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I got a Y Tanaka recently, super rare, it is a White 1.2:
44881A09-FFF4-4CA6-9AFA-779AB0F54C1F.jpeg
 
Really? That's surprising, tons of retailers carry them. Probably the most prolific honyaki maker in Japan right now. Him, togashi and ikeda are the ones really pumping them out.
 
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OwlWoodworks said:
This one makes me all kinds of sweaty 🥵

https://newhamknives.com/products/s...683&utm_medium=email&utm_source=shopify_email
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The sculpting on that handle and saya 😍 It would definitely hold its own on your knife rack.

Looks like he got a wider platen for his s-grind - the groove in his early s-grinds is not as tall. I love the way it tapers off naturally towards the tip instead of ending abruptly like some makers do. I wonder if that’s difficult to do technically?
 
I am really surprised that so many react with such a frustration to high price non essential products. Kato is selling for high price because the market value is there. His production is now very low, the demand is very high. He can afford to ask high prices. Or do you guys assume that JNS gets Kato knvies for $200 and sells them for $2000?
 
Matus said:
I am really surprised that so many react with such a frustration to high price non essential products. Kato is selling for high price because the market value is there. His production is now very low, the demand is very high. He can afford to ask high prices. Or do you guys assume that JNS gets Kato knvies for $200 and sells them for $2000?
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I mean... I'm not frustrated, I just most of us at this point just think it's silly. A ironclad shirogami 180 nakiri with a belt finish for >€‎2.5k? That's what I'd expect to pay for a differentially treated tamahagane blade made by a swordsmith, not this. Kato pricing is almost a meme at this point.

If he can charge it and someone wants to buy it, good for them! But I also have the right to mock their taste just like they have the right to turn their noses up at my commentary and spend their money how they like.

EDIT: Just for clarity, I'm not trying to heap on Maxim here. I think the Wakui / Kaeru stuff and some of his other offerings are fantastic value and excellent knives, I just don't get the Kato value proposition, even to a collector.
 
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Matus said:
I am really surprised that so many react with such a frustration to high price non essential products. Kato is selling for high price because the market value is there. His production is now very low, the demand is very high. He can afford to ask high prices. Or do you guys assume that JNS gets Kato knvies for $200 and sells them for $2000?
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because the guy making it is getting hardly any of the benefit from it.

"the dealer is running a business" yeah cool my money should be split between then and the craftsperson and the amount going to each sometimes gets way out of whack and I refuse to accept that's a good or even neutral thing that it's so lopsided in some of these cases.

irrespective of kato gouging this market often sucks I wish more people would complain more often tbh
 
This Kato pricing is just a joke @Matus, no point to defend maxim here, just silly flipping prices, for stupid people, not more not less.

Just killing fun of this hobby with marketing dumpshit out of the fantasy of one dealer.

The worth of one knife like this is like 400 or way less and not a single penny more.

SirCutALot
 
I am not trying to defend Maxim .. well kinda yes I guess. He introduced Kato to the western market, he actually helped him to get his prices up what probably played a major role in him keeping doing them even today at his age (though now at a very low volume). I am not trying to argue some "pure value" - because then you just get a decent $200 large volume production knife and call it a day. Kato is making knvies in a style pretty much nobody else does, the process is thus much more manual and time consuming. The knives are different from many others what lead to a following and a unique status. And it is just that. Some see the value and the demand has slowly driven up the price, others don't.
 
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