I don't think we even have any analog to it in the US anymore. Japan still has a strong tradition of apprenticeship and a cultural appreciation for craftsmanshi

I don't think we even have any analog to it in the US anymore. Japan still has a strong tradition of apprenticeship and a cultural appreciation for craftsmanship that, well, the US doesn't even have the history for. Many of the Japanese smiths who make these blades started apprenticing from childhood, from someone else who was apprenticed since childhood, and on and on back centuries. And the custom in such apprenticeship is that you might expect to spend years doing the same simple task before being allowed to move on to the next. For an analogy: some of the best sushi chefs using those knives were themselves apprentices who spent years just learning how to make rice, before they were even allowed to touch a piece of fish. That kind of practice is hard to compete with unless you've been through it yourself, and chances are if you're old enough to post on this website, you are already behind. Now there are smiths, plenty of them in the states. Many very good ones indeed, even some who have had some training or study with the Japanese. The focus though, tends to be on swords or hunting/outdoor or fighting knives. Not many bother with kitchen knives, the demand isn't high and the requirements are different, and who would they sell them to? Here in the states they'd have to compete with a culture that can by a chef's knife for $15 from any restaurant supply store. House knives are cheap but durable, and easily replaced if they go too dull. If you want good knives, you buy your own import, is the general rule among chefs. Manufactured, probably from a European make, or handcrafted from Japan if you're a hardcore sushi chef. So it's not that isn't theoretically possible, there's just a hell of a lot of economic factors preventing it.