News

A Series of Notes on Various Subjects
Here are some notes on various aspects of kitchen knives and knife repair that i have shared with customers recently. I hope many of you will find them useful. Up First, a bit about sharpening single bevel knives, angles, geometry, and asymmetry- An answer to a question posted on youtube... thought it might be helpful to some...question: What angle will you recommend on the primary and secondary edge on a yanagiba?answer: The exact angle will depend on the knife/maker/etc. However, these things can be quite easy to follow from initial... Read more...
Kanto Vs Kansai Knife Shapes - A Lesson In History
Someone asked this question the other day, so i thought it might be nice to copy and paste some of that conversation here:"The history of the shapes is a bit different, as is the way the used to be used. Because of the tip on the kamagata usuba, chefs can use it for regular usuba work and mukimono (design work), and tend to do so. In kanto, chefs that do mukimono tend to use a mukimono bocho as well. Of course, at the best restaurants and with the most skilled... Read more...
Japan Trip 2013
Out of Town Notice July 1st - July 21st   (Updated June 14th, 2013)Once again, it's time for our anual Japan trip. This year we're changing a few things. Normally, Sara and I both head to Japan for about a month in the fall. During this time, I train under a few different master craftsmen. This year, however, Sara will be staying here to run the store and process shipments, while I head to Japan for about 3 weeks. My Japan training trip will take place from July 1st to... Read more...
Japanese Knife Imports in the LA Times
How cool is this?  We are so excited and thankful for S. Irene Virbila for taking the time to come out and meet us.  Here's the article: Across the Table: Knife expert hopes to sharpen up chefs They also did a followup sidebar article, which you can find here: Finding a knife that cuts to the heart Read more...
Closed for a few days in March
A friendly reminder... We will be closed from March 2nd, reopening on March 8th. Click the link below for more info...http://www.japaneseknifeimports.com/out-of-town Read more...
The World of Hocho
By Sara Motomura-BroidaWe started JKI in March, 2010. For Jon, kitchen knives were something Jon always felt strongly about and was passionate about. To me, this world of hocho was something very new and, in a lot of ways, unknown. The word "shokunin" is most commonly used to describe craftsmen for kitchen knives. Some of them are qualified by the national crafts center and are referred to as "kogeishi" (master of crafts) or “dentokogeshi” (for example, the stickers on our Gesshin Hide knives certify that all of the work done... Read more...
Have you ever wondered about Carbon Steel Knives?
If so, we've got a video for you ;) Hope you like is.  Let us know if you have any questions.-Jon Read more...
A bunch of new sharpening videos
This morning, we shot a few new videos on various aspects of knife sharpening/care.  Here they are... hope you guys like them... Read more...
Using Carbon Steel Knives
So, have you ever used carbon steel knives before? It takes a little bit of getting used to, but its not so difficult. A lot of what goes into using carbon steel knives is just common sense and learning how to work clean and be well organized. Carbon steel can be reactive when cutting acidic elements. This tends to be the biggest problem for people getting used to working with carbon steel knives. Learning how to deal with this is pretty simple. One very important thing to do is to... Read more...
Some Cool Forging Videos from our 2012 Japan Trip
Thought you guys might enjoy these videos...The first one is the forgewelding of the hagane and jigane (hard and soft steels).  This is the first process in making clad single bevel knives: The second video shows some cold forging.  This is a process done after the forging to shape, but before the heat treatment. Read more...
Japan Trip Updates
We've been doing our best to post as much of our trip as possible.  So far, the bulk of it has gone to our facebook page here:http://www.facebook.com/JapaneseKnifeImportsI think we also updated some stuff on youtube.We'll keep the pictures and videos coming as best we can.-Jon and Sara Read more...
Japan Trip 2012
Our Annual Japan Trip When Sara and I first started Japanese Knife Imports, we decided that every year we would head back to Japan to spend time with the craftsmen we work with- working on new projects, training and learning about sharpening and blacksmithing, traveling to new areas and meeting new craftsmen, and so on.  Because we work directly with most of the craftsmen we deal with, this personal connection is a very important part of our business.  This trip also gives us an opportunity to improve our skills in... Read more...