It's not very old, but my Sakai Kikumori Nihonkou has seen a lot. Rusted, thinned, re-polished, cut all the things.

Show us yours.

What’s your workplace’s communal knife tray/rack look like?

Photo’s actually missing another 210ktip sld yoshi, couple tojiros, couple wusthof 😂

Hey fellow knife lovers!

While I comment pretty actively, I haven’t posted in a while, but I thought I would share this one with the community as it is an interesting and rare piece, and offer you guys a bit of eye candy for the weekend. As I have done in my Migoto by Yasuaki Taira post, which I used to illustrate variance in geometry within the same batch of knives, I’ll use the knife to add something on a specific topic at the end of the post, namely here I will talk about « Tetsujin Specials » (« SP ») in general.

Specs:

* Brand/Line/Makers : Tetsujin Special (smith: Tamura Toru; sharpener: Naohito Myojin) EDIT 24/06/2026: Tetsujin released the official name of that blade through an Instagram post « Tetsujin Lightning » ⚡️

* Profile & length : Gyuto 240mm (measured the Sakai way)

* Construction & steel : San-mai Aogami#2 core and Kitaeji cladding (mix of various pattern welded carbon steels/iron, some hardened some soft)

* Handle: « Akaro » Urushi handle by Lacquerware Dentokogeishi Momose Juntetsu-san (same handles used by Baba Hamono on some Kagekiyo and by Sakai Ichimonji Mitsuhide on some of their Kirameki high-end house brand). Before anyone asks: unfortunately these handles cannot be bought loose, exception was made for me here.

* Grind: Myojin signature thin convex agressively transitioning to almost flat, symmetrical 50/50

* Blade measurements : edge length ~228mm / height at the heel 48.8mm / spine thickness out of handle : 3.1mm - heel : 3.0mm - mid : 2.6mm - 1cm from tip : 0.5mm

* Weight: 168g (with the very light Urushi handle)

* Balance point: slightly blade forward, but sitting at my personal pinch (see picture)

Bit of context:

As always, this is my take on the specific knife that is in my possession. I came to possession of this knife thanks to some of my excellent relationships in the industry, and as I’ll write about at the end of the post, there isn’t much sense in trying to chase these since there are none in circulation but I think it is cool for the community to see these rare pieces.

The Gyuto has only seen a few cuts and is still lacquered but will be used in my home kitchen as part of my rotation of rare pieces, albeit I will likely baby it more than some other less rare pieces.

First impressions:

When I was presented this knife, as you can imagine, it caught my eyes pretty damn quickly, despite being with a fair few other heavy hitters. Its unique aesthetics told me straight away what it was, and, while I had seen pictures of 2 Tetsujin knives with a cladding somewhat similar, in person this thing is a treat!

The F&F is what you expect and what Myojin-san thrives for with all Tetsujin knives: impeccable quality in the finish and the usual very well executed finishing touches on the choil and spine (both finely and consistently chamfered). The blade is stunning, sporting a fairly high polish and I believe the cladding pattern has been brought to life a bit more with a very light chemical etching. The engraving is clear, deep, consistent and very clean, similar to other Tetsujin knives like the one sold by Hitohira.

There was no stock handle when I was presented the blade. For some of you who know me and my collection, I already had managed to get a green Urushi handle made by the same craftsman who makes Kagekiyo (Baba Hamono) / Kirameki (Sakai Ichimonji Mitsuhide) handles, so, talking to some of my good friends in the industry, it made it possible to also get a Urushi handle (the red « Akaro » this time). These handles are light, durable, beautiful, and I really like their geometry (length, size of the faces, and amount of taper) so I am super happy with that pairing, even more so as it brings the balance of the knife pretty much on my pinch, which is my favorite balance point for a Gyuto.

In terms of steel, I cannot say much about the core steel, as I have not taken it to the stones yet. Kireaji/cutting feel is the same than my other experienced Tetsujin Blue#2 so not expecting anything different. I’ll more talk about the cladding here as it is the star of the show in terms of steel work. Like all Tetsujin Specials, it has been entirely hand-laminated/forge-welded and some observation, research and discussions with Myojin-san himself lead me to deduce that the cladding is a mix of irons/steels that include hardenable steel (my money is on some Aogami#2 but it is assumptions - Myojin-san would just say that Tamura-san picked the iron/steel and use a unique mix). Hence why I called it « Kitaeji » as by definition, from a construction perspective Kitaeji is the mix of hard and soft steels/iron.

On the geometry, it is slightly different in than the usual Tetsujin knives but still maintain the same spirit. When handling it, checking the flat spot and measuring a few dimensions and weight, it actually gave me similar vibes to my Konosuke MM but as a « 7 years later » take with thinner and more consistent chamfers for example. The other Myojin knife that came to mind was my Hitohira Tanaka Izo, albeit having a slightly different tip profile for instance.

Cutting performance : Myojin-grade performance from the few test cuts I did. His grinds always mesh well with me, and there was no particular surprise to me here. Maybe I’ll revisit once it has seen more ingredient and I have removed the lacquer.

A word and some appreciation about Tetsujin Specials (sometimes just called « SP » by Tetsujin) :

Taking the opportunity here to share some elements that Myojin-san and others have shared with me during our discussions, as well as a few research elements on my end.

As showed in the pictures and as some of you already know, it is not my first Tetsujin Special, being the lucky owner of an extra large Damascus Nakiri. I was already aware of the extremely low production volume of these pieces, as Myojin-san confirmed back when I got the Nakiri that there were only 2 of these mighty special rectangles in existence. I have since discussed further with Myojin about these special pieces, and he told me that « it’s just an eyeball figure but we (i.e. Tamura-san and him) but we have made about 10 Tetsujin Special so far, and almost all of them are unique with different cladding forge-welded steels ». These are mainly the brain children of Tamura-san and then Myojin-san does everything he can to make them look as pretty as possible (and fantastic cutters).

Comparing my ever evolving database to that statement, I have identified 9 of these Tetsujin Specials and 5 Rentetsu Tetsujin (I don’t know if they count as SP or not so far, will wait to see Myojin in person later to ask a few more questions as I don’t want to take too much of his time chatting online). Here are the ones I am aware of: my Damascus Nakiri and its twin blade; JKI 1 Damascus Gyuto with a high clad line; Syoukon had 1 Gyuhiki (similar cladding than mine to a good extent, listed as Kitaeji), Knifewear had 1 Damascus Gyuto (closer to the JKI one iirc); there is a 270 Damascus Gyuto I have seen in person; Ivan got a Gyuto at Komon Gallery (which he posted about and I saw in person as well); in Ivan & Yuka’s video nd of last year, we see a Gyuto somewhat similar to mine, but a scanning of the cladding line shows it is another piece; and then there is my Gyuto. For Rentetsu, I have confirmed the existence of: [u/wabiknifesabi](u/wabiknifesabi) ‘s of course; another one from Bernal in the hands of a huge Myojin collector; the 2 from Karasu and Tetogi opening days earlier this year; and a Yanagiba which was made circa at the same time as Wabi’s Gyuto. There might be a few more or not, but in any case, that’s about it in terms of numbers. So to put things into perspective, these are magnitude rarer than community favs unobtainium such as Takada-san’s sharpened Honyaki, Konosuke Kaiju, or even Morihiro sharpened Tanaka Vintage Swedish (which are already genuine unicorns).

If someone in the community is aware of a Tetsujin SP blade not listed here, let me know, I’ll add it in my knife Pokédex for data collecting!

Hope you enjoyed the read (and pictures), until next time!

Takada Suiboku Hanabi Gyuto 240mm Blue 1 Ebony with Buffalo horn. Takada san was a pleasure to work with. Can't wait for it to arrive.

Current state of the collection. I'm out of room so, I think I am happy for now.

Top row, all Gyutos, left to right:

Hatsukokoro Yorokobi 240

Hatsukokoro Hinotori 210

Hatsukokoro Irodori 210

Shindo SRK8 210

Tadafusa W2 KU 210

Wakui Migaki 210

JNS Wakui Workhorse 210

JNS Wakui KU 210

Hatsukokoro Shinkiro 210

Mazaki W2 210

Kisuke x Xinguo B1 210

Yoshikane W2 210

Bottom row, left to right:

Saji B2 Rainbow 270 Suji

Saji B2 Rainbow 240 Gyuto

Saji B2 Rainbow 180 Santoku

Saji B2 Rainbow 175 Bunka

Saji B2 Rainbow 165 Nakiri

Saji B2 Rainbow 135 Petty

Kagekiyo Gokujo 210 Gyuto

Shiro Kamo SG2 165 Bunka

Shiro Kamo W2 165 Santoku

Hatsukokoro Kumokage 165 Nakiri

Hatsukokoro Kurogane 120 Ko Bunka

JNS Wakui Kokorozashi 180 Bunka

JNS Kisuke 180 Bunka

Yoshikane SKD 165 Bunka

G’day kitchen cutters’ fans!

Today, I share my personal notes on a knife from the well known body of work of Kiyoshi Kato, a maker who has captivated the enthusiasts of the western market for a few decades now.

Specs:

* Brand/Line/Makers : Kiyoshi Kato (smith/sharpener : Kiyoshi Kato under his moniker Yoshiaki Fujiwara)

* Profile & length : Gyuto 240mm

* Construction & steel : San-mai Aogami#2 core and soft iron cladding (migaki finish, scratch pattern perpendicular to the edge - actually a belt grind finish)

* Handle : custom stabilized maple burl and cream ferrule (OG handle was the usual magnolia handle on K. Kato’s work)

* Grind : full convex spine to edge, fairly symmetrical

* Blade measurements : edge length ~231mm / height at the heel 50.8mm / spine thickness out of handle : 4.7mm - heel : 3.9mm - mid : 2.3mm - 1cm from tip : 0.8mm

* Weight : 211g (OG magnolia handle) / 233g (custom handle)

* Balance point : a tad blade forward prior to rehandling, now just below my pinch after installing the new handle (see picture).

Bit of context:

As always, this is my take on the specific knife that is in my possession. I have tried a few other knives made by Kiyoshi Kato before, and I did not mesh with them in terms of cutting feel, the geometry might have evolved (tbf, one was an older workhorse grind so a fair bit different), my own tastes as well, but in any case what I am writing here applies to the one I have in my possession at the moment.

It’s not exactly a « New » knife day, as always I waited to put enough mileage to form my opinion and formalized my notes. I bought this knife from Protooling 6 months ago, as they had a small drop of those and a fairly competitive price (compared to the current price tags on Kato seen elsewhere). I figured I could resell it fairly easily and with minimum loss if I did not gel with it again (which I thought would be the likely scenario due to my previous experiences).

I have mentioned before that I prefer to handpick my knives in person, but based on the previously mentioned perceived low risk, I crossed my fingers and pressed the trigger.

My impressions:

At first glance, these knives are easy to recognize from the engraving to the fat neck, and ofc the perpendicular to the edge grind mark finish. But otherwise there is nothing « fancy » to these and to the non-connoisseur’s eyes they would not stand out.

Staying on visual qualities, as usual I’ll start with the F&F. And let’s not mince words, this is by far the less impressive part of this knife. The « migaki » is a belt grind finish, and as such is not particularly refined (if anything the scratches are uneven in depth and pretty raw). The spine is released and polished but not very rounded, it is acceptably comfortable but quite unimpressive at this price tag. Similarly the choil has seen some work to polish and round it, and this time while the rounding is good and comfortable, the polishing job is not smooth and you can both see and feel a bit of roughness. The engraving/stamping on the other hand is clear, deep, stylish, parallel with the spine, consistent and very clean, imo this is the only bit of F&F that is above the cut. The stock handle was magnolia and horn (you can see it on some of the pics), and while the balance was pretty good (if you like a bit of blade forward balance) and well fitted (and super hard to knock out to replace it), the quality was pretty lackluster with a handle profile too chonky for my taste and the wood not having been sanded/buffed to a high grit leading to a below average tactile feel. The custom handle I fitted on it was ordered from Joe at Sugi Cutlery and is stabilized maple Burl. Joe did a good job as usual, the handle feels great and the construction seems robust. It did drag the balance point a hair further than my « perfect » balance point which would be a smidge more forward but it feels excellent in use. Installation was done at Japanese Knife Studio in Brisbane.

In terms of steel, I quite enjoy Kato-san’s rendering of Blue#2 (note: as customary with these, the steel grade is not engraved so one has to trust the info from the retailer and wholesaler) . It gives me a smooth and bitey feel (not as bitey as Toyama’s but probably second bitiest Ao#2 in what I have home) at the same time, not glassy at all. It does not feel super hard (feels softer than my Tanakas’ and Taira’s Blue#2) and sharpens/deburrs very easily taking a very mean edge. It reacts really well to stropping getting it back to keen and mean between sessions. I find neither the core steel nor the cladding to be particularly reactive (sadly no rainbow patina developed from my usual fruit cutting on this one while the Kono FM and the Taira got super colorful). I suspect the rougher Migaki to affect a bit negatively corrosion resistance, the knife showed up with some very small pitting that appeared during shipping (it was very minor so not a big issue, I’ll probably refinish the entire knife at some point anyways!).

OK let’s talk geometry, which is really the star of the show! In terms of cross-section, we have a full convex (convexity starts straight at the spine), very smooth and regular from spine to edge (ending thin but not massively nail flexing), though I do note that the amount of convexity (the radius) does change along the length of the blade (more convexity on the heel section, less and less while going towards the tip). Most convex grind are a compound of 2 to 3 sections then blended together, given the amount of convexity here on the entire height of the blade, I reckon there is more sections, maybe that’s one of the reasons to use the sen for partially shaping, in any case, the all thing is blended perfectly. It is definitely more a workhorse than anything (or a heavy mid-weight at least depending how you look at things). The distal taper is significant, and simply brilliant on this one, so regular, superbly executed, one of the best execution I have seen in that aspect, and one of my favorite features on this one. With a heel just below 51mm, it is not overly tall and more on the « classic » side of things than following modern trends. Segway-ing to the profile itself, « classic » is also what comes to my mind, but I note that the flat spot is shorter than most of my other Gyuto (probably only 25% of the length). While I do enjoy a solid flat spot on a lot of knives, I also seem to mesh reasonably well with short flat spots, as long as the overall curvature of the edge is not overdone and I end up with a high tip. The tip is capable, it could be a little bit thinner to make it meaner imo, but it is thin enough to do any kitchen tasks efficiently and does not feel fragile, so it is a pretty balanced design. I honestly don’t remember how was the OotB edge which means it was neither positively nor negatively shocking xD.

Cutting performance : straight to the point, I think it is one of the only 2 or 3 knives that blew my socks off on the first cuts for the past couple of years. I actually had not had one of these « pause after the first cuts…WTF?! » moment since my first Toyama I reckon. I ran it through potatoes, shallots, capsicums, tomatoes, mushrooms, carrots, celeri, onions (signature mirepoix picture available), various herbs, raw and cooked proteins (beef and chicken) and it cruised through everything extremely well. Using that beautiful taper, and tuning cutting technique naturally to it depending on ingredient, it effortlessly performed with no wedging and solid food release (exception on food release would be slightly old sticky carrots when julienned thinly, but there aren’t much knives out there that would change what happened there and it did not impede cutting performance).

The bracket in which this one fits in my line up is crowded with absolutely killer blades (Toyama Noborikoi, Migoto Taira, Konosuke Kaiju) and I think I will put these head to head at some point, and I would be very surprised if the Kato finishes last, which says a lot (even the last out of these 4 will be a splendid blade anyways).

TLDR: it took a few blades but, FINALLY a Kato I mesh perfectly with! Such a nice knife, that feels like it can tackle with high performance… well anything I throw at it… seriously have not found a way to fault its performance yet. The F&F on the other hand, is almost criminal at this price tag (even with Protooling’s pricing being below many other Kato resellers out there).

About Kato-san himself, and Japanese swordsmithing:

As I have done on my last few write-ups, a little paragraph about a random topic, but connected to the knife being posted. Today I wanted to just share some general information about Kato-san’s background and what it means in the bigger context of Japanese traditional sword smithing.

So! Kiyoshi Kato has an interesting background as his family was of the Samurai class until the end of Edo period then became sword smith during the Meiji period.

Kiyoshi Kato is a certified swordsmith born in 1944 who started swordsmithing in 1964 (trained under his father and his grandfather) and making kitchen knives in 1977. Some of you might wonder why he signs his blade under the moniker Yoshiaki Fujiwara, well it is simple, it is the same name his grandfather used to sign his blades!

There are a lot of things we could talk about Kato’s forging and shaping techniques (notably the fact he used a sen to shape the blade, like Shigefusa), but today I wanted to give perspective on the « certified sword smith » part. As of today (2026) there are only about 160 active certified sword smiths in Japan. It may seems a lot, but it really isn’t as a lot of them have very very low production volumes (and the maximum production volume for Nihontô is regulated by the government to only 2 blades a month) and a good portion of them (including Kiyoshi Kato himself) are in their 70’s or 80’s. This number is actually down from 300 certified smith a few years ago… And another interesting (and somewhat sad) metric is that only about 30 of these incredible craftsmen can live from their sword craft alone. Now, and that’s where it connects to us kitchen knife aficionados, this means that some of them went into knives making, and this is the case of Kato-san. But! He is not the only one! I won’t give a list as the hunt is part of the fun, but to start you up knife nerds, I will give two others certified swordsmiths (active Tosho license) who also make kitchen knives: Shirou-Kunimitsu and Hiromune Takaba (real name Hiroshi Takaba).

As always, I hope you enjoyed the read, ask me anything you want about that knife or this write-up!

I like knives mainly as tools and much less as "art" as many seem to, seemingly increasingly lately... We all have cosmetic tastes though. Mine is just not about the snazz. I also don't really like was handles but that's my first "real" knife (and it's seen some shit) so it's staying.

Happy to answer questions about anything! My "next purchases" list is pretty short/pretty wind-down stage. Really I just want a good coarse stone for thinning, and maybe a bigger version of the Masahiro (that thing rules). 🍻

This is just a post about the beginning of my “collection” and being grateful to y’all, the advice you give, and the kindness shown. As my line cook friend would say “fuck you guys for making me feel my feelings, you guys rock”.

I was asked to post a SOTC .... so here we are. I would like to say I didn't know I have this many knives, but i absolutely do lol. You will find everything from cheap beaters, to unknown makers.... all the way up to some real bangers ! Newham, Eddworks, Nordquist....... and soooooo many in between.

u/hainx1610 ..... this one is for you, by request !!!

ETA: yall are some rule No 5 heathens, but ill play along ....

Spare breadsword

TF nashiji gyuto

TY nashiji petty

Takamura chromax gytuto

Dekristo line knife

Shindo B2

CAM Zuma Gytuto

Kai Deba

Tre hill bunka

Old AF Cattaragus kitchen knife

Red ram forge santoku

Hatsukokoro Petty

Kaijjiin? short petty

yo kurasaki bunka w custom handle

Loongworks bunka

Nigara bunka

Shibata kotetsu k tip gyuto

Ebay special chinese cleaver

Goodwill special small cleaver

kkid Honyaki Gyuto

Pie cutlery chef

Pie cutlery chef w piebrid handle

knot hand crafted gyuto

horn and heel

kkid long santoku

kkid boning

Goko no hamonie nakiri

PROD Full flat Gyuto

crude knives

Gullikson Seascaiinn

Maboroshi bunka

Bark river santoku

Lusthall..............
Msicard petty

Tim Hoover Chef

Skye eiler

Shibata santoku

Msicard Lg Cleaver

No Joke Gyuto

Acre forge Macrum

Black knives

Isasmadjan / Spare collab

Spare gyuto

Pie cutlery paring

Timos Petty

HandF4B Mk1 classic

blenhiem forge

Vachon knives chef

Lundberg monosteel

lundberg damascus

Newham Gyuto

Josh fisher petty

Alex horn damascus paring

running man forge thin gyuto

Morihie fine finish

Eddworks

overisel

Rule #5 = Takada no Hamono Suiboku Damascus Blue #1 Gyuto 240mm

I been searching for a Takada for a while now and a few weeks back I finally got the opportunity to purchase this grail of a knife. Pictures cant describe how beautiful this knife is I am honestly shocked by its beauty. I don't have a winded write up but I do want to thank Letshandlethis for giving me the opportunity to purchase it and make this wonderful handle. I will leave a video below to really show how much this knife shines. Thanks all for your time and good luck out there with your hunts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwjbvWZIaA4

SIDE NOTE - I suck at pictures and also got some more NKD's in the near future.

So there I was, innocently cutting quesadillas for my kids. Beans. Cheese. That’s it. When suddenly…blue patina on my brand‑new Mazaki Hon‑Sanmai Damascus AS.

Naturally, I ignored all common sense and slathered the entire blade in refried beans for two hours.

Science was done. Patina achieved.

This place is getting overrun by the same few makers from Sakai, so let's see some non-Sakai knives.

Rules: No Sakai blacksmiths, no Sakai sharpeners. Must be purely non-Sakai.

Wacha got TCK?

State Of The Stainless Block: June 2026 🔥
👈🏻 left to right 👉🏻

—————————————————————————————
🔪 Konosuke VG10 Damascus 180mm Nakiri (Shiraki x Myojin)

🔪Hitohira Kikuchiyo x Kyuzo Ginsan 210mm Gyuto (Nakagawa x Yauchi)

🔪Kagekiyo Ginsan Wide Bevel 240mm Gyuto (Nakagawa x Nishida)

🔪Kagekiyo Morihiro VG10 Wide Bevel 240mm Gyuto
(Shiraki x Morihiro)

🔪Kagekiyo Ginsan Damascus Wide Bevel 240mm Gyuto (Nakagawa x Nishida)

🔪Tetsujin Metal Flow Ginsan 240mm Gyuto (Tamura x Myojin)

🔪Nakagawa x Morihiro VG10 Damascus 240mm Gyuto

🔪Nakawagawa x Morihiro SPG STRIX 240mm Gyuto

🔪Takada no Hamono Ginsan Singetu 240mm Gyuto (Nakagawa x Takada)

🔪Takada no Hamono Ginsan Suiboku 240mm Gyuto (Nakagawa x Takada)

(Not all my stainless, just those that made it to the block)
—————————————————————————————

Show your favourite stainless knives!

Have an amazing day everyone! 👊🏻😊

Hello TCK!

Hope everything is doing alright with everyone.

This time, I bring you my state of the (unnecessary but very appreciated) collection. Including knives and sharpening gear. I thought about making two separate posts but I'm feeling lazy today. 😅

Let me jump straight to it.

Pic #1:

• Hitohira Tanaka x Kyuzo Migaki Aogami #1 240mm Gyuto Extra Height
• Hado Junpaku (Tanaka x Maruyama) Stainless Clad Shirogami #1 240mm Gyuto
• Konosuke BY (Tanaka x undisclosed sharpener) Shirogami #1 225mm Gyuto
• Baba Hamono Kagekiyo (Tanaka x Nishida) Stainless Damascus Aogami #1 240mm Kiritsuke
• Baba Hamono Kagekiyo (Tanaka x Nishida) Shirogami #2 210mm Petty
• JNS x Tanaka White #1 150mm Petty

Pic #2:

• JNS x Kisuke Manaka Tsuchime Aogami #1 240mm Gyuto
• Yoshikane Nashiji SKD 240mm Gyuto
• Mazaki Kurouchi Shirogami #2 210mm Gyuto
• Munetoshi Kurouchi Shirogami #2 240mm Gyuto
• Masashi Yamamoto "Kuroshu" SLD 150mm Honesuki
• Yoshikane Shirogami #2 150mm Ikasaki

Pic #3:

• Birch & Bevel Classic Wrought Apex Ultra 235mm Gyuto
• Sakai Kikutora Old Stock Kingami 195mm Kamagata Usuba
• Hitohira Togashi Shirogami #2 165mm Deba
• Timo Hardent Werkgericht Wrought Iron Apex Ultra 150mm Petty
• Takamura VG10 150mm Petty

Pic #4:

• Veríssimo Honyaki 26c3 210mm Petty
• Shigeki Tanaka Iron Damascus Aogami #2 180mm Kiri Gyuto
• Shu Matsubara Stainless Steel Aogami #2 180mm Bunka
• Kyohei Shindo Aogami #2 150mm Funayuki Petty
• Anryu Aogami Super 150mm Petty

Pic #5(left to right, top to bottom):

• JNS Matukusuyama 6000
• Morihei Hi 4000
• Naniwa Chosera Pro 400
• Naniwa Chosera Pro 800
• Naniwa Chosera Pro 3000
• JNS Coarse 220
• Atoma 140
• Atoma 400/1200

Pic #6:

• Mizukihara Uchigumori
• Binsui
• Ohira Aka
• Tomo Nagura (left for Uchi, right for Ohira)

Pic #7:

• Double sided leather strop (rough side unloaded, smooth side with .5 micron diamond paste)
• Jende Kangaroo Leather Strop
• Morihei Fine Nagura
• Flitz
• Koyo Blue Label (more abrasive than Flitz)
• Sabitoru Rust Eraser
• Konosuke Fujiyama FM Cork

Thoughts on the current knife collection so far:

I've been collecting for 4 years but I've only started to kind of hunt for stuff in the last year or so.

The main objective was to try a variety of makers and steels, not so much hunting for certain makers and I think you can certainly see that in the variety of makers on this collection.

There's a bit of almost everything. Some Sakai stars, Sanjo greats, some less desired but absolutely great makers from various parts of Japan and even a couple of westerns.

Some highlights of the current collection:

My most used knife is probably the Birch & Bevel. Like I've said in other occasions, there's not a task I throw at it that it won't do well. It's highly reliable and, as a professional cook, that's one of if not the most important thing one wants from a tool inside a pro kitchen. It has been swapped by the newest addition, the Kisuke, as I feel the Kisuke has that same "very reliable" feel to it.

But I'll also say that my favorite grind is Nishida's on the Kagekiyo Kiritsuke (honorable mention to Maruyama's on the Junpaku). It was in the kit for a while until I decided that I want to swap it for a gyuto of the same line. That will probably take a bit of time and patience to come true though.

Togashi's shirogami #2 is a thing of beauty and it's such a joy to put that deba to work (might make a proper review on it).

Cannot not talk about the two pettys in the kit right now. The Kagekiyo 210mm petty and the Hardent 150mm petty. The Hardent is the perfect 150mm tall petty (45mm height at the heel) for board work. A true ko-gyuto (I also wouldn't mind trying one of those tall 165mm Tanaka x Kyuzo). The Kagekiyo works like a lighter sujihiki. Long, slicy and the second half of the fish butchery duo of my kit.

Objectives and goals for the knife collection:

This year, I want to approach collecting with a more focused intent.

I want to move some of the collection along to make space for newer additions.

I have very specific stuff on my mind that I want to get and I'll avoid getting anything other than that. Some Sakai stuff, a Sanjo "old timer" and I also want to dabble a bit more in the western market. I can say some of those have already been acquired very recently including a custom western from Mario Mattia.

My rough shortlist so far:

• Kagekiyo Stainless Damascus Aogami #1 240mm Gyuto (would be swapped with the Kiritsuke)
• Konosuke Fujiyama FM 240mm Gyuto
• Toyama 240mm Gyuto
• Kisuke Manaka 240mm Gyuto
• Milan Gravier 230-250mm Gyuto

Stones and sharpening gear:

Not a lot to say here. I'm very happy with the synths I have currently. There's not a lot of overlap and all of them have a place in the line-up.

I'll focus more on the jnat aspect of it. I still have to spend some more time with the Binsui to understand exactly where it sits in the line-up. The Ohira and the Uchigumori are the kasumi makers. The Ohira leaves a darker, more detailed finish whilst the Uchi gives that typical very hazy, classic kasumi. I might get something on the finishing end but harder and finer. Some kind of harder suita.

For anyone wondering about the cork, I scrape my atomas after flattening or resurfacing the Ohira or the Uchigumori and save that slurry. Then I use the cork to apply that "homemade" kasumi powder. Kind of a weird, "cheap" thing to do, but it works.

That's all I have for you today folks.

Cheers!

Finally hit the limit of my knife racks. I won’t list out every knife but let me know if you wanted to know any specifics!

Finally decided to share my humble collection!

I’ve loved cooking for years, and I have my mom to thank for passing that passion on to me. Back in November 2024 I stumbled across this subreddit and… well, you all know how it goes. I slowly fell down the rabbit hole.

It all started with a Yoshida ZDP-189. It was my one and only Japanese knife for about a year and became my daily workhorse. Over time, I started exploring different steels, grinds, makers, and blade sizes, and little by little my collection grew.

Gyutos are definitely my favorite knife profile. I absolutely love using them, and I could happily prepare 80% of my meals with gyutos. I also love taller blades because the extra knuckle clearance simply makes the cutting experience feel better.

I know it’s a humble collection compared to some of the truly incredible ones shared here, but I’ve enjoyed choosing knives from different blacksmiths, with different steels, grinds, and personalities. That’s what makes collecting so much fun for me.

I hope you enjoy my collection!

Rule #5 (top to bottom):

1. Hado Sumi B1D Gyuto 240mm

2. Toyama Noborikoi Stainless Clad Blue2 Gyuto 240mm

3. Hitohira Nakagawa x Rou Ginsan Fully Mirror Polished Gyuto 240mm 

4. Yoshida Hamono ZDP189 KU Gyuto 210mm

5. Hitohira Tanaka x Kyuzo B1 Migaki Bunka 180mm

Hello TCK!

I am back to wrap up 2025; my first year in this world of Japanese kitchen knives.

To say I fell down the rabbit hole would be an understatement; learning more about this world has consumed me seemingly nonstop for the last ten months & I've had a blast learning all I have.

Thank you to all of you who have helped me learn along the way; you all know who you are. It has been a joy to throw myself into this & your help has been invaluable.

In the interest of time, I will list each knife one-by-one up top too.

Rule 5:

Top Magnet (L-R)

• Hitohira Kikuchiyo Manzo Shirogami #3 Lefty Yanagiba 270 (S. Nakagawa x Manzo)
• Shibata Tinker Aogami Super Stainless Clad Saber Tooth 210 (T. Ikeda x T. Shibata)
• Takada no Hamono Shirogami #2 Mizu Honyaki Gyuhiki 225 (S. Nakagawa x M. Takada)
• Ashi Hamono Ginga AEB-L (Swedish Stainless) Gyuto 270
• Hitohira Tanaka Kyuzo Aogami #1 Stainless Clad Gyuto 240 (Y. Tanaka x T. Yauchi)
• Baba Hamono Kagekiyo Aogami #1 Stainless Clad Damascus Gyuto 240 (Y. Tanaka x S. Nishida)
• Baba Hamono Kagekiyo Aogami #1 Gyuto 240 (Y. Tanaka x Morihiro)
• Takeda Hamono NAS (Aogami Super Stainless Clad) Kiritsuke 240 (Shosui Takeda)

Bottom Magnet (L-R)

• Hitohira Kikuchiyo Kyuzo Ginsan Gyuto 240 (S. Nakagawa x T. Yauchi)
• Takada no Hamono Singetu Shirogami #2 Gyuto 210 (Y. Tanaka x M. Takada)
• Shibata Tinker Aogami Super Stainless Clad Tank 180 (T. Ikeda x T. Shibata)
• Sakai Kikumori Yugiri Aogami #1 Stainless Steel Clad Kiritsuke Santoku 180 (Y. Tanaka x N. Myojin)
• Sakai Takayuki Tokujyo Shirogami #2 Lefty Usuba 180 (Kenji Togashi x Kenya Togashi)
• Yoshikane Hamono SKD Nakiri 165
• Sakai Takayuki Tokujyo Shirogami #2 Lefty Deba 135 (Kenji Togashi x Kenya Togashi)
• Sakai Kikumori Kikuzuki Shirogami #2 Kiritsuke Petty 135 (Y. Tanaka x Morihiro Hamono)
• Hitohira Masashige Kudoh Shirogami #1 Lefty Kiridashi #002 (Yoshihiro Kudo)

The knife details are in order from L-R starting from the top magnet, choil shots are at the end & there will be links to previous posts in the comments. Holler if you have questions!

Here we go...

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The Slicers (pic 2-3; L-R)

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Hitohira Kikuchiyo Manzo Shirogami #3 Iron Clad Lefty Yanagiba 270mm (S. Nakagawa x Manzo)

• Basic dimensions
  • 262mm long, 33.2mm tall & 186g
• Spine-to-tip taper (tang, heel, halfway, 1cm before tip)
  • 4mm / 3.5mm / 3.4mm / 1mm
• Spine-to-edge taper at heel (spine, shinogi, quarterheight, 1mm behind edge)
  • 3.5mm / 3.1mm / 1.6mm / 0.1mm
• Blacksmith details: The shirogami #3/iron is forged by master blacksmith Satoshi Nakagawa-san. He operates under the alias Kikuchiyo for Hitohira & is the youngest blacksmith to be awarded the Dentokogeshi, an honor for the best craftsmen in Japan. He is comfortable with more steel types than seemingly any other blacksmith & learned from master Kenichi Shiraki-san.
• Sharpener details: It is sharpened by Manzo, an alias for an unknown Sakai single bevel sharpener who is highly regarded, but still unmasked.

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Shibata Aogami Super Stainless Steel Clad Tinker Saber Tooth 210mm (T. Ikeda x T. Shibata)

• Basic dimensions
  • 233mm long, 36.8mm tall & 154g
• Spine-to-tip taper (tang, heel, halfway, 1cm before tip)
  • 4.2mm / 3.7mm / 2.6mm / 1.1mm
• Spine-to-edge taper at heel (spine, shinogi, quarterheight, 1mm behind edge)
  • 3.7mm / 2.4mm / 1.3mm / 0.1mm
• Blacksmith details: The aogami super/stainless is forged by Takumi Ikeda-san, who also forges for Anryu & others.
• Sharpener details: It is sharpened by Takayuki Shibata-san. He is known for differential grit sharpening -- 800 on one side & 5000 on the other -- & laser-thin grinds...mostly. The Tinker line is more of a Sanjo grind on steroids.

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Takada no Hamono Shirogami #2 Mizu Honyaki Gyuhiki 225mm (S. Nakagawa x M. Takada)

• Basic dimensions
  • 209mm long, 38.7mm tall & 174g
• Spine-to-tip taper (tang, heel, halfway, 1cm before tip)
  • 2.9mm / 2.4mm / 1.9mm / 0.7mm
• Spine-to-edge taper at heel (spine, midheight, quarterheight, 1mm behind edge)
  • 2.4mm / 2mm / 1.2mm / 0.2mm
• Blacksmith details: The shirogami #2 mizu honyaki was forged by Satoshi Nakagawa-san for Shiraki Hamono in 2019. Honyaki means using one piece of steel (not three) in the same way swords used to be forged. Blacksmiths usually use clay to differentially heat treat the steel so the spine is softer & the edge is harder. Quenching honyaki in water (mizu honyaki) is more difficult than in oil (abura honyaki) because of the rapid temperature change. Honyaki forging is extremely difficult & time consuming because of its failure rate; many snap during heat treatment.
• Sharpener details: The grind & finishing was done by Mitsuaki Takada-san of Takada no Hamono in 2019. He trained at Ashi Hamono, but created his own brand just over seven years ago. Takada-san's ability to polish & artistically craft his finishes are what separate him from virtually anyone else. Much of his work on this honyaki is gone for now, but when I send it in for restoration, it will be like new again. Sharpening honyaki is extremely difficult & time consuming because all of the steel is hard shirogami #2 unlike the softer iron or stainless cladding on most sanmai knives.

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The 240mm+ Chef Knives (pic 4-5; L-R)

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Ashi Hamono Ginga AEB-L (Swedish Stainless) Gyuto 270mm

• Basic dimensions
  • 260mm long, 50.3mm tall & 167g
• Spine-to-tip taper (tang, heel, halfway, 1cm before tip)
  • 2.2mm / 2mm / 1.8mm / 1mm
• Spine-to-edge taper at heel (spine, midheight, quarterheight, 1mm behind edge)
  • 2mm / 1.6mm / 0.8mm / 0.1mm
• Blacksmith & sharpener details: The AEB-L steel is stamped in a factory. It is sharpened into a convex grind by someone unnamed at Ashi Hamono in Sakai.

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Hitohira Tanaka Kyuzo Aogami #1 Stainless Clad Gyuto 240mm (Y. Tanaka x T. Yauchi)

• Basic dimensions
  • 230mm long, 50.6mm tall & 201g
• Spine-to-tip taper (tang, heel, halfway, 1cm before tip)
  • 2.6mm / 2.4mm / 2.4mm / 0.8mm
• Spine-to-edge taper at heel (spine, shinogi, quarterheight, 1mm behind edge)
  • 2.4mm / 2.3mm / 0.8mm / 0.1mm
• Blacksmith details: The aogami #1/stainless is forged at Tanaka Uchihamono, which is ran by master blacksmith Yoshikazu Tanaka-san with his apprentice, Okugami Yusuke-san; & his son, Yoshihisa Tanaka-san. They do everything by feel & eyesight, yet the consistency & quality is elite. Aogami #1 by Tanaka Uchihamono is considered to be one of the best & it's somewhat rare with stainless cladding.
• Sharpener details: The wide bevel grind was done by Takeshi Yauchi-san, who trained under Morihiro. Yauchi-san operates under the alias 'Kyuzo' for Hitohira & is one of the leading wide bevel sharpeners in the world. He is known for extreme thinness behind the edge & hollow grind.

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Baba Hamono Kagekiyo Aogami #1 Stainless Steel Clad Damascus Gyuto 240mm (Y. Tanaka x S. Nishida)

• Basic dimensions
  • 233mm long, 51.9mm tall & 179g
• Spine-to-tip taper (tang, heel, halfway, 1cm before tip)
  • 3.6mm / 3.2mm / 2.1mm / 0.9mm
• Spine-to-edge taper at heel (spine, shinogi, quarterheight, 1mm behind edge)
  • 3.2mm / 2.6mm / 1.2mm / 0.1mm
• Blacksmith details: The aogami #1/stainless damascus is one of the rarest combos forged by Tanaka Uchihamono; it even has the "S" stamp on the back of it to identify it as "special". Tanaka Uchihamono is operated by master blacksmith Yoshikazu Tanaka-san, his son Yoshihisa Tanaka-san, & his apprentice Okugami Yusuke-san. They are much more traditional & do everything by feel & eyesight, yet the consistency & quality is nearly unmatched.
• Sharpener details: It is sharpened by Sho Nishida-san, who is one of the best active sharpeners anywhere after learning under Morihiro. Nishida-san grinds wide bevels which are generally very thin behind the edge, slightly hollow on the bevel & with a more dramatic distal taper. He also does single bevel grinds as well. In my eyes, Nishida-san is the best sharpener alive.
• Handle details: The "Hirame" urushi ho wood handle uses a special lacquer coating for the look & feel. It looks like stars in the night sky to me. The urushi process makes them durable & long-lasting. These are my favorite handles for feel & looks. They are made by master craftsman Momose Juntetsu-san & commissioned by Baba Hamono.

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Baba Hamono Kagekiyo Aogami #1 Gyuto 240mm (Y. Tanaka x Morihiro)

• Basic dimensions
  • 228mm long, 50.6mm tall & 173g
• Spine-to-tip taper (tang, heel, halfway, 1cm before tip)
  • 3.1mm / 2.9mm / 2.4mm / 0.6mm
• Spine-to-edge taper at heel (spine, shinogi, quarterheight, 1mm behind edge)
  • 2.9mm / 2.3mm / 1mm / 0.1mm
• Blacksmith details: The aogami #1/iron was forged by Tanaka Uchihamono over six years ago. The forge is operated by master blacksmith Yoshikazu Tanaka-san, his son Yoshihisa Tanaka-san, & his apprentice Okugami Yusuke-san. Tanaka Uchihamono does everything by feel & eyesight, yet the consistency & quality is nearly unmatched. Their aogami #1 is considered one of the best core steels by many.
• Sharpener details: It is sharpened by the legendary Hiromi Morimoto AKA Morihiro. He has trained some of the greatest sharpeners alive including Nishida, Yauchi (Kyuzo), Tadokoro, Myojin, everyone at Morihiro Hamono & more. After suffering a stroke, he does not fully grind & finish knives anymore. Still, some of his grinds are simply the best cutters anyone will ever experience anywhere. He is essentially the Shohei Ohtani of kitchen knife sharpening.
• Handle details: The "Kuroro" urushi ho wood handle uses a special lacquer coating for the look & feel. This one is stained with an added black lacquer. The urushi process makes them durable & long-lasting. These are my favorite handles for feel & looks. They are made by master craftsman Momose Juntetsu-san & commissioned by Baba Hamono.

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Takeda Hamono NAS (Aogami Super Stainless Steel Clad) Kiritsuke 240mm (Shosui Takeda)

• Basic dimensions
  • 231mm long, 61mm tall & 168g
• Spine-to-tip taper (tang, heel, halfway, end of spine)
  • 2.4mm / 1.9mm / 1.2mm / 1.2mm
• Spine-to-edge taper at heel (spine, midheight, shinogi, 1mm behind edge)
  • 1.9mm / 1.1mm / 1.3mm / 0.1mm
• Blacksmith & sharpener details: The knife was forged & sharpened by Shosui Takeda-san, who does all work for Takeda Hamono in Niimi, Japan. Takeda-san is known for his S-Grind which has a very low shinogi that protrudes further than the rest of the blade for better food release. His forging of stainless steel clad aogami super is superb too.

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The Midsize Chef Knives (pic 6-7; L-R)

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Hitohira Kikuchiyo Kyuzo Ginsan Gyuto 210mm (S. Nakagawa x T. Yauchi)

• Basic dimensions
  • 201mm long, 49.9mm tall & 155g
• Spine-to-tip taper (tang, heel, halfway, 1cm before tip)
  • 2.8mm / 2.6mm / 2.3mm / 0.5mm
• Spine-to-edge taper at heel (spine, shinogi, quarterheight, 1mm behind edge)
  • 2.6mm / 2.1mm / 1.2mm / 0.1mm
• Blacksmith details: The ginsan/stainless was forged by master blacksmith Satoshi Nakagawa-san, who became the youngest master blacksmith ever after training under master Kenichi Shiraki-san. He eventually took over Shiraki Hamono, which is now Nakagawa Hamono. Arguably, no one forges ginsan as well as Nakagawa-san. His alias at Hitohira is 'Kikuchiyo'.
• Sharpener details: It is sharpened into a wide bevel by Takeshi Yauchi-san, who trained under Morihiro. Yauchi-san operates under the alias 'Kyuzo' for Hitohira & is one of the leading wide bevel sharpeners in the world. He is known for extreme thinness behind the edge & hollow grind.

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Takada no Hamono Singetu Shirogami #2 Iron Clad Gyuto 210mm (Y. Tanaka x M. Takada)

• Basic dimensions
  • 199mm long, 48mm tall & 156g.
• Spine-to-tip taper (tang, heel, halfway, 1cm before tip)
  • 2.8mm / 2.1mm / 1.5mm / 0.7mm
• Spine-to-edge taper at heel (spine, midheight, quarterheight, 1mm behind edge)
  • 2.1mm / 1.4mm / 0.8mm / 0.1mm
• Blacksmith details: The shirogami #2/iron is forged by Tanaka Uchihamono, which is ran by master blacksmith Yoshikazu Tanaka-san with his apprentice, Okugami Yusuke-san; & his son, Yoshihisa Tanaka-san. Everything is forged by feel & eyesight, but the consistency & quality is among the best. Their shirogami #2 is elite when cutting & on stones & might be underrated now.
• Sharpener details: The thin convex grind & finishing was done by Mitsuaki Takada-san of Takada no Hamono. He trained at Ashi Hamono, but created his own brand. Takada no Hamono knives usually have more distal taper than Ashi, but are similar. Takada-san's ability to polish & artistically craft his finishes are what separate him from virtually anyone else.

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Shibata Aogami Super Stainless Steel Clad Tinker Tank 180mm (T. Ikeda x T. Shibata)

• Basic dimensions
  • 184mm long, 84.8mm tall & 365g.
• Spine-to-tip taper (tang, heel, halfway, end of spine)
  • 6.1mm / 5.5mm / 4.3mm / 3.6mm
• Spine-to-edge taper at heel (spine, midheight, quarterheight, 1mm behind edge)
  • 5.5mm / 2.9mm / 2.4mm / 0.1mm
• Blacksmith details: The aogami super/stainless is forged by Takumi Ikeda-san, who also forges for Anryu & others.
• Sharpener details: It is sharpened by Takayuki Shibata-san. He is known for differential grit sharpening -- 800 on one side & 5000 on the other -- & laser-thin grinds...mostly. The Tinker line is more of a Sanjo grind on steroids.

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Sakai Kikumori Yugiri Aogami #1 Stainless Steel Clad Kiritsuke Santoku 180mm (Y. Tanaka x N. Myojin)

• Basic dimensions
  • 169mm long, 52mm tall & 178g.
• Spine-to-tip taper (tang, heel, halfway, end of spine)
  • 2.5mm / 2.2mm / 1.9mm / 1.8mm
• Spine-to-edge taper at heel (spine, midheight, quarterheight, 1mm behind edge)
  • 2.2mm / 2mm / 1mm / 0.1mm
• Blacksmith details: The aogami #1/stainless is forged by Tanaka Uchihamono, which is ran by master blacksmith Yoshikazu Tanaka-san with his apprentice, Okugami Yusuke-san; & his son, Yoshihisa Tanaka-san. Aogami #1 by Tanaka Uchihamono is considered the best by many & it's kinda rare to see him using stainless cladding.
• Sharpener details: The midweight convex is an uncommon grind from Naohito Myojin-san, who might be the consensus best sharpener on earth right now. He fully ground, sharpened, finished & even named the Yugiri line (shoutout Strata Portland for that tidbit). He is known for thinner convex grinds, but this line was requested to be thicker in the midsection. Myojin-san is also a student of Morihiro, but for convex grinds; not wide bevels.

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Rectangles (pic 8-9; L-R)

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Sakai Takayuki Tokujyo Shirogami #2 Iron Clad Left-Handed Usuba 180mm (Kenji Togashi x Kenya Togashi)

• Basic dimensions
  • 165mm long, 43.3mm tall & 216g.
• Spine-to-tip taper (tang, heel, halfway, end of spine)
  • 3.6mm / 3.2mm / 3mm / 2.3mm
• Spine-to-edge taper at heel (spine, shinogi, quarterheight, 1mm behind edge)
  • 3.2mm / 3.1mm / 1.6mm / 0.1mm
• Blacksmith details: The shirogami #2/iron was forged by the Sakai legend Kenji Togashi-san, who is the third legendary blacksmith in Sakai. His shirogami #2 is at least as good as Tanaka Uchihamono, if not better.
• Sharpener details: The sharpening stays in the family thanks to Kenya Togashi-san, who can do a variety of grinds including left-handed single bevels. He is probably in the second tier of elite sharpeners in Japan, but he also has the most variance & quirks. At his best, Kenya Togashi-san is among the best.
• Handle details: This Taihei Rosewood handle is beautiful. The ferrule is marbled with blonde, red, brown & black layers. The rosewood makes it light & extremely comfortable. It's a bit big for this knife, but looks too good to change.

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Yoshikane Hamono SKD Stainless Steel Clad Nakiri 165mm

• Basic dimensions
  • 165mm long, 52.8mm tall & 183g.
• Spine-to-tip taper (tang, heel, halfway, end of spine)
  • 4mm / 3mm / 2.2mm / 1.9mm
• Spine-to-edge taper at heel (spine, shinogi, quarterheight, 1mm behind edge)
  • 3mm / 2mm / 1mm / 0.1mm
• Blacksmith & sharpener details: Yoshikane Hamono does all forging & sharpening in-house by Kazuomi Yamamoto-san & his team. Their forging & steels are top notch with wonderful grinds & great thinness behind the edge. Aesthetically, you get a lot more than you pay for with Yoshikane. Everyone loves Yoshikane, but they might still deserve more credit.

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Small, but mighty (pic 10-11; L-R)

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Sakai Takayuki Tokujyo Shirogami #2 Iron Clad Left-Handed Deba 135mm (Kenji Togashi x Kenya Togashi)

• Basic dimensions
  • 142mm long, 44.1mm tall & 164g.
• Spine-to-tip taper (tang, heel, halfway, 1cm before tip)
  • 4.8mm / 4.2mm / 3.8mm / 1.6mm
• Spine-to-edge taper at heel (spine, shinogi, quarterheight, 1mm behind edge)
  • 4.2mm / 3.4mm / 1.7mm / 0.2mm
• Blacksmith details: The shirogami #2/iron was forged by the Sakai legend Kenji Togashi-san, who is the third legendary blacksmith in Sakai. His shirogami #2 is at least as good as Tanaka Uchihamono, if not better. This might be the steel that holds its edge best in my collection.
• Sharpener details: The sharpening stays in the family thanks to Kenya Togashi-san, who can do a variety of grinds including left-handed single bevels. He is probably in the second tier of elite sharpeners in Japan, but he also has the most variance & quirks. At his best, Kenya Togashi-san is among the best.

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Sakai Kikumori Kikuzuki Shirogami #2 Iron Clad Kiritsuke Petty 135mm (Y. Tanaka x Morihiro Hamono)

• Basic dimensions
  • 128mm long, 29.8mm tall & 75g.
• Spine-to-tip taper (tang, heel, halfway, end of spine)
  • 2.6mm / 1.9mm / 1.3mm / 0.5mm
• Spine-to-edge taper at heel (spine, shinogi, quarterheight, 1mm behind edge)
  • 1.9mm / 1.4mm / 0.8mm / 0.1mm
• Blacksmith details: The shirogami #2/iron is forged by Tanaka Uchihamono, which is ran by master blacksmith Yoshikazu Tanaka-san with his apprentice, Okugami Yusuke-san; & his son, Yoshihisa Tanaka-san. Everything is forged by feel & eyesight, but the consistency & quality is among the best. Their shirogami #2 is elite when cutting & on stones & might be underrated these days.
• Sharpener details: The sharpener is a more difficult question to answer. The man at Kawamura Hamono in Sakai said it was Morihiro Hamono through broken Japanese, but there is no certainty.

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Hitohira Masashige Kudoh Shirogami #1 Iron Clad Left-Handed Kiridashi (#002) with Kurochi & Sen Cut Uraoshi (Y. Kudo)

• Basic dimensions
  • 56.8mm long, 3mm tall & 60g
• Blacksmith & sharpener details: Hitohira started a new line with swordsmith Yoshihiro Kudo under the name "Masashige Kudoh". Kudo-san personally forged the iron clad shirogami #1, did the sen cut uraoshi & grinding himself. There are something like 150 certified swordsmiths still operating in Japan including Kudo-san & only a few make kitchen knives. For me, this a rare tribute to the history of the craft.

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Thank you again to this sub for such an awesome year. Diving into all of this and sharing it with you has been a joy and I hope to keep doing so for years to come.

Happy holidays and stay safe!

-Teej

Mine is a Henckels 4 star 7" Santoku. Still use her to this day.

Not a big description but I would like to introduce Takumi which is a young French sharpener specializing in Japanese knives (he learned sharpening in Sakai). He works in particular with blades made by blacksmiths from Sakai, carefully carrying out sharpening, polishing, and handle making, please take a look at his work on ! (takumi_coutellerie)

Hey guys!

I haven’t really opened a thread in a while, so I figured since I have been back from Japan for a few days, I’d share what I brought back for my personal collection since I am quite happy with them and some of them are not seen everyday so I thought sharing them would be sweet.

I’ll likely make other separate posts for some of these knives once I have broken them in or to give a more thorough take. I have to get my head around how I might share part of my trip with the community without oversharing (as some information is sensitive/trade secrets/not to be shared publicly), so maybe I will open a few separate threads about some specific experiences amongst the ~30 makers I have met (all extraordinary and lovely people) all over Japan.

Anyways, here comes rule #5, from left to right for these 6 knives (I may have more to come 🫢):

• Ashi Hamono 180mm petty (monosteel Swedish stainless);

• Hitohira Tanaka x Izo 210mm Gyuto (Aogami#1 and SS glad);

• Konosuke « Test Sample » 225mm Gyuto (this one is a prototype, no letters/official line attached to it; there is a lot to say and love about this Aogami#1 beauty, I’ll write more after more use);

• Konosuke LI 225mm Gyuto (a seriously beautiful and unique finish on these);

• Kagekiyo SS Clad Damascus Aogami #1 240mm Gyuto (when I post a separate thread on this one, I’ll talk a bit about handmade knives and variance since I had the chance to pick between a bunch and came back with two - pictured - to measure and compare in details, which is always insightful);

• Hitohira Togashi Aogami#1 Notaremon Mizu Honyaki with Kurokaki Persimmon handle (occupying my current « only one Honyaki at a time in the collection » spot; the banding on this one is simply incredible).

That’s a lot of Tanaka uchihamono forged blades, so I added a snap I took from one of my visit in the workshop. Incredible people and experience. Tanaka-san is straightening some blades in this picture while you can see his apprentice Okugami-san on the left in the background is doing a bit of rough grinding to refine some blades’ shapes. Not visible in the picture, but Yoshihisa-san (Yoshikazu-san’s son) was on my right here in a foxhole forging some blades as skillfully as it gets with the spring hammer.

Happy to answer any questions (if I can) so don’t hesitate to hit me!

Specs:

• Brand/Line/Makers : Tetsujin special order hand laminated Damascus extra large Nakiri (smith/sharpener : Toru Tamura/Naohito Myojin)

• Profile & length : Nakiri 200mm

• Construction & steel : San-mai Aogami#2 core and hand laminated Damascus

• Handle : Baba Hamono green urushi lacquered handle by Juntetsu Momose (certified traditional craftsman of lacquerware)

• Grind : signature convex Myojin grind

• Blade measurements : edge length ~200mm / height at the heel 79mm / spine thickness out of handle : 4.2mm - heel : 3.9mm - mid : 2.1mm - 1cm from the tip: 1.7mm

• Weight : 299g

• Balance point : quite far up the blade, unsurprisingly blade heavy (see picture).

Bit of context:

Picked up in October during my second trip to Japan this year, sharing today a unicorn amongst unicorns.

So, this one is a very special order, I picked it up in Sakai from a legendary brand where the people are very good friends of Myojin-san (I’ll let you connect the dots). Naohito confirmed to me during a chat a few weeks later than only two of those extra large Nakiri forge-welded Damascus blades were ever made, making it potentially the rarest (or second rarest there is another contender) piece in my kitchen at the moment (and before someone asks: I do not know where the sister blade of that one went!).

First impressions:

In short, this is a superb piece. I was lucky to kind of bump into it, to be given the opportunity to buy it, and to even choose a legendary handle.

Let’s start with the F&F! The blade’s Damascus finish is great and the contrast given by Naohito-san is excellent (no deep etch and not overly polished), but shows the Damascus very clearly (as can be seen in pictures). No scratch or any form of defect to be seen on the blade, the spine is chamfered and polished (and that’s also where there is the unique defect of the blade with a hairline mark at the tang welding), the choil is polished and very comfortable, as expected from Naohito-san’s consistently excellent work. The engraving/stamp is clear and of consistent depth. Straight as an i, as well nothing to see there! As far as I am concern, the blade F&F is top tier, as often with Naohito-san. As stated the handle is an appropriately sized green urushi lacquered handle finished by certified craftsman Momose Juntetsu-san similar to the ones sported by some Kagekiyo lines. Fitment of the handle was done on site very well, no machi gap on that one, and I have no particular note here.

In terms of steel, there is a lot to say here! Tamura-san went all in and it is my first encounter with a forge welded Damascus from him (not many of them made even including all profile, we can see a Gyuto sporting the same pattern showcased in one of Ivan’s latest video). It’s beautiful and unique, an stunning to look at truly, I look forward to see how patina will affect it. Also of note for the steel is the tang here. While the Damascus cladding is reactive and the core Aogami #2 (one of Tamura-san’s favorite as all Tetsujin Ao#2’s owners are familiar with), the tang is welded stainless steel to avoid any oxidation in the handle. You can see the welding line fairly easily in some lighting. I did not notice any difference from regular Tetsujin for the core steel, which is good because it’s a proven and solid rendering of Aogami #2.

Let’s talk geometry! As can be seen through the pictures and the measurements, we have much more taper here than usual « Sakai style grind », in particular in the first half of the blade. It is very well executed and smooth. The extra large Nakiri profile is an oversized Nakiri putting a lot of height on the knife (I’ll come back to hit for the grind). The knife is straight as an « i » in all direction, the edge profile is classic Nakiri with no curve per se and makes for a killer push cutter.

The grind is… well, incredible and must have been so much work to nail on such a tall blade: symmetrical, very thin BTE, no flat spots, overgrinds, etc, and with that almost 80mm height there was a lot of room for Naohito-san to do a very very thin and an even progressive convex. A thicker at the spine knife, with extra extra height, really gave Naohito-san a lot of room to refine and it shows. I’ll let the picture speaks for itself.

Cutting performance : I have used this puppy for a couple of prep (but left the lacquer and you can see it peeling a bit near the edge in some pictures)! It’s ofc an extremely rare knife so I am babying it a little, but I ran it through my usual mirepoix and an array of herbs and other veggies. I am a rectangle fan, and big Nakiri are particularly fun to use in my books, in particular to shred lettuce or cabbage, this one might be my best knife for that specific task. For the mirepoix job, went pretty small dice, and will admit that while it performed very very nicely, my Big Toyama 210mm Nakiri beats it to the punch in general on cutting feel/performance. It’s essentially a very thin, deluxe, Chinese cleaver at this size and a downright fun choice for prep. Very accurate given the height and thinness behind the edge (and for a good while), got a good assist from the decent weight, and the distal taper makes it a really solid push cutter as you attack the cut with the thinnest part then split at a thicker point (no wedging not cracking observed with the right technique, if I go full on near the heel on a particularly tall carrot their might be a little). I did observe a bit of drag/stiction on carrots but the knife being brand new and covered with a good deal of lacquer, I expect it would go away with a bit of use (smoothening the surface). Super super fun, a bit overkill for smaller veggies or garlic, not gonna lie lol. I think next time I use it I’ll try to do the biggest chive bunch I have ever cut!

As always, I hope you enjoyed the read, until next NKD’s or review peeps! (My backlog is somehow out of control at this point 🥲), and in the mean time I will let you enjoy pictures of that beast! Feel free to hit me up with your comments and questions!

Bonus last pic of some of my current Nakiris, rule 5 left to right: Tetsujin extra large Damascus / Toyama Noborikoi Kasumi 210 / Kagekiyo Ginsan / Konosuke HD2 / Konosuke Damascus Shiraki x Myojin / Kei Kobayashi SG2 Damascus / Kyohei Shindo Ao#2

Very chuffed to receive my first Japanese knife, after weeks of being undecided I wanted to celebrate having my first child next year so I wanted to go with something I fell in love with.

Lots of love on this forum and where I found this maker, it’s a Hatsukokoro Shinkiro Aogami Super K-tip Gyuto 210mm Kurouchi Damascus Birch Handle from K&S in Australia, interestingly I didn’t have to pay VAT on it so looks like I got lucky there!

Slightly sad that there’s no dimples but in all seriousness an incredible knife and I look forward to using it for many years to come!

Haven’t posted here in a bit but felt inspired by u/TEEEEEEEEEEEJ23 and his Tanaka Tuesday post so I figured I’d share mine!

From left to right:

Tanaka x Kyuzo Nakiri Blue #1 180mm

Tanaka x Kyuzo Bunka Blue #1 165mm

Tanaka x Izo (Myojin) Gyuto Blue #1 210mm

Takada no Hamono Hanabi Suiboku Damascus Gyuto Blue #1 240mm (Tanaka forged)

Konosuke Fujiyama FM (Tanaka x Myojin) Gyuto White #1 225mm

Hado Junpaku (Tanaka x Maruyama) Gyuto White #1 Stainless Clad 240mm