Buying Japanese Knives Online

[paulraphael]

Just a general thought ... we should be careful about generalizations regarding knives and countries of origin. There are great knives made many countries, and there are crappy knives made in Japan (including some of the more famous brands). 

 

"Japanese knife" is generally shorthand for "good knife that's been made with certain important Japanese knifemaking conventions." By these standards there many small knifemakers in the Americas and Europe (and probably every other part of the world) who make "Japanese knives." And I'd say that brands like Wasabi and Global are not really Japanese knives. Not in the same sense.

 

 

[btbyrd]

If anyone was tempted to buy a Watanabe after reading this thread, now is the time; prices go up 50% in May. And pay what you need to to avoid a plastic ferrule on the handle.

[rotuts]

https://www.kitchen-knife.jp/news/price.htm

 

pleased he has given people some time

 

@ the older prices.

 

well worth it  if this is a style of knife you are

 

thinking about , and willing to take care of.

[paulraphael]

10 hours ago, rrigreid said:

There is no $50K value in this knife and to offer this knife at that price, well I’ll leave you to offer judgment.

 

This is one of those areas where there's crossover between something being a tool and being an art object. The thing's value as a tool has no bearing on its art value. A fancy knife doesn't even have to be a good knife (although I understand that Kramer's are pretty good). The value of art objects is influenced by rarity and by some agreed-upon standards of craft, but the rest is pure subjectivity and the whims of the market.

 

Consider how much people spend on handmade, mechanical watches. You can get a more accurate timepiece for $20, but this has nothing to do with the allure.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Facing a couple unpaid weeks off work, I perhaps should not be reflecting on another knife -- but for anyone* who is, I read in The Economist that the Yen is in freefall against the Dollar.

 

 

*in the US

 

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Following up on my last post from two years ago.  The Yen is still weak against the dollar.  Watanabe's prices are about to increase yet once again, and I have a new Deba that I can't afford.

 

What's worse, I have nothing to cut with it and no place to store it.  A friend took me to a local supermarket with a worthy fish department.  I was hoping to find a bluefish on which to practice Mukoita.  No bluefish.  No whole fish on offer at all.  I did purchase a wild caught black sea bass fillet that was delicious, however no help whatsoever with improving my cutting skills.

 

The weight of the Watanabe is 424g and the thickness of the spine is 7.136 mm (Mitutoyo digital micrometer).  I have three knife blocks.  None has a slot to accommodate a Deba, so the Deba is still in its box.  I'm not about to play Deba does Damocles with the magnetic knife strip that dangles my almost as weighty Chinese cleaver not far from my head.

 

Not sure what I'll cut, but cut something I shall.  Hopefully not some part of me.

 

The Watanabe cladding on this Deba is stainless and I believe the steel is Blue #2.  If you want a Watanabe, don't wait.  Now might be a good time.

 

 

[rotuts]

 

@JoNorvelleWalker

 

how about a couple of pics ?

 

Watanabe knives are quite something 

 

to review :

 

 

I went to the Watanabe page

 

they didn't have many pics on the ' professional ' page

 

the above are ' professional '

 

nor any pics of deba's

 

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

8 hours ago, rotuts said:

 

@JoNorvelleWalker

 

how about a couple of pics ?

 

Watanabe knives are quite something 

 

to review :

 

 

I went to the Watanabe page

 

they didn't have many pics on the ' professional ' page

 

the above are ' professional '

 

nor any pics of deba's

 

 

 

I'll try to take a picture at some point, but I don't have the energy I used to have, and I can't even get to my camera until I move some furniture around.  I'd hate to have an iPad picture suffice.

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

iPad it was.

 

 

 

Nikkiri for comparison.

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Sadly I seldom cut with the Watanabe nikkiri because it is too beautiful, and I have a perfectly serviceable cheap nikkiri/nikiri that I am not afraid to dull on a plastic cutting board.  However after taking the picture, I brought out my better hinoki board and used the Watanabe for ken cut cabbage that accompanied last night's dumplings.  The Watanabe does make a difference.

[btbyrd]

That is absolutely stunning, Jo! I'd be cutting with that nakiri non-stop! Great looking handle too. Is that a 165 or a 180? You've gotta get a cutting board that's somewhere between cheap plastic and the soft "special occasion" feel of hinoki. There's no greater pleasure than putting really beautiful high end tools to use.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

On 5/6/2024 at 5:53 PM, btbyrd said:

That is absolutely stunning, Jo! I'd be cutting with that nakiri non-stop! Great looking handle too. Is that a 165 or a 180? You've gotta get a cutting board that's somewhere between cheap plastic and the soft "special occasion" feel of hinoki. There's no greater pleasure than putting really beautiful high end tools to use.

 

180.

 

Still trying to find a whole fish to try out the Deba.  Not to mention someplace to safely store the Deba.  My cutting board collection is approaching thirty boards.