Choosing grits the way Japanese knife shops teach it

The three-tier classification

Ichimonji Mitsuhide, a long-established knife shop in Sakai (Osaka), classifies stones as coarse #80–#400 with #200 as the standard, medium around #1000, and finishing #2000 and up. Matsunaga Toishi — the Osaka maker behind King stones — covers #80 through #8000 in its official guide and frames coarse stones as chip-repair and reshaping tools rather than something you reach for routinely.

Sources: 堺一文字光秀 — 砥石の番手 (Ichimonji Mitsuhide: whetstone grits) · 松永トイシ 豆知識 (Matsunaga Toishi, maker of King: official knowledge base)

What they tell beginners

Ichimonji's advice is unambiguous: start with a single #1000. In their words, the medium stone is the standard for all sharpening — it can restore a working edge on its own, and coarse or finishing stones only make sense once you have the #1000 fundamentals down.

A less-known tip from the same column: match the stone to the steel. Softer carbon steels pair well with harder stones, while stainless sharpens more easily on softer stones with higher abrasive power. This is why there is no single answer to “what's the best #1000” — it depends on what you sharpen.

Sources: 堺一文字光秀 — 包丁のお手入れコラム (Ichimonji Mitsuhide: maintenance columns)

The angle, according to Kai

Kai — Japan's largest knife maker — answers the eternal angle question in its official double-bevel guide: hold roughly 15 degrees per side for a household santoku or gyuto. Their gauge is charmingly analog: slide your pinky under the spine — up to the nail if your fingers are thicker, to the first joint if thinner — and you are at about 15 degrees. Sharpen until you can feel a burr along the entire edge, then deburr.

Sources: 貝印 — 包丁の研ぎ方・両刃 (Kai official: sharpening a double-bevel knife)