Edit History

my two Watanabe knives arrived minutes ago .    There was no duty charge .

I e-mailed Watanabe a few times and decided on the Professional Series   they gave me a total price w shipping , and I emailed back that day's exchange rate

from Google.  My bank would give me free a one use CC # to use w PayPal , as Im not a fan of PP.  but free only in dollars not Yen.  the would be a several % charge from

my CC company .  and PP would charge Watanabe 2.9 %  + a fixed fee.   Im not fond of MiddleMen nor MiddleWomen.  I went to the PO and bought an internationali

money order  for $ 8.50  and placed it in an envelope w a letter :  First Class to Ja,an : $ 1.25.  I mailed it Sat Aug 22.  8-10 days the PO said.

Watanabe got the MO on Tues 1 Aug.  

http://www.kitchen-knife.jp/pro/

I decided on the two t80 mm , as i have a large hand.   I had my eye on the Santoku and Nakkiri , but went for the larger knives.  I got the octagonal handles as they had

a horn hilt.  why buy plastic ?  I asked for a light color and a close match in color if possible.

tracking :

the box :

inside 

you can't see the engraving , and anyway I don't know what it means.   its clearly hand ' carved '

these knives have an exceptional hand feel, and are razor sharp.  I like the black matt finish.

I asked what angle they would use to sharpen them, and that I use the EdgePro system and got this reply :

Thanks for your reply.
Yes, you can sharpen our knives with the system.
You can decide the angle by yourself.
You can control the toughness at the edge angle. The narrower the angle of the edge, the more your knife will cut like a razor. But the blade will chip easily, because it's thin.
On the other hand, if the edge has an obtuse angle, the knife will dull but will be very strong and you will be able to chop fish or meat with bones.

Our blades are slight convex shape.
If you want sharper edge, 0 - 2 degree is the sharpest.
I guess 3 - 5 degrees must be normal sharpness.
 

this did not make a lot of sense to me so I emailed EP .  their reply :

my two Watanabe knives arrived minutes ago .    There was no duty charge .

I e-mailed Watanabe a few times and decided on the Professional Series   they gave me a total price w shipping , and I emailed back that day's exchange rate

from Google.  My bank would give me free a one use CC # to use w PayPal , as Im not a fan of PP.  but free only in dollars not Yen.  the would be a several % charge from

my CC company .  and PP would charge Watanabe 2.9 %  + a fixed fee.   Im not fond of MiddleMen nor MiddleWomen.  I went to the PO and bought an internationali

money order  for $ 8.50  and placed it in an envelope w a letter :  First Class to Ja,an : $ 1.25.  I mailed it Sat Aug 22.  8-10 days the PO said.

Watanabe got the MO on Tues 1 Aug.  

http://www.kitchen-knife.jp/pro/

I decided on the two t80 mm , as i have a large hand.   I had my eye on the Santoku and Nakkiri , but went for the larger knives.  I got the octagonal handles as they had

a horn hilt.  why buy plastic ?  I asked for a light color and a close match in color if possible.

tracking :

the box :

inside 

you can't see the engraving , and anyway I don't know what it means.   its clearly hand ' carved '

these knife have an exceptional hand feel, and are razor sharp.

I asked what angle they would use to sharpen them, and that I use the EdgePro system and got this reply :

Thanks for your reply.
Yes, you can sharpen our knives with the system.
You can decide the angle by yourself.
You can control the toughness at the edge angle. The narrower the angle of the edge, the more your knife will cut like a razor. But the blade will chip easily, because it's thin.
On the other hand, if the edge has an obtuse angle, the knife will dull but will be very strong and you will be able to chop fish or meat with bones.

Our blades are slight convex shape.
If you want sharper edge, 0 - 2 degree is the sharpest.
I guess 3 - 5 degrees must be normal sharpness.
 

this did not make a lot of sense to me so I emailed EP .  their reply :