This book came to my attention when it came up as missing during a shelf check for holds. I found the book misshelved but close to where it belonged. What I was first taken with was the very attractive and well made binding of the book. Library staff have to deal with a lot of binding damage so good binding is very appealing. When I was processing the book for a hold I noticed it was about Japanese knife making. I was intrigued and placed a hold on the book for myself for when the book came back.
I
had been in Japan two years earlier and had seen just how amazing
Japanese cooking knives are first hand in the Kappabashi neighbourhood
while
I was in Tokyo. Kappabashi is famous for its dozens of kitchen and
restaurant supply stores. Kappabashi’s patron mascot is the kappa, which
is an anthropomorphic turtle-like creature from Japanese folklore. I
still do not know what the connection is between
cooking stores and kappas, but nearly every store and signpost had
statues and cute cartoons of the creature. I must forewarn anyone who
plans on looking up the Wikipedia article, kappa mythology is grossly
bizarre or riotously funny depending on your sense
of humour.
Cooking
and the history and technology of cooking are subjects of interest and
hobby for me so seeing Kappabashi had been on my bucket list
for things to see in Tokyo. I was hoping to see beautiful traditional
Japanese ceramics and lacquerware in Kappabashi and I was not
disappointed. One of my favourite souvenirs from that trip was a bunny
shaped stoneware salt cellar that I bought in Kappabashi.
What I was unprepared for was all the knives! There were so many stores there that sold nothing but kitchen knives, and every single knife I saw a work of art. I had never seen so much variety and quality in finish and grind and there were so many different shapes and sizes of knives that did not exist in Western cooking. When I tried to talk to knife store workers my ignorance of Japanese knife conventions quickly became apparent. What was the functional difference between a knife made from super blue steel versus VG10 stainless steel? Alongside Western style knife types like carving knives and chef knives there were Japanese specific knife forms such as usaba and gyuto knives that I had no idea what they were used for. I noticed that many of the Japanese style knives were asymmetrical and only sharpened on one side or bevel of the blade. When I asked a store worker if the single sided blades could only be used by right handers or if there were left handed knifes that were ground on the reverse side, he looked at me like his head was going to explode. I left the kitchen market very, very curious to learn more about Japanese knives.
What I was unprepared for was all the knives! There were so many stores there that sold nothing but kitchen knives, and every single knife I saw a work of art. I had never seen so much variety and quality in finish and grind and there were so many different shapes and sizes of knives that did not exist in Western cooking. When I tried to talk to knife store workers my ignorance of Japanese knife conventions quickly became apparent. What was the functional difference between a knife made from super blue steel versus VG10 stainless steel? Alongside Western style knife types like carving knives and chef knives there were Japanese specific knife forms such as usaba and gyuto knives that I had no idea what they were used for. I noticed that many of the Japanese style knives were asymmetrical and only sharpened on one side or bevel of the blade. When I asked a store worker if the single sided blades could only be used by right handers or if there were left handed knifes that were ground on the reverse side, he looked at me like his head was going to explode. I left the kitchen market very, very curious to learn more about Japanese knives.
When The Knifenerd Guide
arrived for me I was expecting a technical reference book
with some historical information about Japanese knife making. The book
definitely had that information, but it was more of a cross between a
photo travelogue and an ethnographic account by a Canadian ex-chef and
knife seller on how he first discovered Japanese
knives and how he went to Japan to meet the artisans.
The
first half of the book records the stories of the various Japanese
blacksmiths, apprentices, machinists, and sharpeners who work at the
smithies and factories that still produce hand forged kitchen knives.
There are many full page pictures of heavy industrial looking forges
strewn with half finished masterpiece knives. Every surface is covered
in black carbon dust. Some of the people interviewed
were from families that had been smithing for more than ten generations.
With the ban on the samurai from carrying swords during the Mejji
Restoration and then the demilitarization of Japan after WWII,
blacksmiths specializing in sword making lost most of their
business. Many of the sword makers switched over to forging kitchen
knives and incorporated many of the materials and techniques used to
make swords.
There
was juxtaposition in the book between the stories of the older
generation of traditional blue collar craftsmen and the younger
demographic
that was more non-conformist. The oldest men interviewed, and they were
all men, started apprenticing after WWII. When asked about their choice
of career most of the old men said there was no choice, they were born
into blacksmith families and expected to take
on the family business after their fathers. The younger workers had more
diverse reasons for pursuing knife making careers. Some of them were
simply keeping on the family tradition, but many of them had grown up
expecting to work white-collar jobs in big companies
and knife making turned into their second career. Many said how they
liked the creative freedom and the opportunities for experimentation in
high end metal work compared to normal jobs. I suspect the longtime
stagflation of the Japanese economy is a major factor
in the flight of workers from “good” jobs to “dirty” jobs. There was
only one young female knife worker in the Japanese knife industry that
the author knew of but one of the blacksmiths spoke about wanting to
apprentice his daughters when they got older.
The
second half of the book goes into the technical details of how
traditional Japanese knives are made. Forging steps, the chemistry
behind
the metallurgy, and the different finishes and ways of grinding are
explained. For example the stainless steel Damascus steel used on some
of the flashier knives does not usually form the cutting edge, but it is
useful as a corrosion resistant cladding and
for strengthening the more brittle carbon steel that typically form the
razor sharp cutting edge and core of Japanese cooking knives. Different
Japanese knife types are explained and how they are used and handled
compare to standard Western knife types. There
is how-to information on knife sharpening and sharpening stones. The
second half of the book is geared towards professional food industry
workers and collectors but it is useful information for home cooks who
want to understand more about how their own knives
work. I inherited some carbon steel and molybdenum steel knives and
found the care and sharpening information very useful.
