“Sever the ignorant doubt in your heart with the sword of self-knowledge

October 1, 2008 1:39 PM

Tsukiji knife photosby Tony McNicol. List of published articles. List of selected photo galleries. I’ve been taking photos of a 240 year old knife shop in Tsukiji fish market.... If you buy a knife at the shop you can bring it back to be sharpened for free.

Website bio:

Tony McNicol is a freelance journalist and photographer based in Tokyo (who has) been living in Japan for almost 8 years, working as a freelance journalist for over four years. (His) writing and photos have appeared in publications including National Geographic News, Discover Magazine, Wired Magazine, the Japan Times, the JAL and ANA inflight magazines and the Japanese-language edition of Newsweek. And a few more!

posted by KokuRyu (14 comments total)

"The web site you are accessing has experienced an unexpected error. Please contact the website administrator." at second link.

... maybe someone severed the network cable of doubt with the sword of network cable cutting.
posted by datter at 1:51 PM on October 1, 2008

I've always wanted to try water stones for sharpening. His looks amazing. Imagine sharpening that huge knife. I sometimes sharpen an old mass produced sword (mainly I use dry stones to sharpen blades these days, and the occasional honing steel) and it takes a lot of concentration.
posted by kalessin at 1:51 PM on October 1, 2008

The Tsukiji fish market is a must-see if you're visiting Tokyo. Come early (I've been there once, and that was too late at 06:30), watch out for the motorised trolleys, and enjoy the sights while keeping out of the way of busy people.
posted by bouvin at 1:51 PM on October 1, 2008

Wow. I love that last photo. Serious business.
posted by splice at 2:00 PM on October 1, 2008

Tony McNicol is a chronic watermarker based in Tokyo ...
posted by wemayfreeze at 2:08 PM on October 1, 2008 [2 favorites]

Hmph. A new addition to the list of people that I am jealous of: the God of fountain pens, the guy that specializes in old-style umbrellas, the sword polishers, a bunch of other folks whose links I can't find at the moment, and now the knife guy linked here.

There are too many arcane crafts in the world, and I cannot master them all. Goddammit.
posted by aramaic at 2:23 PM on October 1, 2008 [2 favorites]

Wow, sharpening six feet of flexible steel on a waterstone? That would take some serious skill.
posted by quin at 2:24 PM on October 1, 2008

I want to see videos of that tuna knife in action.
posted by dirty lies at 3:14 PM on October 1, 2008

Tony McNicol is a chronic watermarker based in Tokyo ...

He makes his living selling photos (can you do that?) and writing for magazines like Wired, Time and National Geographic (can you do that?).
posted by KokuRyu at 3:21 PM on October 1, 2008

Tony McNicol is a chronic watermarker based in Tokyo ...

You're right. He should make it as easy as possible for people to lift his work and pass it off as his own, because if there's anything we've learned, it's that people on the Internet are paragons of virtue, integrity, and restraint.
posted by scrump at 3:27 PM on October 1, 2008

dirty lies, if you're lucky enough to live near a mitsuwa marketplace (nyc, chicago, cali, ...), they have bluefin dissection demonstrations once a year or so.
posted by kickback at 4:14 PM on October 1, 2008 [1 favorite]

Pretty nifty post. And Ahmana have to head out to Mitsuwa.
posted by Smedleyman at 4:22 PM on October 1, 2008

I want to see videos of that tuna knife in action.

They're not all quite that big, but here are some videos.
posted by The Tensor at 6:38 PM on October 1, 2008 [1 favorite]

Thanks for the info.

I live in SF, but it may be worth the trip to San Jose.
posted by dirty lies at 11:35 PM on October 1, 2008