Ishikawa Single Bevel Santoku

[cedarhouse]

This was fun. How you enjoy the review!

https://ryansvignettes.wordpress.com/20 ... l-santoku/

[Bensbites]

I wanted to respond to this review. While it was an entertainkng read, it made me think about the purpose of these passarounds which is to get constructive feedback and generate buzz. It think there is a way to write a critical review without being insulting.

[jmcnelly85]

I liked the review, I didn't take it as insulting, though. Seemed honest in its assessment of excelling at particular tasks while struggling mightily with others while spelling out how and why it performed and for whom the knife will work for. The rest is what separates a cedar review from other reviews. I think the passarounds are more for overall knife knowledge than buzz alone. Every knife isn't for everyone, I usually get more out of negative reviews than overwhelmingly positive ones.

[cedarhouse]

Thank you for your feedback, Ben. I appreciate it. I would like to disagree with you on one point and offer three thoughts which inform my process.

First, the pass arounds were started among the membership of the forum and were done for fun, community, education, to promote favored product, and probably a dozen other reasons. Generating reviews for knives and interest in new products is certainly in the mix but I think it reductive to overemphasize the retail element of what it is we are doing here. To Mark's credit, he has fostered a community here, not just a consumer base.

Secondly, I have three principles I adhere to when I write these reviews and I take them very seriously. In no particular order:

1) I am unabashedly a supporter of Mark and CKTG. Much of my enthusiasm for CKTG is a function of this community and the candor that is allowed and encouraged here. I feel like it is keeping with the spirit of this community and in the interests of CKTG's business to continue to participate with candor.

A) I loath flowery, sponsored reviews. My favorite products all have downsides. An honest review must articulate both what a product excels at and what its limitations are. I have a theory that a review written in earnest will sound bad to someone for whom the product is ill suited and will sound complementary to someone whose needs would be well served.

I. This must be fun. I enjoy JKs. I like using them, sharpening them, re-handling them, refinishing them, comparing them, and, rather literally, eating the fruits of their labor. I enjoy writing. I especially enjoy writing when I can humor myself. I will continue to do this as long as it is fun for me. If I needed to self censor, this would become a decidedly less engaging pastime.

With all that said, I am not likely to change my approach to writing these reviews in the future. None the less, I do appreciate your critique and I do take it to heart. While I certainly try to make light of things, I mean no insult. I was just reflecting on my previous reviews and was wondering if I felt any of them went too far. I did preclear several reviews before publishing them so as to not cause any offense or embarrassment to the owner/maker of the knife. In each case, the owner/maker was extremely supportive of the reviews and every one of them is still published on my blog today. One review does kinda gnaw at me. My review of the Masakage Koishi was largely complementary in content but a bit exacerbated in tone. I explained why in the review. I rather lament that because the knife is truly exceptional and while I may just be reading into things, I sometimes fear I may have hurt Jeff's feelings.

[Bensbites]

Thank you for your feedback, Ben. I appreciate it. I would like to disagree with you on one point and offer three thoughts which inform my process.

Thank you for taking the time to respond thoughtfully.

Ben

[snipes]

I concur with Cedar and Mr. Mcnelly. The output of the passarounds is supposed to be thoughtful and truthful feedback on the product. Not bashing a product is simply good form as one can articulate what they did not like about a product without being malicious. I read the review and didn't see it that way.
Too many times, this passaround included, I feel participants adhere to your thoughts Ben. That being, if you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all. That misses the entire point and frankly irritates me when I see it happen. All Mark has ever asked for was to share one's views in exchange for getting a chance to play with a new knife for nothing other than the cost of shipping. It drives me crazy when I see people not hold up their end of the bargain. Not wanting to be critical is what comes to my mind, because I don't think laziness factors in most cases. Specific to this knife, it was an odd bird. I posted my thoughts as well.

[cjmeik]

Hmmm…. This is a tough one.

With regard to the purpose of passarounds, I completely agree with snipes assessment and I, too, can't stand a review that is ONLY positive. But I don't think that's the issue here.

I also don't think this is a censorship issue. It is possible and entirely advisable to communicate criticisms with tact. Candor, yes, but also tact. I should know as I struggle mightily with it most times.

I always enjoy cedar's reviews and this was no exception. I found it quite entertaining and it gave me a good feel for the knife's performance as Ryan saw it. From my time with the knife, frankly, I felt very similarly. Cedar has an irreverent tone, at times, that very much resonates with me and I look forward to his reviews because of it.

There was one paragraph, however, that made me cringe. The one that begins, "Performance, by and large, was crap." As I read this, my brow raised a bit is I imagined Mark reading it and thinking something to the effect of, "well, there goes Ishikawa sales!" Or, in the admittedly remote chance that Ishikawa-san himself were to read that paragraph, describing his craft, that I'm sure he puts his heart and soul into, and not feeling so appreciative of the feedback. Speech is free but words do matter.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the review and, likewise, the knife was not for me, but I can also definitely see what Ben saw. It seemed just a touch heavy handed in places.

Regardless, I appreciate cedar taking the time to share his experience with the knife and I'll look forward all of his future reviews.

[cedarhouse]

"Or, in the admittedly remote chance that Ishikawa-san himself were to read that paragraph, describing his craft, that I'm sure he puts his heart and soul into, and not feeling so appreciative of the feedback."

This one does bother me.

Thanks for you thoughts.