Knife Blog

Most single-edged Japanese knives are made from carbon steel and soft iron, but the other type of single-edged Japanese knives is made only from carbon steel. It is called “Honyaki (true-forged) knives.” “Honyaki” is named after the fact that the hardening of Honyaki is similar with that of Japanese swords.
 
Honyaki is so hard, so it rarely has distortions after its completion. However it has low tolerance for impact, that is, when it is distorted or given some pressure, its edge is nicked or broken in two. As I’ve mentioned earlier, Honyaki is very hard, so it can keep sharp for longer time. On the other hand, it is difficult to maintain and sharpen it, so it is said that a Japanese-meal chef cannot become full-fledged by the time s/he can use a Honyaki knife thoughtfully.
 
Honyaki is made mainly from white steel or blue steel. And Honyaki has two types of manufacturing processes: water-Honyaki and oil-Honyaki. In the manufacturing process of oil-Honyaki, oil is used at the time of hardening that is the process of hardening steel.　On the other hand, in the manufacturing process of water-Honyaki, water is used at the time of hardening. Since water is used in the manufacturing process of water-Honyaki, steel becomes cooling in a moment so that Honyaki has exquisite sharpness.
 
It takes more time to create Honyaki, so Honyaki is several times more expensive than most single-edged Japanese knives that are made from carbon steel and soft iron.
 
*The knife on the picture is a water-Honyaki White I steel sashimi knife with the silver and ebony handle.