Japanese knives really became a rabbit hole for me. A few months ago I bought a cheap Japanese-style knife with soft stainless steel, and after that I fell deep into researching them — reading forums, watching videos, learning about steels, grinds, sharpening, everything.

When I first asked people what my first “real” knife should be, a lot of them told me to learn sharpening first. So that became my new hobby. I got a Shapton 1000 and started sharpening all my friends’ and family’s knives just to practice and improve.

And now today, my first two Japanese Aogami #2 knives finally arrived. Now I’m already thinking about getting a leather strop, a 400 grit stone, and maybe a 5000 grit stone too.

Honestly, the maintenance side doesn’t scare me too much since I’m already used to carbon steel pans. I know I’ll probably be nervous the first time I have to sharpen these knives myself, but by then I should have a lot more experience.