Looks like Tsubame-Sanjo being such an artisan producing area isn't just manga bullshit:
https://notesofnomads.com/tsubame-sanjo-niigata-japan/
Now, as a knife guy, I know all about Seki City. Even the fucking official city mascot
has knives for ears, but I was unaware of Tsubame-Sanjo and its cutlery. So I actually learned something here.
Look at those god damn water stones:
While it's a bitch to clean up (although building up a slurry and working with it is also somewhat fun, kinda like playing with dishsoap and making bubbles almost), there is something to be said for the satisfaction of working with water stones. They can be... ridiculously expensive. And, especially the Japanese ones, can be very soft and not last long and require constant fucking flattening (annoying as shit), but they produce some fantastic edges and you can get a lot of feedback from the stones on the knife edge.
I haven't bought custom or "artisan" stones, just Shapton (much longer lasting and cheaper, my preferred) and Chosera (EXPENSIVE AF and do not last long at all, but great stones) water stones. Good stuff, great results.