Why Are Japanese Kitchen Knives So Great? 

Good info, thank you 👍😊✌

So interesting. I didn't know but makes total sense.

Cool!

I like your curtain and matching couch good idea..

Very interesting video. I liked it a lot. I have a cleaver and other knives I bought in Oki. Yes the Japanese demand perfection and it shows in their products.

My mom boutbought old sword at commissary basr before we moved it was a set..

Japanese kitchen knives are the best as far as I am concerned. Of course, every knife needs to be sharpened properly and quite frequently, no matter how well they are made. I am still learning this part. I bought a really good sharpening stone at Mitsuwa in San Diego and it seems to do a fairly good job (as long as I do the same).

Great video. So on the subject of hardness quite a few German made knifes (Henkel and Messermeister) are hardened throughout the blade and have to make it softer to keep it from being brittle. The Japanese blades use softer steel and harder steel (varying levels of carbon determines how hard it gets during the hardening process) to achieve a hard edge and soft spine. They often make what’s called a San mai blade with at least 2 pieces of steel forge welded together. Some times the soft steel will actually be damascus to provide the complex patterns on the sides of the blade. This originates from the difference between European blades, (mostly made from one piece of steel and tempered mostly the same throughout) and Japanese blades made from 2 to 5 different pieces and differentially heat treated with clay ( forming the hamon line or wavy line on the edge) to have a hard edge and soft body to the swords. However in general the Japanese blades are made in much lower quantities by higher skilled craftsmen than the German blades, and therefore have much higher quality control and master craftsmen hands on time. Also the German blades are rarely ever forged they use stock removal to grind blade blanks into knifes. Forged knifes are always going to be better quality if done by a pro than stock removal knifes done by a pro. This all goes into metallurgy and deformation of grain structure and much more complex explanations. I have probably more than a dozen books on all this and several videos that I would be happy to show you some time when I get to Okinawa if you are interested. Also I have personal experience making blades, heat treating, sharpening and metal working in general. Thanks for touching on one of my favorite subjects. 😁

It's an honor for me who had become top commenter on this channel☕