Exploring Japanese Knife art
This research project aims to explore the development of Japanese kitchen knife culture in America. The United States is a country of immigrants, so here you can feel the cultural diversity of the world. However, comparing to other brands of knives, western chefs primarily used thicker and durable French and German knives that were readily available and popular in the market. In contrast, Japanese knives were not so widely known, and everything from the maintenance of Japanese knives to use was different. To investigate the ways in design and use purpose difference of Japanese kitchen knife and understand the history and complexity of this fading traditional Japanese knife art, this research is to give insight into the various Japanese kitchen knives that are adopted by different use purpose for cuisines both in Japan and America and to further propose practical steps towards building a bridge between two knife cultures and introduce more Japanese knives to the market in order to improve the image of Japanese knives.
Today people know that some kitchen knives are expensive. In American shopping malls, you can buy worldwide well-known German brands kitchen knives such as WMF, Wüsthof, and so on in pursuit of quality. They are representative of a high-quality lifestyle like other German-made products. Like cars and cameras, the top products in the world of kitchen knives mostly come from Germany and Japan. Japanese kitchen knives enjoy a high reputation in the professional field. Their performance and quality often outperform their German counterparts. In most cases, their prices are much cheaper than German kitchen knives of the same level, but they are not so well known. To understand the importance of knife art in the history of Japanese food culture, we must try to recover the original sensibilities that sustained it.
Japan is a land of long traditions, especially the arts and crafts, where hundreds of years of accumulated knowledge and experience passed down from master to apprentice, from teacher to student, each tradition has its own traditional rules, procedures, and style. In pursuit of excellence in their field, Japanese blacksmiths have focused on producing fine traditional Japanese knives required that the master chefs need to achieve their culinary goals. This kind of emphasis also reflects the importance of inheriting Japanese knife manufacturing culture. In Eric Rath’s book food and fantasy, “in ancient times, all the noble houses, beginning with the court, had h-ch-nin appear at parties for the spectacle of carving a fish or a fowl” (Rath)[1]. Eric Rath quotes historical evidence to express this view. He introduces the history of cutlery and tells the story of the opening show of the imperial court in 1843, which began with a cooking demonstration. Through traditional knife etiquette ceremonies, this will be very useful for modern chefs to understand their knife religious importance. Eric also said, “knife ceremonies, due to their long history and prominence in elite food culture, are an important starting point for showing the connections between food and fantasy—raw ingredients and thinking about them—that were the ingredients for cuisine in premodern Japan. ” (Rath).[2] He emphasized that the knife technique is to show the connection between food and fantasy. The knife is the soul of food. In fact, it is not difficult to see that from the Japanese sushi we taste in our life. The chef usually cuts fish fillets and makes sushi on the site. This requires the chef to have high-quality knife skills. This also means that their knives must be professional, sharp, and suitable for them. On the other hand, the chef also demonstrates the artistic value and charm of Japanese knives while showing his knife cutting skills. The Japanese already had a long history of the concept of “cutting flavor”. The meaning of cutting flavor is extended to the field of kitchen knives, which refers to extremely high and durable sharpness. A knife still maintains a smooth cutting feeling for a long time. This has a high standard of the hardness and maintenance of the knife, and this is the pleasure conveyed by a good knife to people.
With the popularity of Western and Japanese cuisines, I found that many western chefs have accepted Japanese kitchen knives and directly invested in the arms of foreign goods. In a Japanese knife company named Korin, which is an authentic Japanese knife store located in New York City. Their knife catalogs introduce the complexity of the manufacturing process and a careful and focused study of knives. In this knife collection, the purpose of this book is to give us a more comprehensive understanding of the classification, workmanship, and uses of Japanese knives. Through Korin’s catalogs, it introduces “the single-edged katana blade is a distinguishing feature of Japanese knives, setting them apart from their Western-style counterparts, which are typically ground to a bevel on both sides” (korin 2017).[3] I started from the characteristic knife style in the shop to understand the history of the production behind the knife. However, people don’t know the real difference between imported kitchen knives. It is not easy to see Japanese kitchen knives in domestic malls. Buying online, those strange shapes and strange names are always prohibitive. In Korin’s website, there is a clear explanation of different kinds of knife and knife purposes. I also found that the website has a specific page to introduce the history of Japanese knife crafting to let their customer learn more about Japanese knife culture. On the website, it states, “Japanese knives are handcrafted one at a time by master artisans wielding the elemental forces of fire and water. The process entails more than 20 labor-intensive steps, from forging to edge crafting, handle making, and assembly. To make a Japanese knife worthy of the name means not even the slightest mistake can be allowed at any step along the way. What’s even more alluring is that these techniques and know-how have been passed on and further honed by craftsmen across the generations, in their ongoing quest to create the ultimate precision cutting tool” (Korin Web).[4] From the production process, the production site to the sales storefront, Korin’s website, and its catalogs detail each step of the production of the knife from none to one. It provides a rich background of the knife and Japanese knife culture to the American community. It brings my research to pay particular attention to different kinds of Japanese-style knives to show that those practical knives were invented according to their usage and have significant meaning toward our knife culture.
It is with this in mind that I find importance and meaning in New York’s chef’s choice on knives, which is evident in the emphasis on Korin’s investigation in my research. Combined with the New York Times report, “By far the most striking trend in the world of knife enthusiasts is the surge of interest in Japanese knives, whose thinner, harder blades have nearly become the professional standard in New York restaurant kitchens” (Matt Lee).[5] Matt portrays that Japanese traditional knives are more dexterous for the kitchen. He also stated that Japanese knives are more sophisticated in making. Each knife is handmade and unique. At the same time, he also expressed concern about the Japanese knife. “Many Japanese knives are made of new hard carbon steel and require extra care to keep clean as well as patience and skill to sharpen” (Lee).[6] This may not be practical for ordinary families, because Japanese swords require extra care with patience and skills. This is a completely necessary worry that if people use the wrong way to sharpen the knife, it will ruin this knife. This has greatly reduced people’s expectations of using a Japanese knife. This also gave me new thinking. Given customers’ concerns, will this reduce people’s desire to buy a Japanese knife or their acceptance toward the Japanese knife culture? It bought my attention due to these concerns that my research will focus heavily on facilitating discourse between both introducing Japanese knife culture and letting more people know and accept Japanese knives.
This research aims to give more relevant information about Japanese knives and give people worldwide a cultural promotion for Japanese-style knives. A knife is the soul of food. Through the long history of the ceremonial knife opening shows, people can understand and accept Japanese knife culture and make it part of their lifestyles. Korin’s catalogs and website, it explains the significance of the historical production of Japanese traditional knives and gives us a detailed introduction of the use of different types of knives. Through this report, I believe people will know more about Japanese knives, and it could lend a valuable perspective of the interactions between western knives and Japanese knives. Through the New York Times report, while affirming the Japanese knife, people also raised concerns. It is not easy for people to dispel their concerns immediately. It takes a process for people to accept a new culture, and it needs communicators to introduce and propagate Japanese knife culture. To build a new bridge of cultural exchange to let more people know and choose Japanese knives. In the end, people will realize the Japanese style knife is also a good kitchen knife and worth it.
Works cited
Rath, Eric C. “Of Knives and Men Cutting Ceremonies and Cuisine.” Food and Fantasy in Early Modern Japan, First ed., University of California Press, n.d, 2010.
Company, Korin. The Japanese Chef Knife Collections. 35 years special ed., Korin, 2017.
Company, Korin,History of Japanese Knife Crafting: Korin Japanese Trading. Korin, Inc., 2020, www.korin.com/about-history-of-japanese-knife-crafting.
Lee, Matt, and Ted Lee. “When a Knife Is the Gleam in a Cook’s Eye.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 15 Dec. 2004, www.nytimes.com/2004/12/15/dining/when-a-knife-is-the-gleam-in-a-cooks-eye.html.
