Japanese Knives & Sharpening Specialist
Owen Hollis
- Japanese knives
- Whetstones
- Knife sharpeners
- Cutting boards
- Edge geometry
About Owen
Owen spent twelve years at a specialty Japanese knife shop, first fitting customers to their first gyuto and later running the shop’s whetstone sharpening service. Every week brought chipped tips, rolled edges, and knives ruined by glass boards, so he learned what goes wrong with fine steel and why.
At Mr. Kitchen Adviser he covers the side of cutlery that rewards a little knowledge: hard Japanese steels, thin edge geometry, single-bevel knives, whetstone progressions, and the cutting boards that protect an edge instead of dulling it. Frank brings the butcher-counter view of Western knives; Owen brings the sharpening bench.
His advice is usually simpler than people expect. A thinner, harder knife cuts beautifully but asks for more care, a two-stone kit covers most home kitchens, and the board under the knife matters almost as much as the steel.
How I test. I use each knife for regular home prep, check the edge by feel and on paper as I go, and sharpen it back on stones to see how willingly the steel returns to a fine edge. Boards and sharpeners get judged by what they do to that edge. Read more about our testing process.
Articles by Owen
Guides and reviews from Owen land here as they publish.
Meet the rest of the team
Every reviewer brings a different specialty to the test kitchen.