刃 · Blade
Japanese Knives & Whetstones
Kitchen knives from the forging towns of Sakai, Seki and Echizen, and the stones that keep them sharp. How the blades differ, and how to choose one you will keep for decades.堺・関・越前の包丁と、それを研ぐ砥石。刃の違いと、長く使える一本の選び方。
Shop Blade on The Table →Buying Guides 6
Japanese Knife Steel Explained: White, Blue, VG-10 and More
What Shirogami, Aogami, VG-10 and SG2 actually mean on a Japanese knife — carbon vs stainless, hardness numbers, clad construction, and which steel suits your kitchen.
Deba, Yanagiba, Usuba: Japan's Single-Bevel Knives
The three traditional Japanese knives ground on one face only — what each is for, what urasuki does, why they're built for right hands, and whether a home cook needs one.
The Best Japanese Sharpening Stones: How to Choose a Whetstone
Which Japanese sharpening stone is best to start with — grit numbers explained, the right first stone or two-stone set, finishing stones, soaking, and keeping it flat.
Choosing a Hinoki Cutting Board
Why Japanese cypress makes a cutting board that is kind to a knife edge — how to pick the size, thickness and grain, and the care habits that keep one flat and clean.
Japanese Knife Care and Maintenance: Sharpening and Rust Prevention
A simple Japanese knife maintenance routine — whetstone grits and angles, how often to sharpen, and rust prevention for carbon and stainless steel blades.
Gyuto vs Santoku vs Nakiri: Which Japanese Knife Do You Actually Need?
The three Japanese kitchen knives worth owning first — what each one is for, who it suits, and how to choose between them.
Makers & Origins 4
Tosa Blades: The Free-Forged Knives of Kochi
Tosa uchihamono from Kochi, Japan's most forested prefecture: four hundred years of axes, sickles and kitchen knives, each hammered to shape by one smith without a mould.
Echizen: The Blade Town That Rebuilt Itself
Seven hundred years of forging in Fukui, a craft nearly lost to cheap stamped steel, and the ten smiths who bet their own money on saving it.
Seki, Japan: From Swordsmiths to Kitchen Knives
How Seki, Gifu, a town of swordsmiths since the Kamakura period, turned to making kitchen knives — and what 'Seki Japan' stamped on a blade actually tells you.
Sakai: The City That Sharpens Japan
How a port town near Osaka became the source of the professional chef's knife — the four-hundred-year division of labour behind a single Sakai blade.