Learn
The essentials
Enough of the field to read a find and know what you are looking at.
How to read a find
Every card is one examination, in the order the work actually happens:
- The signature (mei). The characters read straight off the seller’s photographs, before anything is concluded. A grade word (極上, “top”) or a steel name (青紙, aogami) is labelled as such, never mistaken for a maker.
- The maker. Who that signature points to, when the sources support it, with a confidence for that listing alone. “Maker not identified” is an honest answer, not a failure.
- Asking vs estimated. The two figures sit side by side because the comparison is the information. A large gap, on solid evidence, is what marks a sleeper.
- The evidence line. How the estimate was reached and how thin it is. An estimate with no recorded sales behind it says so.
Japanese kitchen-knife types, at a glance
Most finds are one of these. Single-bevel blades (sharpened on one face) are the traditional Japanese forms and take skill to sharpen; double-bevel forms are friendlier to a Western hand.
- Gyuto. The all-purpose chef’s knife. Meat, fish, vegetables. The easiest place to start.
- Santoku. Shorter and flatter than a gyuto, for a clean up-and-down chop.
- Nakiri. Flat rectangular blade, double-bevel, for vegetables.
- Yanagiba. Long, slender, single-bevel, for slicing sashimi in one pull.
- Deba. Thick and heavy, single-bevel, for breaking down whole fish.
- Usuba. Single-bevel vegetable knife, for precise, decorative cuts.
- Sujihiki and kiritsuke. A slicer for cooked meat and fish. The kiritsuke is a gyuto and yanagiba hybrid, a chef’s signature shape.
Whetstones, briefly
Bladehound tracks natural sharpening stones alongside knives. Two things tell you what a stone is for:
- Grit. Coarse (below ~1000, for repairing an edge), medium (~1000 to 3000, the everyday sharpener), and finishing (~4000 to 8000+, for polishing). Japanese natural finishers (awasedo) sit at the top and are prized for the edge and feel they leave.
- Natural vs synthetic. Synthetics are consistent, cheap and predictable. Natural stones are quarried, each one different, and the good ones (by mine and stratum) are what collectors chase. That variability is exactly where an underpriced stone hides.
Answers
Frequently asked
What is Bladehound?
A continuous watch on Japanese kitchen-knife and whetstone auctions. It reads the maker’s signature off the seller’s own photographs, estimates what the piece is worth from comparable sales, and surfaces the listings priced for less than they should be.
What is a “sleeper”?
A listing whose asking price sits below what comparable pieces have sold for, usually because the seller could not read the signature and gave it a generic title, so bidders who search by maker never find it. Those are the ones marked underpriced against the estimate.
How accurate are the estimates?
They are research aids, not appraisals. Each is built from comparable sales where we have them and shown with the evidence behind it, including how thin that evidence is. Accuracy is not guaranteed and this is not financial advice. Always do your own due diligence before bidding.
What do the Japanese characters on a card mean?
They are the mei, the signature engraved on the blade. Bladehound transcribes exactly what is on the steel and, when the sources support it, identifies the maker. A grade word or a steel name is labelled as such, never mistaken for a maker.
Why are so many finds on Yahoo Auctions Japan?
That is where Japanese makers’ work is bought and sold domestically, and where it is most often under-described. A knife listed in Japanese with no maker in the title is invisible to most of the world, which is exactly the gap this exists to close. How to buy from it →
Can I buy from Yahoo Auctions Japan from outside Japan?
Not directly. Yahoo Auctions Japan wants a Japanese account, payment method and address, and does not ship abroad. You buy through a proxy service that bids on your behalf and forwards the parcel. The buying guide walks through it, and the services are listed below.
Does Bladehound sell knives?
No. It takes no part in any sale. Every “view listing” link goes to the marketplace, where you buy from the seller directly (or through a proxy for Yahoo Japan).
How does Bladehound make money?
Some outbound links earn a commission when you buy through them. It costs you nothing, and it changes nothing about what is shown or how anything is ranked. The estimate is computed before any link is drawn.
How often is it updated?
Continuously. New listings are discovered around the clock and read as they appear, so the freshest finds are usually only hours old.
I have my own auction link. Can you check it?
Yes. Paste it into the “Have a link? Check it.” box on the finds page. If it is already in the index you get the appraisal. Either way you get a clean link to buy.
Read
The step-by-step
Services
The official proxy buyers
A Yahoo Auctions Japan listing can only be bought through one of these. They hold the Japanese account, place the bid, and forward the parcel to you.