Kyocera SS-30 Premium Electric Knife Sharpener - Stainless Steel, Titanium & Steel Blade Sharpening - Includes Ceramic Whetstone & Guide - Perfect for Kitchen Cutlery, Scissors, Gardening Tools & Sickles - Powered by 2 AA Batteries (Not Included) - Ideal for Home Chefs, Gardeners & DIY Enthusiasts

Just received the sharpener after a two week wait! Interestingly, Nippon Post got the package from Tokyo to New York City in three days while the USPS took 9 days to get it from New Yuck Chitty to Ohio! On receipt, the sharpener was very well packed,in hang-tag type packaging clearly from a retail outlet in Tokyo. The sender also included a small package of facial tissues as a purchaser gift (such were my experience in buying from a Japanese retailer years ago in Osaka.) That's how they show that they appreciate your business!!!Regarding instructions on how to put batteries in the sharpener and how to use it. They were in Japanese as the earlier reviewer stated. HOWEVER, there were DRAWINGS showing how to do each step without resorting to reading in any language!One of my hobbies is sharpening (yes, I know I am weird!) I purchase and test virtually every sharpening system I find on a variety of knives. Thus far this one seems to deliver what it promises. First tests on the sharpener are very positive. While the sharpener is designed for ceramic blades, it should work equally well on steel blades that are much more common. A friend promises to bring me a ceramic knife that he has both used extensively and has chipped the blade. When I get it I will update this review.I tested it on two steel Santoku style knives that I keep very sharp. I tried this device on them first and found them even sharper! The old standard technique of splitting paper was insufficient so I cut a 100 page magazine completely in half with 1 stroke. I have done that with other knives sharpened by my usual methods but found this to be quite good for as little effort as I put into cleaning up the edges. Literally, three strokes on each side!! I tried it on a regular US style vegetable knife and found similar results except, and this is the only negative, the distance from the edge of the sharpener to the beginning of the stone is about 1/2" that means that a "regular" style knife will have about 1/2" of blade not touched by the sharpener. This is usually not a problem but the knife I was testing is sharpened all the way to the handle rather than having a dull section of about 1/2" before the ground and sharpened area begins. However, one can take the guard and angle template off the sharpener and free-hand clean up edges right to the handle if desired. I don't recommend that as one can ruin a blade in hurry with an improper sharpening angle!!Two AA batteries give a very strong vibrating stroke perpendicular to the handle. The advertising suggested 150 strokes/second - I believe it! My impression is that the sound is similar to a very strong electric razor.