During my first trip to Japan I was able to source these excellent knives from Sakai. They offer excellent quality and a reasonable price and are made with white #2 steel clad with soft iron. The knives are made in the traditional Sakai method using a small, specialized blacksmith shop and a equally specialized knife sharpener to finish the blades. Then, they are sent off to a handle maker and engraver to finish the knives according to my specifications. The engraving is in Kanji and done by hand. It says "Mark" on the front of each blade.