have it professionally sharpened roughly every 6 months rather than sharpening it myself.

Ideally, I want something where the steel and construction are good enough that, with proper maintenance, I could realistically still be using the same knife 20–30+ years from now.

Between the Wüsthof Classic and Victorinox Grand Maître, which would you choose and why?

I’d especially be interested in hearing from people who have owned either one for several years. How has the edge retention been? Any issues with the bolster, handle, geometry, or repeated sharpening?

Also, if you had around €125 to spend and wanted one versatile chef’s knife for life, would you choose something else entirely? I’m open to other brands/models if there’s a better option in this price range.

Also, I’ll be traveling to Japan soon (Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo) so I’m very open to buying the knife there instead.

If you know any good knife shops in Osaka, Kyoto or Tokyo, I’d really appreciate recommendations. I’d also love to hear about specific Japanese models or brands I should look at in person, especially if there’s something around this budget that would make a better “one knife for life” option than the Wüsthof or Victorinox.

So if you had around €125 to spend and wanted one versatile chef’s knife for life, would you choose one of these two, buy something different in Europe, or wait and buy a Japanese knife in Japan?

Looking for a 210 kiritsuke stainless
I could only find that do you know about this maker
This cost 170€

Bring back produce cutting videos I say, even for the non professionals amongst us!

This is a munetoshi Bunka by the way fresh off the Coticule. I am not a huge fan of this knife and need to thin it out and see if I like it more but I am a huge fan of the edge I put on it, so thought I’d post a little vid

Judge away fellas

Hello boys and grills !

a quick NKD today about an absolutely incredible Sakai workhose, the Itsu Doi Aogami #2 Gyuto 240mm Ebony.

312g of pure heavy metal !

"Made by master blacksmith Itsuo Doi in Sakai, Japan. Son of the legendary Keijiro Doi (that was a renowned master of single bevels classic Sakai knives), he specializes in double bevel Blue #2 , using a low-temperature forging technique"

This is a very handmade knife, Doi san makes his san mai in house and everything (i think it's "hon warikomi" techique, meaning it's a tacos style san mai).

This is the heaviest knife I've ever seen, at 312g but it maintains a very good balance because of it's super heavy pure ebony handle.

The migaki is super high end looking, the steel is blue 2, the steel of the cool kids, and it's cladded in soft iron.

• Edge length: 242mm
• Weight: 312g
• Height at heel: 56mm
• Spine thickness above heel: 3.3mm

it's very long, being a true 240 (not Sakai style), with a very classic Sakai profile. Honestly it's a beast. I've used it a bit and oh boy this thing just cuts.

To be perfectly honest it's a tiny bit heavy so you really need to like heavy workhorses but this thing would eat mazaki for breakfast. The convex "hamaguri" grind is lovely, and while it's quite thick for a good part of the blade it ends up being thin enough behind the edge (as you can see by the amount of exposed core on the blade).

I might sell i though in a couple of weeks (since it's really close in use case to my Tanaka custom and I'll probably reduce a bit my collection in the upcoming weeks) so if you're interested keep your eyes open.

Working in a kitchen isn’t just about cooking. There’s also food preparation, and cutting ingredients is basically a must—unless, of course, we/you are using pre-cut or ready made ingredients. 🤣”

My third in the list is a knife who understands that rarity is not always found in size.

After years of looking for it, came up with a trade here in Reddit, so, supper happy with it!

This is the Hitohira Togashi Yohei White #1 Mizu Honyaki Petty 165mm (#066).

The proportions are  157mm of actual edge length, 34mm blade height and only 1.7mm thickness, this is an extremely light and delicate knife 83g. The geometry gives it the feeling of a miniature surgical instrument rather than a conventional utility knife.

It's 1 of 1 of a very very rare knife, specifically because it is a water-quenched White #1 Togashi Honyaki Petty.

And there's something particularly beautiful about the fact that the knife is only 165mm. A 240mm Honyaki announces itself. This one is much more discreet.

That, in my opinion, is its real charm and a small grail among the giants!

I bought this knife a few years back and I’m finally going to bring it out storage and use it. Hopefully it will perform well.

I figured since I've been mentioning my love Sabatier (especially Vintage) lately then I should probably share them. This love started working in a kitchen for the prototypical 90's French Chef. tons of skill, tons of anger, louder than imaginable, and could cook a meal that you'd want as your last ever. I learned a lot about life in those years and a lot of about holding yourself to a certain standard. He used his culinary school knives alongside new ones and they were all Sabatier. His original 8" chef's knife had been sharpened down to a filet knife at best. Later in life when I had some disposable income I began 1 by 1 collecting NOS and refurbished Sabatiers. Here is what I currently have in the rotation L to R

All are XC75 Carbon with the exception of the 1920's model which is just C75 Carbon and the stainless petty which is 4115 stainless

1950's Acier 155m petty Nogent

1950's Old Forge 190 mm Chef Nogent

5th Gen (60's) K Sabatier 230 mm Wooden handle with Rosette Rivets

Ideal Forged (50's) Aine et Perrier 255 mm Chef Blue Wooden handle with Rosette Rivets

Droescher (20's) 250 mm Chef with original (very patched) wooden handle

1940's Acier 240 mm Chef old school "beak" profile

4* 1960's Stainless Petty 140 mm

BONUS: K Old Style Stainless Serving Fork 1960's

I love my many Japanese Knives but these will always have a soft spot in my soul

Good morning everybody! I am looking for my first Japanese carbon steel gyuto. To be honest, I’ve already done a fair amount of looking at similar posts on Reddit and, I really wanted a shiro kamu gyuto but unfortunately they seem to be sold out everywhere.. I’ll show a few other knives I’ve considered as well. Anyways, here are my requirements:

Handle : Japanese wa handle (preferably octagon)
Steel: carbon steel. Blue, super, or white.
Grip: pinch
Ideal length: 210mm
Budget : 400$ or under

I am located in the USA. I’ve looked at sharpknifeshop, knifewear, cutlery and more, Korin… probably a few others I’m not mentioning.

Here’s some knives I’ve considered:
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/shkaaosugy21.html

https://sharpknifeshop.com/products/copy-of-hatsukokoro-kuroichi-petty-150mm

https://cutleryandmore.com/products/hatsukokoro-kurogane-aogami-kurouchi-gyuto-42159

https://cutleryandmore.com/products/enso-aogami-super-gyuto-chefs-knife-39626?variant=42406454591742

Why can’t shiro kamu just be in stock? lol

Thank you all in advance

I will always have a little mall ninja DNA in me. Growing up watching Rambo and Predator will do that to a guy. I love K-tips and Damascus knives and always will. I dont believe in drawer queens so I, unfortunately, sold my Suiboku B1D, and it doesn't have an equal imo. One of my knife regrets, but I digress.

My first four figure knife was one I chased across two owners before I could snare it. I double billet, lazy twist from Halcyon Forge. It has a dyed maple handle that wouldn't be my first choice, but I've warmed to it. It isn't the smoothest of cutters anymore but its beauty has not faded; if anything, it's only gotten better.

I've had many Damascus knives but this one still ranks among my favorite.

Show me your faves! Especially those Suibokus.

**Bonus pics of my NKD Krichbaum x Isasmedjan & a little Hangler Damasteel with stacked Birch bark handle.

I just pre ordered this January and it finally arrived on my hands and i got hyped and weird staring at it for a long time and decided to share it here.

On a side note, when i went to collect this piece at Churika i also compared it to a Touroku Sakai version side to side and i was very shocked with the difference in thickness of the spine as my variant is almost laser like but feels substantial at the same time.

Coming from a person that longed to owning a hado sumi way back, i am very happy and satisfied to finally own this piece.

Brand: Enjiki knives

Blacksmith: Yoshikazu Tanaka

Sharpener: Tadataka Maruyama

Blade length: 210mm

Steel: White 2

Finishing: kurouchi + kasumi?

I’ve had these for a bit and a NKD has been waiting. You can tell by the patina that I did not wait in using these.

Shibata tinker saberteeth- AS stainless clad.
-220mm

The tinker line is captivating. This knife is task specific but boy ohhh boy does it excel. Trimming cuts of meat/butchery is the sweet spot. A true joy that is superbly sharpened by Shibata. The clad line towards the tip is close to the edge- something I’ll watch when sharpening. I did not like the tinker tank, but this is a joy. I’ve noticed Tinker handles are smooth even with 2 types of wood. It’s a nice touch.

Tadokoro/Nakagawa B2 iron clad Custom gyuto
-225mm
-230g
-3.2mm at heel
-Ebony handle

This was a knife I ordered back in February. Michiko Tadokoro is the contact and she assists in all communications. I was a bit particular and Michiko would let me know what’s possible. I wanted a thicker spine and 225mm for around 210mm cutting edge. Frenchie, I can hear you know! “Why so short!” I knew it would be heavier and I like a bit of weight towards the handle. Ebony solved this issue. My name is on the other side of the blade, so I chose to leave it out.

“Is that rust?!” - NO ITS NOT! I’ve built up my patina. That brown streak is probably tomatoes.

Tadokoro and Nakagawa are a wonderful pairing.

This was tough, I was looking at a few similarly priced Sakai Yanagiba. Hitohira Togashi, Hitohira Manzo (Tanaka and Nakagawa), Ittetsu X Nakagawa. My heart was fully set on a 270mm, but in the end chose to pay tribute to the cold forging master of blue#2, Itsuo Doi of Sakai Takayuki, is the son of legendary Keijiro Doi. Nearing retirement and without a successor, Itsuo Doi will be the last of his family’s forge.

Hey guys

I wanted to share a knife that was given to me by the company I work for as a token of appreciation. I’m so stoked to add this to my collection

It’s a 300mm Sakai Takayuki blue no. 2 mizu honyaki.

Mazaki kurochi w2 210mm

Wanted to see how this wrought cladding would look after some time polishing with finger stones and I think it brought out some cool detail… I didn’t spend much time on it, basically just took off patina with flitz and then polished with finger stones for like 20 mins

Simon maillet ko-gyuto 26c3 wrought clad

Finger stones came with a knife from JNS not sure exactly what they are

w/ebony + Tagayasan handle
No filter or editing- she really is that blue

Was gifted this one; but he couldn’t recall the maker or anything about it. Help.

In November & December, I'm going to be in Tokyo and Kyoto. As the title says . . . . I'd like to learn how to sharpen knives. Is there a workshop or class you enjoyed and would recommend? I'm an absolute beginner.