u/KnifeSharpenerrr

Manaka Hamono Tanrenjo was founded in 1872 in the town of Kasukabe, Saitama prefecture. Kisuke Manaka (real name: Shunsuke Manaka), represents the 5th generation of Manaka blacksmiths, although he is not a direct descendant of the Manaka line, since he became interested in blacksmithing when he married into the Manaka family.

His father-in-law (4th generation) had not mastered the art of forging and was a knife merchant who relied on the reputation of the Manaka forge to sell blades not forged by himself. As his father-in-law was unable to teach him the art of forging, Kisuke Manaka taught himself using the tools and forge books left behind by his 3rd-generation step-grandfather. He learned to master all aspects of forging, and is best known for his mastery of the Warikomi method, which he even extended to stainless steels such as ats-34 and zdp-189.

Source: Stay Sharp

This thing is THICK! What a Big Boï, mainly designed to work with tuna or king salmon, definitely not for a trout 😂

SG STRIX - Gyuto 210, ebony

In my opinion, the knives from the Masutani Hamono forge are probably among the most impressive in terms of quality, performance, and value. In fact, I wrote a post about one of their knives a few months ago.

So I was delighted to see this Santoku/Gyuto pair arrive at our Stay Sharp sharpening station, ready to give them some TLC. After sharpening with 500-, 1,000-, and 2,000-grit stones and honing on a leather strop, they were sent back to their happy owner.

ABOUT KUNIO MASUTANI:

Masutani-san works in a small workshop located behind his house in the famous knife-making village of Takefu. He works mainly alone, but is assisted by his two grandsons on weekends and by his son-in-law. As a master sharpener, he takes great pride in ensuring that every knife that leaves his workshop is razor-sharp. He crafts beautiful knives at affordable prices that we highly recommend to home cooks looking for a high-performance, affordable, and easy-to-maintain tool.

Source: Sharp Knife Shop

Hitohira Tanaka Ren - Shirogami No.2, Nakiri 180 mm - Migaki, Ebony

Natsuya.

Source: Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, northern Japan.

Usage: For the intermediate sharpening stage. It is comparable to a 1000/1500 grit synthetic stone.

The feedback is fascinating; the stone is hard yet offers a very "rubbery" or "bouncy" feel. This particular stone allows for various results depending on whether or not sharpening slurry is present (ranging from a satin finish to a near-mirror polish).

This one is used before my pre-finisher. It is really effective and allow me to clean the previous scratches made by my rough synthetic stones. It is a keeper, I love it so much!

Hi! Glad to see a huge kive's community on Reddit. I am working as sharpener & salesperson in a canadian knife shop, and I am pretty fond of everything that is related in this world.

Here is a nice Quartet I recently sharpened in the shop:

Hitohira Togashi - Shirogami No.1, Stainless Clad, Gyuto 210 mm - Migaki, Ziricote

Hitohira Tanaka Ren - Shirogami No.2, Nakiri 180 mm - Migaki, Ebony

Hitohira Togashi - Aogami No.2, Bunka 210 mm - Kurouchi, Ebony

Hitohira Tetsujin - Aogami No.2, Petty 165 mm - Kasumi, Taihei

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Nice to meet you, cheers!