Knives From Japan | Blog

Best Japanese Knife Brands

The Top Japanese Knife Brands The Japanese have an unrivalled ability to make the best chef’s knives in the world. Japanese forging techniques are renowned all over the world and the Japanese mentality of perfection, making sure only the best materials and manufacturing techniques are used, ensures quality. Global Probably the most famous of all the big Japanese knife manufactures. Global have been making their signature range since 1985 when the knives were launched on the worldwide market and were truly revolutionary in design and performance. Global make over 150... Read More

26/05/2020

What is Carbon Steel?

Carbon steel is steel with minimal alloying. Typically ‘stainless steel’ is mixed with nickel or chromium to make it stainless and resistant to rust, but these alloys are only mixed in with the iron, there is no chemical bonding between the different elements. These elements will clog up whetstones during sharpening. Carbon steel is essentially steel without these elements mixed in. Carbon steel knives that are heat treated effectively are capable of the highest levels of sharpness whilst being generally easier to sharpen and are beloved by chefs in heavy... Read More

19/05/2020

Powdered Steel

Powdered steels are some of the latest innovations in steel making to be used in kitchen knife manufacturing.  Powdered steel is made by sintering different metals in the alloy into a very fine grain where the different elements are bonded into a consistent microstructure. It is a very precise method done in a laboratory rather than a steel mill. The resulting alloys have the best edge retention and can be easy to re-sharpen. Of course these most advanced steels, carry a price premium. Powdered steels considerably close the gap between... Read More

08/05/2020

Flutes in the Blade

We get asked quite often, what the flutes in the blades are for. Really they are designed to stop food sticking to the blades. Do they work? So, so. You will find flutes mainly on foods designed for chopping vegetables, which can be quite starchy. Global 18cm Fluted Santoku Knife Is there a downside? Well in short yes. Grooves on new knives are initially not a problem, but if the knives are used in heavy use settings, where the knives need to be sharpened often, once the metal is ground... Read More

24/04/2020

Single Bevel vs Double Bevel

A knife bevel refers to the surface of the blade that has been sharpened to a point. Western knives all have double bevels, referring to equal grinds on both sides of the blade. This type of blade is now the most commonly used for cooking at home. The most popular double bevel knives we have are: Kasumi Hammered 18cm Santoku Knife Tamahagane San 17.5cm Santoku Knife Tojiro Senkou DP (Flash) 18cm Santoku Knife Traditional Japanese knives use a single bevel, where the angle of the knife is formed on one... Read More

10/04/2020

A Guide to Knife Grinds

Different brands of knives use different kinds of grind. Flat or V Grinds Very common on Japanese knives, simply both sides of the knife extend down towards the edge of the blade at a common angle. Flat grinds can produce very sharp edges, and are wonderful at making very thin slices. More common than true flat grinds are double bevel grinds, which have an initial shallower grind before being finished with a secondary bevel. As the edge finishes at a microscopic point, flat edges will dull more quickly than other... Read More

05/03/2019

Japanese Productive Regions for Kitchen Knives

Japan is well-known to be an advanced country in technology, including in the production of knives. Since the feudal era, Japan has developed “Katana”, a traditionally made Japanese sword that was used by samurai. Sword itself is known as a first industrial art object that possessed a brand name. Sword making began in Japan after the manufacturing methods were imported to Japan through Mainland China and the Korean Peninsula. In Momoyama era, at the beginning swords were mainly manufactured at 5 regions in Japan (Soshu [Kanagawa], Bizen [Okayama], Yamato, [Nara],... Read More

04/02/2019

Western vs Japanese Knives

Blade Styles 1) Western VS Japanese Style Knives Almost every manufactures makes both Western and Japanese-style knives. What’s more, Japanese knives can also be made with either Western-style blades or handles, or even both. In other words, most companies offer a number of knives in Japanese and Western-style. Also, pretty much all European and American manufacturers produce various knives influenced by the Japanese-style. But, why are Japanese-style knives so special? Namely, the edge of their blade is more long-lasting and doesn’t need frequent sharpening thanks to the harder steel it... Read More

04/12/2018

Which whetstone should you choose

Widely recognised and known for their great qualities, Japanese whetstones, also referred to as waterstones, can be both natural and synthetic. These fine-grained stones can be used not only for sharpening Japanese blades, but also any other cutting tools So, there’s no need of buying a new set of knives. All you need is to purchase a whetstone. So, what’s so amazing about whetstones? The thing is that while sharpening knives with a whetstone, the surface particles are washed away pretty fast. This allows new particles, which are sharp, to... Read More