Buying cutlery in Japan
 

This is one of those, “if you have to ask, the answer is no” questions. Planning to be in Kyoto at the end of the month & thinking of buying some kitchen cutlery at the knife shop in the Nishiki Market. Any caveats? Other places? Then, for return to the US, absolutely need to place in checked luggage ex-Japan or just for connecting flights in the US?

Sorry don't know about places in Kyoto, but if you transit through Tokyo try Kappabashi street (aka "kitchen town") for all things restaurant. Between Asakusa & Ueno IIRC.

That said I have to admit I bought all my Misono knives from Tokyu Hands lol.

A chef's knife? Absolutely needs to be checked for any flight - domestic or international, connecting or direct.
We bought our knives at Kiya - http://foodsaketokyo.wordpress.com/2...hops-in-tokyo/

There is a Kyoto recommendation or two in this thread (albeit from a couple of years ago):
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/japan...kyo-osaka.html
There are a few other threads in the forum on knives from past years.

If you're buying a decent knife, make sure to get a Japanese wetstone as well. It's so much better than any sharpening tool you can get in the U.S.

And if you are a lefty make sure you pay attention to the grind.

The only problem with Kappabashi is you are likely to find lots of other stuff there you didn't know you needed. :)

That said, I got an excellent deal on a Kyocera ceramic santoku knife there, and the friend I was traveling with found some great carbon steel knives, also.

And you forget why you needed it as soon as you leave. Like that plastic ice cream sundae that's been sitting in my closet for years...

It might have been better if you bought something more practical like this sundae USB memory.

http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/a...f76391ad88.jpg

Alas, I couldn't find one of those that would work with my Windows 3.1 computer back in 1992.

Oh, thanks for keeping that Japanese product for twenty years.^

Honestly I've never bought a great knife, but I visited this shop not too far from Kyoto, in Osaka a couple weeks ago - might be worth checking it out: http://www.towerknives.com.

The guy working there was really nice & friendly - works for a major knife company located in Seki - cutlery capital of Japan?
Actually, in the spring I'm moving to another part of Japan & plan to get a nice knife then!

Welcome to FT, Ambam.

Since you started to recommend something commercial from the very first sentence of your first post on FT, may I suggest you keep posting on FT regularly, say 30- 50 times/year ?

People here might think it is just a kind of ads if you retired from FT very early. I hope yours is not what Japanese people call SUTEMA.

Anyway keep sharing and shared on FT. See you soon.