You may be familiar with Japanese YouTuber JunsKitchen for his helpful and fun videos about cooking delicious Japanese meals, usually accompanied by his feline sous-chef Kohaku. Jun's knowledge for Japanese cooking doesn't seem to be just limited to recipes, however, after a chance encounter at a recycling shop, it's become evident he knows a good blade when he sees one--even when it's covered in rust!

At the recycling shop, Jun found a man trying to sell a traditional Japanese knife, but the store refused to purchase it due to it's clearly tarnished quality--even for a measly 30 yen (about 30 cents). Jun later approached the man and offered to purchase it, but the seller wouldn't part for it under 3$ (a sudden rise in price, ten times). Despite that, Jun still bought it, and the seller walked away smiling at his obvious victory in the transaction--or so he thought. Jun was determined to make it a worthwhile purchase, and began cleaning and sharpening--restoring the blade to its former glory in an incredibly satisfying video to watch!

Curious as to the engravings on the blade and the real worth of the knife, Jun found that it was a 180mm Shirogami Steel Usuba knife made by Seki Magoroku. "Shirogami" (white paper) steel refers to a pure carbon steel and popular for high end Japanese cutlery. The knife is listed at 10,480 yen, roughly $94 USD, so we think it's safe that Jun cut a pretty good deal!

Jun also provides information on the sharpening stones he uses, which can both be acquired on Amazon.