How to Sharpen a Japanese Knife on a Whetstone: A Step-by-Step Guide
October 27, 2026
How to sharpen a Japanese knife on a 1000/6000 whetstone, step by step: finding the 10 to 15 degree angle, raising a burr, refining and testing the edge.
Stories from Sakai, Seki and the kitchen
The Journal読み物
Notes on knives, cooking and the people who make things slowly.
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The Best Japanese Knife on a Budget: What to Buy First, Second and Third
April 4, 2026
What to buy first when you are building a Japanese kitchen on a budget: a stone, a board, somewhere to keep the knife, and then the knife itself.
Best Japanese Knife Set for Beginners: Complete Guide
April 4, 2026
A beginner’s guide to Japanese knife sets, why the chef, vegetable and paring trio works, plus the Sakai Kyuba KYU Set for first-timers.
Best Japanese Chef Knife 2026: Expert Buying Guide
April 4, 2026
An expert buying guide to Japanese chef knives, explaining gyuto, santoku and bunka styles, steel hardness and picks like the RYU Gyuto.
How To Chop Onions Without Crying: Methods That Actually Work
November 26, 2025
Why onions make you cry, the syn-propanethial-S-oxide gas behind it, and science-backed methods that reduce tears, starting with a sharp knife.
Blade Up or Blade Down: A Quick Guide to Hanging Knives on Magnetic Racks
October 27, 2025
Should knives hang blade up or blade down on a magnetic rack? Why many professionals favour blade up, covering ergonomics, balance and edge wear.
Kitchen Knives 101: buying, storage, cutting techniques and more
September 15, 2025
A practical primer on kitchen knives, covering how to pick your first chef’s knife, blade materials, cutting technique and basic maintenance.
How to Peel Dragon Fruit (and Creative Ways to Enjoy It)
August 18, 2025
How to peel and prepare dragon fruit with a sharp knife, plus creative ways to serve it as sashimi, carpaccio, smoothie bowls and frozen treats.
Kiritsuke vs Bunka: Which Of Those Japanese Knives Is Right For You?
August 14, 2025
Kiritsuke or Bunka? The longer, elegant Kiritsuke suits showpiece slicing, while the shorter Bunka is a nimble everyday workhorse with a tanto tip.
Faster Chopping, Knife Skills, and Understanding Chopping Terms: Dice, Mince, Julienne and more
August 10, 2025
Build faster, safer knife skills with proper grips, the claw technique and the get-to-flat principle, plus what dice, mince and julienne really mean.
How to cut onion and not your fingers: the “claw” technique
August 10, 2025
The claw grip is the one technique that keeps fingers safe while cutting onions. Curl your fingertips, use the knuckle as a guide, and cut with control.
4 Ways To Hold A Kitchen Knife Safely
August 3, 2025
Four ways to hold a kitchen knife, from the pointed finger grip for detail work to the familiar hammer grip, and when each one actually helps.
Keeping Sharp Kitchen Knives Safe with Little Ones at Home
July 13, 2025
How to store sharp Japanese knives safely around young children, with practical storage habits, clear boundaries and age-appropriate teaching.
Japanese Knives and Food Safety: Professional Standards at Home
July 13, 2025
How Japanese chefs handle razor-sharp knives safely at home, from grip and stance to caring for reactive carbon steel and keeping food pristine.
The Ultimate Guide to Eating Sushi: Do’s and Don’ts for Beginners
August 22, 2024
Ginger cleanses the palate between pieces, not on top of them. Sushi-bar etiquette from chopstick rules to soy, wasabi and the omakase counter.
How Home Cooking Can Save the Planet
August 11, 2024
Roughly a third of the food produced worldwide is thrown away. Cooking from scratch cuts the packaging, food miles and waste that industrial meals rack up.
How To: Cutting Tuna Fillets for Tataki (Seared Tuna Slices)
May 12, 2024
Tuna is one of the few fish the FDA won’t make you freeze. How to slice sushi-grade fillets across the grain for tataki, plus an optional quick-freeze.
Beginning Your Journey With Japanese Kitchen Knives: Individual Knives vs. Sets
April 6, 2024
One gyuto or a full set? Where the santoku, bunka and kiritsuke each earn their place before you commit to a matching set.
How The World’s Most Expensive Japanese Swords Are Made
March 22, 2024
Forged from low-impurity iron sand and folded again and again, a nihonto is closer to ritual than manufacturing. Inside the making of Japan’s costliest blades.
The Complete Beginner’s Guide to Sharpening Japanese Knives with Whetstones
March 17, 2024
Coarse 400-grit for repair, 8000 for the final polish. A first go at whetstone sharpening, from soaking the stone to the finished edge.
Decoding the Japanese Knife Grading System: A Comprehensive Guide
March 17, 2024
White steel, blue steel, carbon steel: Japanese grades come down to composition and heat treatment, not brand names. What each one actually tells you.
How to sterilise jars
December 5, 2023
Before you pickle or bottle jam, the jars need sterilising: wash them, boil for about ten minutes, then air-dry and store clean.
Japanese knives: how to spot the real deal vs. a knock-off?
November 27, 2023
How do you tell a real Japanese knife from a fake? Read the steel, the grind and the edge geometry, plus the marketing tells that dress up a cheap blade.
When to Replace Your Trusty Cooking Knives: A Comprehensive Guide
July 17, 2023
Some knives are past saving: an edge that won’t hold after sharpening, cracks or chips, a wobbling handle, rust in the steel. Four signs it’s time to let go.
Low-Waste Ideas for the Kitchen, Grocery Store, and Beyond: A Cut Above the Rest
May 16, 2023
21 practical low-waste tips for the kitchen and grocery shop, organised around the five R’s of zero-waste living: refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle and rot.
How To Clean Brass Utensils – The Easy Way
February 8, 2023
Clean and brighten brass utensils in minutes with a simple paste of vinegar, flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt, then polish and rinse.
How To Look After Japanese Knives With Chef Olivia Burt
June 5, 2022
Chef Olivia Burt’s three tips for caring for Japanese knives: use a flat wooden board, store them on a magnetic rack, and never use the dishwasher.
The Claw Grip With Chef Olivia Burt
January 17, 2022
Chef Olivia Burt shows how to do the claw grip, the hand position that tucks your fingertips behind the blade so you cut food, not yourself.
How To Hold A Knife – By Chef Olivia Burt
January 17, 2022
Chef Olivia Burt explains how to hold a Japanese knife, gripping the top of the handle with thumb and fingers for steadier, faster cutting.
Everything You Need To Know Before Throwing A Cooking Party
September 30, 2021
How to plan and host a cooking party, covering the guest list, dietary needs and choosing an appetiser, main and dessert your guests will cook together.
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