Last updated: June 2026
Editorial Policy
Blade & Steel is a translation publication. We read Japanese-language sources about kitchen knives — maker websites, steel documentation, pricing platforms, and enthusiast forums — and translate what matters into English. This page explains how we choose sources, how translation works, and how we attribute the original material.
What we translate
Our coverage draws on Japanese-language primary sources that have no English edition:
- Kakaku.com — Japan's price-comparison platform, used for pricing, availability, and Japanese user reviews of knives and sharpening gear.
- Maker websites and blogs — workshop pages from forges in Sakai, Sanjo, Seki, and Echizen, covering forging methods, steel choices, and production news straight from the smiths.
- Japanese knife forums and communities — long-running enthusiast discussions where steels, grinds, and individual makers are compared by people who use the knives daily.
- Steel manufacturer documentation — composition and hardness specifications for steels like Aogami, Shirogami, and SG2 from the original Japanese datasheets.
How sources are selected
- We prefer primary sources — the maker's own site, the steel mill's own datasheet — over secondhand summaries.
- For subjective questions (how a steel sharpens, how a grind performs), we look for consensus across many forum posts rather than a single opinion.
- We do not translate sponsored placements or advertorial content as if it were editorial. When a Japanese source marks content as PR (PR表記), we either skip it or label it.
How translation works
We use AI translation tools (including large language models) to read and draft translations from Japanese, with editorial review before publication. Specifically:
- AI does the heavy lifting: reading Japanese source pages, drafting English translations, and summarizing forum consensus across many posts.
- Editorial review covers the claims: maker names, steel compositions, hardness numbers (HRC), and prices are checked against the original source before publishing.
- Terminology is standardized: Japanese knife and steel terms (gyuto, santoku, kurouchi, Aogami Super) are kept in romanized form with a plain-English explanation on first use, so readers can cross-reference Japanese listings.
- Translation is interpretation. Where a Japanese phrase has no clean English equivalent — sharpening feel and edge-retention vocabulary are the classic cases — we explain rather than force a one-word translation.
Attribution
Every article that draws on a Japanese source cites that source, with a link to the original Japanese page where one exists. We treat the makers, mills, and platforms as the authority — we are the translation layer, not the origin of the data.
Independence and affiliate disclosure
- No maker or retailer pays for coverage, placement, or ratings. Assessments reflect the Japanese source data, not commercial relationships.
- Some outbound links are affiliate links and may earn us a commission at no cost to you. This never changes what we cover or how we rank it. See our affiliate disclosure.
Corrections
Japanese pricing, availability, and maker lineups change. If you find an error — a mistranslation, an outdated price, a discontinued line — email us and we will verify against the original source and correct the article, noting the update date.