The Japanese Knife Evangelist 3-9

If the video does not appear, please click the play button (▷) to watch.

Purity, Hardness, and the Craftsman’s Challenge

White Steel (Shirogami) is one of the most revered steels in Japanese knife-making, prized for its purity and extraordinary sharpness. Unlike Yellow Steel, which blends impurities into its base composition, White Steel is an ultra-pure carbon steel with extremely low P and S; raw materials are optimized by the maker.
This purity narrows the margin for error during heat treatment, demanding absolute precision from the craftsman.

Within White Steel, there are three variations—#3, #2, and #1—distinguished by carbon content. The higher the carbon, the greater the hardness and sharpness, but also the more difficult the sharpening and the higher the risk of brittleness. White #3 is commonly used for household knives, White #2 has become the professional standard, and White #1, long regarded as the “supreme steel,” is reserved for master-level blades.

White Steel is thus both a material of brilliance and a test of skill: a steel that reveals not only the cutting edge of a knife, but also the true ability of the craftsman who forges it.