News

NY International Restaurant and Foodservice Show (Mar. 4th-6th 2012)
This march, Sara and I will be travelling to New York for about a week.  The craftsmen we work with to produce our Gesshin Hide line have asked us to represent them at the New York International Restaurant and Foodservice Show (http://www.internationalrestaurantny.com/) from March 4th-6th 2012.  During the time we are gone (Mar. 1st- Mar. 7th), we will be closing our store temporarily.  All orders placed during this time will ship out when we return on the 7th.  We will, however, be checking e-mail and voicemail regularly while we are in... Read more...
Dinner at Eva Restaurant
So, a couple weeks back, Robert, the chef de cuisine at Eva Restaurant came into the store with another friend/customer of ours.  After hanging out at the store for a bit, I was convinced that Sara and I needed to go in and check out the place.... especially since they were using some of our knives in the kitchen now ;)I guess Robert had told Mark (the executive chef and owner) about us, because earlier this week, I got an e-mail from him with nothing more than a picture of... Read more...
Knife Rehandling Service
We are officially beginning our knife rehandling services for japanese kitchen knives. We will be replacing/upgrading wa handles on a variety of knives, including the more traditional types- yanagiba, deba, usuba, etc.- and most of the western shaped wa-handled knives- wa-gyuto, wa-petty, wa-sujihiki, etc. Knife rehandles are done in the traditional japanese method. Jonathan has trained with a number of craftsmen in Japan perparing for this. He has rehandled with variety of woods including ho wood, iichi, ebony. For the time being, we will only be offering ho and iichi... Read more...
Japanese Knife Steel Cheat Sheet
I get this kind of question a lot and just ended up posting this in a different forum to help clarify. I thought some people here might enjoy this quick rundown of the steels many often talk about here:Here is how the hitachi paper steels work out:JIS SK steel is the cheapest and Aogami Super is the most expensive (that would be blue super)... JIS SK Steel (SK4, SK5, etc.) is a simple carbon steel with moderate levels of sulfur and phosphorus in it. Yellow steel is a more pure... Read more...
Valentine's Day 2012
Today, Sara and I were talking about Valentine’s Day gifts… this year we have some cool things around that we thought might make good Valentine’s Day gifts for you guys. Here are some of our top picks: Ashi Home Set   Mitsuaki- T* Paper Knives Tenugui We actually have a bunch of new tenugui in stock and many more will be going up on the website shortly We also have a bunch of fun stuff that is exclusive to in-store sales… here’s a sneak peak for those of you who... Read more...
Online Sharpening Seminars
Our Online Sharpening Seminars are aimed at providing a more interactive method of learning knife sharpening than our youtube videos offer. We realize not everyone is close enough to our store to stop by for a sharpening class, so we decided to make this available online. The goal is that we can cover various topics and then allow for some Q&A with immediate and direct feedback. In addition, participants can ask questions anywhere along the way as we demonstrate sharpening techniques. So now, when you see something that doesn't quite... Read more...
Introducing Japanese Knife Society
For quite some time now, we have been working in the background to try to make some educational knife skills videos for people trying to learn how to use Japanese knives.  We have teamed up with Tatsuya Aoki and Mitsunori Ueda to produce these videos and finally have a few that are ready for you.  We will be adding in English notes or voiceovers to these videos as they are produced to make the skill sets more accessible to you.If you have questions about specific knives, techniques, skills, etc., please... Read more...
Japan Trip 2011
Over the last few weeks, Sara and I have been planning this year’s Japan trip. This year, we will be spending two weeks meeting with the craftsmen we work with. I will also be spending a significant amount of time training with these guys… sharpening, blade polishing, handle replacement and repair, etc. During the time we are in Japan, our store in Venice, CA will be closed and we will not be shipping out any orders. However, you can still place orders online. All orders placed within the two weeks... Read more...
Two of Us in the Store
The opening of our store in Venice has been both exciting and all-consuming – leaving little time to work on our English blog. Finally, we are coming up for air and want to give you an update on us and our new storefront! A few days back on Labor Day, I was more appreciative than usual about our great – and happy – connection to our shokunin-san (craftsman), business partners, customers, friends, and family. We all contribute in one way or another to our respective societies, and I thought how... Read more...
Japanese Knife Imports - The Store
Great news guys... for a while now Sara and I have been looking for a place to open our storefront... to have a place where you can come and check out the knives and other products we sell in person, take classes on knife skills and knife sharpening, and just hang out... we finally found a place and signed the lease.  Its official... in just a few weeks we will be moving in and getting our store set up.  As the time gets closer, we will share some other new... Read more...
A Message From Nakaya Heiji
Taking an Action - Pray for Japan - First of all, thank you again for taking an action to support Nakaya Heiji and their family.  We started collecting donation after the earthquake in Japan on March 11, 2011.  We were proud to have such thoughtful and caring customers, friends and families.    We sent the entire donation to Nakaya Heiji last week, and it was safely transferred and received.  Here is a massage from Nakaya Heiji for all of you:   Thank you so much for your great support.  We... Read more...
Pray for Japan
March 11, 2011 (in Japan), the Day that Changed EverythingWe have experienced many tragedies – some caused by people and others caused by forces of nature. On March 11, 2011, Japan was slammed by both. The earthquake first hit off the coast of Iwate and Miyagi and was felt shortly after in Fukushima and Ibaraki and the surrounding areas. Soon after came the tsunami at a height of 10m or higher, wiping out large parts of the coastal region. Initial news reports said it was one of the biggest earthquakes... Read more...