Education Centre
Honest, in-depth answers to the questions cooks actually ask about Japanese kitchen knives — steel, choosing, care, and craft. No spec-sheet clones, no hype: just what we’d tell you across the counter.
Care & Sharpening
Keep a Japanese knife sharp, rust-free, and yours for decades — sharpening on a stone, the right grit, rust and patina, and what to do when an edge chips.
- Japanese knife sharpening — start here
- How to sharpen on a whetstone
- Which whetstone grit do you need?
- Rust, patina & carbon-steel care
- Why your knife chipped or went dull
- Our sharpening service
- How to look after your Japanese knives
Choosing Your Knife
Find the right knife for how you actually cook — single vs double bevel, the gyuto and its cousins, and which first Japanese knife to buy.
- How to choose your first Japanese knife
- Single-bevel knives, explained
- Double-bevel knives, explained
- The gyuto (chef’s knife)
- Browse all knives by profile
Steel & Materials
What the steel actually buys you — carbon vs stainless, the White and Blue families, the SG2/VG-10 stainless question, and an interactive map of every steel we stock.
- White vs Blue steel (Shirogami vs Aogami)
- White #1 vs #2 vs #3 — the carbon ladder
- VG-10 vs SG2 — which stainless?
- Rockwell hardness (HRC) — a key buying element
- The Periodic Table of Knife Steel
- Browse every steel we stock
Craft & Story
The makers, the methods, and the history behind the blade — the smiths and brands we carry, and the workshops where the knives are forged.
- Knife brands & blacksmiths
- Every maker we carry
- Browse by brand
- A visit to Nigara Hamono, Hirosaki
- Installing a handle: rehandling videos
Last updated 2026-06-08 · curated by Knives & Stones