Aritsugu is located in the street mall in the Tsukiji fish market. They open incredibly early, just like the rest of the fish market. That gave me an opportunity to squeeze in a morning visit and appreciate their shop. When I walked in, the staff was in the shop at the back of the store, working on a knife. The shop performs repairs on knives and they let me watch a polishing operation. Polishing and sharpening are somehow very calming activities, although they require great skill. This is a selection of their more typical knives. This site and this site have good introductions to Japanese knives. Japanese knives are made with carbon steel rather than stainless; they also use a single-sided edge rather than the double-sided edge of a German knife. Carbon steel is harder (good) but requires more careful sharpening (bad, unless you enjoy sharpening knives, which I do). Other cabinets in the store had very different types of knives, some specifically for fish. I think...
My thoughts on the Atlanta food scene, with occasional forays into the world beyond. We talk about both restaurant reviews and recipes.