u/SCSuede

Happy to participate with more than the one and the same knife for once!

Konosuke FM 225mm W#1 (Tanaka x Myojin)
Konosuke Kaiju 240mm B#2 (Tanaka x Myojin x Ivan Fonseca)

Hello everyone and welcome to my final NKD post of this series.

Disclaimer: I am not looking to sell or trade this knife. Unsolicited offers are not appreciated.

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Rule #5

Konosuke Kaiju
Steel: Aogami #2
Weight: 230g
Edge length: 234mm
Heel height: 56,4mm
Width at handle: 4,1mm
Width at heel: 3,3mm
Width at middle: 2,6mm
Width 1cm from tip: 0,7mm

Blacksmith: Tanaka Uchi Hamono
Rough Sharpening: Naohito Myojin
Sharpener and polisher: Ivan Fonseca

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Where to begin. 

The Konosuke Kaiju has regularly been touted as one of the more “unobtainable” knives from Sakai, the type that I have told many friends that, while I am very curious about the Kaiju, it is not a knife I can see myself owning due to the obscene market around them. To quote something I’ve said time and time again “It’s a knife I would only buy if it’s available at retail”. 

It’s been almost exactly two months since I received an email from Konosuke on the 4th of June that I was one of the select few to purchase the Kaiju as part of their most recent round of membership raffles. Last Thursday I had the joy of beginning my exceedingly warm walk through Sakai with the Konosuke gallery to pick up my Kaiju.

As part of my walk throughout the town, I am not necessarily one to show off but to the interested ones, I did unpack and offered the chance to inspect and hold the knife. The staff of Baba Hamono were in awe of the full package, the box with the accompanied fingerstones, the handle and of course the fully stone polished finish. Takada-san had a similar reaction, calling it “crazy” given the amount of work that is spent producing a single san mai knife (just around 30 hours per Kaiju).

Before I go over the details of the knife, let me hop to last Saturday when I visited the Komon Gallery where I had a long sitdown with Ivan and Yuka. As already mentioned in my NSD - Ohira post, I can’t give Ivan and Yuka enough praise for their generosity and hospitality in sharing not only their knowledge but also just being very candid around a variety of topics. 

Part of my visit was to go over a number of the knives I had brought with me from Sakai and few things could have made me as happy as Ivan's reaction. The instant recognition and joyous shout “Oh, you got THAT one, nice!!”, before I had even removed the bladeguard, it hit me like a bolt of lightning. We spoke at length about where Ivan saw the Kaiju fitting into the pantheon of Konosuke products and also what the intention was with its creation. 

The origins of the Konosuke Kaiju started before the pandemic when Ivan was working in Sakai and had a conversation with Morihiro around the concept of having a Fujiyama that was completely finished with natural stones. Morihiro's reaction to this after providing Ivan with, by his terms, a finished knife, saying “this is about as much as I can do”. Ivan proceeded to polish that knife for many hours until it reached something that is very reminiscent of today's Konosuke Kaiju, but with the more traditional 240x50mm measurements. This specific prototype is a beautiful specimen of Ivan's personal collection that he showed me when we were discussing the origins of the line. 

The Konosuke Kaiju was by all means meant as a workhorse style knife that would still capture the same cutting sensation as using a Fujiyama FM. The idea was that by having an excellent mix of the authority of a thicker spine, extra weight and still keeping thinness behind the edge, you could have a knife that can be used for a great variety of purposes while never compromising on the cutting feel. I asked Ivan about the grind, as some have mentioned previously, the Kaiju is said to sport “five different grinds in a single knife”, which Ivan confirmed. Without drawing up a chart for you, the easiest way I can translate it is that from the heel, to the midsection, to the tip, there are four distinct areas that are blended together in a combination of flat and convex sections, all coming together put emphasis on cutting feel and performance.

This knife feels, for lack of a better word, phenomenal in the hand. It’s taller and beefier than most of its Sakai contemporaries while sporting one of the prettiest finishes I have ever seen. With a blade balance that sits right on top of the kanji closest to the handle on the righthand side, the balance is forward but not too far forward. The makassar ebony handle with arguably the prettiest “blond” horn ferrule I have ever seen is stunning, combining a lovely mix of a classic and exciting interjections of color. 

I don’t really have too much more to say about this knife aside from that I am still in shock of owning it and I am looking forward to putting it into great use, but that’s a different post I’ll have to write down the road. Again, a huge thank you to Ivan and Yuka for making my visit to Komon unforgettable.

That’s the end of my series of NKDs!
My plan for the time being is to put the Enjiki Migiwa up against my Isasmedjan stainless gyuto to see which one of those I keep as a mid-sized stainless option, after that we will see which knife I decide to use next. If you have a knife in the lineup you'd like to see tested first, let me know which one!

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Thanks for reading!

Hello everyone!

After my recent trip to Japan I have picked up some incredible knives and in an effort to not be so heavy on any single sharpener, I've come to the difficult but correct decision to sell my Kagekiyo in b#1.

This is my favorite knife from a usage perspective and it has never been sharpened. The condition of this knife is used but well taken care of. It features the iconic "eclair" urushi handle.

Price for this is 410€ + shipping

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Knife facts
Kagekiyo Gyuto B1 240mm / Kuroro Black Urushi Handle

Length of the cutting edge:  226mm
Width at the heel: 50mm
Weight : 193g
Spine at the handle: 3,5mm
Spine at the heel: 3,5mm
Spine in the middle: 2,5mm
Spine 1 cm from the tip: 1,5mm

Blacksmith: Tanaka Uchihamono
Sharpener: Sho Nishida
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Welcome to another NKD!
Time to hopefully enjoy a little storytime featuring Baba Hamono and Hirotsugu Tosa.

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Rule #5

Kagekiyo Honyaki
Steel: Shirogami #2
Weight: 204g (247g pre-thinning)
Edge length: 255mm (258 pre-thinning)
Heel height: 50,0mm (unchanged)
Width at handle: 3,2mm
Width at heel: 3,0mm
Width at middle: 2,6mm
Width 1cm from tip: 1,2mm

Blacksmith: Satoshi Nakagawa
Sharpener: Sho Nishida (Originally Hirotsugu Tosa)

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Getting this honyaki to where it is today is a fun story that includes a surprise and a lot of learning. 

6 months ago I was browsing TCKBST and this knife had been sitting for a little while, the seller was trying to move it, as their collection is quite large and the original intent to refurbish it themselves had been postponed a few times. The condition of the knife was good but not perfect, the original owner (I am the third, seller was second) is a gentleman in Europe who had done his fair share of experimentation on it, including removing the mirror polish with fingerstones and attempting his own etching. The knife was suspected to be a Morihiro honyaki and prior to purchasing it, I reached out to Baba Hamono and asked for their input. At first glance, they said that it was likely to be a Morihiro piece and that they agreed to take it in for a refurbishing treatment. They even offered to ask Morihiro himself if he would be open to refurbishing it.

After a very smooth conversation with the seller, the knife was on its way back to Sakai. I was quite excited. After all, a “brand new” honyaki by Morihiro in 2026? What's not to love!

A few weeks passed and I get a reply from Baba that, unfortunately, Morihiro does not accept honyaki work at the moment since it’s too physically demanding for him. In addition, the knife that was suspected to be a Morihiro work, was unfortunately misidentified. The etching that the original owner had done was the root cause for the confusion and after a closer inspection, it was confirmed that this is a very old honyaki sharpened by Hirotsugu Tosa. 

After learning this I decided to tackle it with a smile instead of disappointment. After all, Tosa-san was a legend in his own right. I told them that while it’s a surprise, I was far from disappointed and that I would still like to proceed with the refurbishing, now helmed by the skilled Nishida-san. 

To give you some background of Hirotsugu Tosa (1948-2026) and my own learnings after a few conversations with Takashi Baba and Gregor from Aoki Hamono / Sakai Takayuki, Tosa-san was one of the most respected elders in Sakai and was one the most skilled craftsmen when it came to sharpening and polishing honyaki knives. He was a very kind and professional figure that, while not having a de-facto heir, he taught a lot of peers and apprentices around Sakai in his ways, Nishida-san himself being one of them! He would favor larger pieces, reaching north of 270mm+, often paired with mirror polishes as he enjoyed both the finish from a looks perspective and the fact that it was more eye catching from fans looking to buy an impressive showpiece.

Outside of being an excellent sharpener, he also assisted people with sourcing honyakis, using his web of connections with the craftsmen around the city, making sure they could deliver, even if it wasn’t his own work.

At the Takayuki Knife Lounge you can still see some of his works on display, mostly right handed, single beveled honyakis and one 210mm, Yo-handled Gyuto that had a very impressive mirror polish and a spine that showed almost no distal tapering with a profile that reminded me a lot of Bob Kramer's curved chef knives.

Tosa-san had a stroke a few of years ago that impacted his sensation in his legs but thankfully left him with full mobility in his arms, so he kept on producing impressive knives. At the respectable age of 78, he enjoyed working on his own in his workshop, often starting his day around lunch time, he would work late into the evening, reaching 1-2am on regular occasions. He kept on working until he passed away in his workshop earlier this year. 

If you see a mirror polished honyaki from Sakai, there’s a non-zero chance that Hirotsugu Tosa had a hand in inspiring and teaching the hands that polished it. For me, I will see a piece of Tosa in other mirror polished works from Sakai for years to come. 

This honyaki, prior to its thinning, was a fairly thick convex grind that had a lot of material behind the edge. It wasn’t an excellent cutter but it could do the trick on some less dense produce. After Nishida-san has worked his magic on it, it’s been given a slimmed down belly and is now in his familiar wide bevel grind. The heel height has been left untouched while only losing a tiny bit of length. It’s really a huge testament to Nishida's skill to do so much with a knife without touching any of the height and next to nothing on the length. The hamon is quite wispy, not overly strong in-person but it might be more pronounced once I remove the lacquer. The balance sits 55mm in front of the handle. Prior to picking up this knife, it had a Boogwa handle on it and as part of this refurbishing process, I asked Baba Hamono if they could replace it with their Hirame urushi handle. 

I want to give a huge shoutout to Takashi-san and everyone at Baba Hamono. Refurbishing a really old honyaki is not a standard part of their services and they had no obligation to help me with this knife, along with helping me learn more about Tosa-san and his work in Sakai. They have some of the best people in the city doing excellent work and this process has only cemented that for me.

I also want to give a big shoutout to Gregor Wolf of Aoki Hamono / Sakai Takayuki for being so generous with Takayuki's hospitality at their Knife Lounge close to the Sakai Denshokan and sharing more of Tosa-san's work, his impact on Sakai sharpening and general Sakai politics.

I am forever grateful for the generosity of Sakai and the people that work there. It is a testament to that if you approach someone with a genuine curiosity and respect people's dignity, you could be invited into conversations that can open your eyes to a whole new chapter and expand your appreciation into something you were already enjoying.

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Thanks for reading, one more NKD tomorrow!

Back to Sakai we go with this NKD

Disclaimer, Takada No Hamono have not resumed in-store sales of knives.
This is a refurbished knife.

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Rule #5

Takada No Hamono Suiboku Gyuto 225mm
Steel: Aogami #2
Weight: 155g
Edge length: 213mm
Heel height: 43,0mm
Width at handle: 3,0mm
Width at heel: 2,8mm
Width at middle: 2,1mm
Width 1cm from tip: 0,8mm

Blacksmith: Satoshi Nakagawa
Sharpener: Mitsuaki Takada

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I first visited Takada-san in December of last year. He has an energy and a humor to him that feels infectious, along with some of the prettiest knives you can find in Sakai. In retrospect however, one thing that was noticeable was that he was stressed.

For the last ten years I have worked in a fast paced and chaotic industry that has exhausted a lot of people to the point of medical burnout where the road to recovery can be very long if you are not set up to succeed. Takada-san, at that moment in December, was a man who was getting close to his limit, evidently so given shortly after my visit he announced the closing of direct sales. 

Meeting Takada-san last Thursday was like seeing him fully rejuvenated. After I stepped into his shop he offered me a glass of water, lemonade, a playful smile crept across his face and asked “...beer??”. It was close to 40c/104f in Sakai, adding in that summers in Japan are humid as hell, so of course I accepted. We spent most of the time chatting about his recent vacation across Scandinavia as he shared his vacation photos and stories of all the people he came across. Afterwards, he also let me get hands on with some of the knives he was working on. Across the big tub of Tanaka B1D Gyutos, he picked up the knife that he was tinkering with when I arrived, a Damasteel blank from Fredrik Spåre that he said he was going to try to give a nice suiboku finish to. 

At the end of the meeting I reminded him that we had started to eat at his lunchtime and he had to go home to eat with his wife, so I quickly paid and bowed out. 

This knife has been on a ride. The knife I picked up in December was a lovely Reika Singetu in 210mm which had a much more curved profile than I’d like as a push-cutter. While the width and the grind of a Reika is among my favorites, I ended up putting it up for trade towards a different Takada. In a nice chain of events, I sent my Singetu to Los Angeles, and the previous owner of this one sent this older Tsubaya x TnH (did you notice the logo on the “wrong” side?) directly to Sakai for refurbishing. As part of getting a lovely polish, I also asked Takada-san to slap his custom handle on it which feels nice in the hand and looks even better. 

The result post-refurbishing is a knife that likens the traditional Takada knives pre-western input. More aligned with Ashi 210s, the standard heel height for his knives used to be around 45mm. With the lower height and the much flatter profile, this knife ends up in a nice “gyutohiki” type zone for me, a profile I don’t currently have. The balance of this knife sits pretty firmly right behind the choil and in front of the handle.

Takada-san still has a lot of fun merch in his shop that you can purchase when you visit, but please do not harass him about knife sales, because you won’t find any. It only puts undue pressure on a guy who is still working his way back into normal pace and is, by his own words, once again truly enjoying his craft. 

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Thanks for reading, more NKD content tomorrow!

Another NKD and a small intermission from the regularly scheduled Sakai programming…

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Rule #5

Shigefusa Kitaeji Gyuto 210mm
Steel: Swedish Carbon
Weight 178g
Edge length: 217mm
Heel height: 46,6mm
Width at handle: 5,2mm
Width at heel: 3,8mm
Width at middle: 2,1mm
Width 1cm from tip: 1,4mm

Blacksmith and sharpeners: Iizuka family

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My own collection of knives very heavily favors Sakai. Some of the most familiar faces such as Konosuke, Takada No Hamono, Baba Hamono and Ashi, with previous features from two Sakai Kikumori gyutos as well. Some of everyone's favorite combinations of Tanaka and Nakagawa with a wide spread of sharpeners in the region. I don’t think it’s controversial to say that Sakai have a general trend that exists throughout most knife makers.

Very tight fit and finish.
Thin spines for Japanese knives.
Generally very “lasery” performance.

At some point I wanted to dip into more makers that offer a different taste than Sakai. That's partly what initially interested me in the Konosuke GH, as well as a few other makers that I’m spending more time reading up on. Toyama, Yoshikane, Nihei, Taira and Wakui. Two makers that are at the top of that pyramid of “Japanses/Not Sakai” are Shigefusa and Kiyoshi Kato.

Generally, Kiyoshi Kato knives can be tricky to find at retail these days. Kato is 82 years old and still producing but is doing so slowly and releasing them to a select number of retailers, so timing becomes an important part of purchasing these knives, which I did not have during this trip to Japan.

Shigefusa, however, I did have good timing with. I was chatting with a friend around some Sanjo business and he mentioned he recently got this knife and was willing to sell it. Doesn’t get much simpler than that. There’s few things in this hobby that feel as rewarding as forming great relationships and sharing this hobby with other people, sometimes that can come with a friend offering up something unique like this.

This Shigefusa Kitaeji is new, there’s some glue remnants around the handle fitting but everyone I’ve spoken with says it’s very typical of “BNIB” Shigefusa. The damascus pattern on Kitaeji knives are some of my absolute favorite patterns around, this one being no exception. It’s very suminagashi in the classical sense, the lines here dance around in natural looking shapes. In terms of the construction, it differentiates itself from Sakai by having a significantly thicker spine with some tapering and more material behind the edge. 

I’m really excited to dip into my first Sanjo maker, even though I am arguably starting on the top of my list instead of the bottom 😅

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Thanks for reading, more NKD content tomorrow!

Another day, another NKD, this time from Nara! 🦌

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Rule #5

Enjiki Migiwa Gyuto 240mm
Steel: Ginsan
Weight 190g
Edge length: 233mm
Heel height: 48,9mm
Width at handle: 2,8mm
Width at heel: 2,8mm
Width at middle: 2,3mm
Width 1cm from tip: 0,8mm

Blacksmith: Shogo Yamatsuka
Sharpener: Tadataka Maruyama

Website
Instagram

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When I started doing my exploration of Sakai knifemakers, there’s a few handful that initially caught my attention more than others. By measurement of how they are marketed in the west, these are some of the more well-known brands you find on social media and in shops. Knifemakers like Konosuke, Takada No Hamono and Hado.

What caught me immediately with Hado is their more structured website portfolio. There’s simply more straightforward information available with pictures, examples of shapes, sizes and a description of the craftsmen involved. To this day, I still haven’t used a Hado knife but they look stellar when I see them at the Sakai Denshokan (pretty fair prices but sold out) and Seisuke (a bit more expensive). 

When Enjiki started popping up in my social media feed, it was easy to feel hooked since Maruyama-san had already made an impression on me, making it easy to latch onto the brand and see where they’d go. I reached out in late January asking for more information about the Migiwa and Zanpa products, some of the pieces of the Migiwa had a gorgeous pattern and the Zanpa looked very interesting with its “scalloped” texture, created when ground away individually. The Zanpa specifically became a fun idea to play around with. 

Since then, I have shared a lot of messages back and forth with Maruyama-san and he even let me know in advance that the Zanpa was going to be put on sale about 2 months ago in their online shop, but that the shipping and taxes were a bit pricey and sadly outside of his control. Given I already had plans to swing by Nara, I simply told him I would visit in-person and take a look at the Zanpa, to which he immediately said he looked forward to my visit and that he’d make sure to keep at least one Zanpa in stock for me. 

Prior to my visit, I started having some doubts about the Zanpa. Due to supply issues from Nakagawa and Yamatsuka, Enjiki had moved away from using Ginsan for the Zanpa and replaced it with SG2, which is an excellent steel but not what I was looking for. 

Last Friday I rolled up to Nara station, it was an absolutely boiling day and briefly visited their shop right next to the station. It’s a cute, smaller shop staffed by one woman who was very kind and gave me a Enjiki branded fan when I said I was going to take the 15 minute walk down the road to see Maruyama-san. After sweating a whole lot more than I’d care to do on my vacation from regular walking, I was face to face with Maruyama-san and his assistant in their workshop/store location. 

Maruyama-san is not an experienced English speaker, but he makes up for that with being extremely proactive in speaking through Google Translate and making sure to engage in the entire conversation. Thankfully, being a good communicator doesn’t go hand-in-hand with mastery of the English language

After inspecting the Zanpa, I mentioned to him that SG2 is not something that I felt very drawn to and instead I asked if he had any Gyutos forged by Yamatsuka. Immediately he went and picked up a handful of Migiwa Gyutos that were sitting in a drawer and allowed me to inspect them. The initial knife he presented turned out to have the most interesting pattern and the fit&finish across all of them was very comparable, so the most interesting pattern ruled the day. 

After they packaged up the knife, they told me that one Enjiki tshirt is included in each sale, unfortunately in my rotund shape, I won’t squeeze into it but the gift isn’t lost on me. 

This Migiwa, compared to the others I saw on that day, has a tight pattern of the surface etching which flows all over the blade from the top of the hira down to the cutting edge. This is done by using a liquid solution, so the patterns aren’t fully controlled by Maruyama-san, but random for every knife. This knife slides into a slot of my kitchen where it’s going to be compared against my Isasmedjan stainless knife to see which one sticks around. So far on inspection prior to cooking, I really enjoy the slightly larger size compared to its Swedish competition. I don’t feel like I am swallowing up too much of the blade with a pinch grip and the additional weight feels very sturdy. The balance of the blade sits nicely at the top of the 本 symbol.

I’m very much looking forward to using this knife and testing it out to see if it sticks around for the long term. I’d encourage anyone visiting Nara to swing by Enjiki, either right by the train station, or take the 15min adventure down the road to visit Maruyama-san himself.

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Thanks for reading, more NKD content tomorrow!

Second post “post”-japan NKD and my first NSD!

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Stone facts:

Type: Ohira
Weight: 1547g
Size dimensions: 218x84x34mm
Reference grit: 3000-6000
Hardness: Medium
Cutting speed: A little fast
Ease of use: Very easy

Sourced by Komon Japan
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As mentioned in my NKD Kiridashi, I’ve been meaning to look into getting a natural whetstone that would allow me to do more edge sharpening while also dipping my toe into the polishing game. 

Of course, for 99.99% of the population, synthetic stones will do the trick for edge sharpening and most likely outperform natural stones on a cost-per-efficiency calculation, but that doesn’t mean I don't want to dabble with some fun, natural whetstones from Japan. 

A few weeks ago I reached out to Ivan and Yuka of Komon Japan and asked if they could help me find a good stone that would fit the bill for my needs, being clear that I am, by every measurable statistic, an idiot when it comes to sharpening and polishing. I mentioned that I’d want something very approachable while, if possible, affordable. They replied and said they would keep an eye out for what I needed and that they would take the variety of steels I have at home in mind when they look for good candidates. 

Fast forward to a few weeks later, I am sitting in their gallery in the mountains of eastern Kyoto, sweating my butt off but thoroughly enjoying the afternoon with Ivan and Yuka. I have to admit that leading up to the visit, I was feeling a bit intimidated as I am a novice to polishing and sharpening. 

I am happy to report that I have rarely felt as welcomed and as well received as I did when I visited Komon. Our conversations spanned across a lot of different topics, such as Konosuke, tamahagane polishing and how different steel feels in contrast to each other when Ivan works on them. Closer to the end of my visit, Ivan led me into their gallery where we took a look at some of the Komons historical pieces, such as the first ever, official Tetsujin knife, another Gyuto polished by Ivan on one side and Myojin on the other side, a literal SWORD and a tamahagane sujihiki that you might have spotted if you follow their youtube series and finally, of course, a number of natural stones. 

At the end of it all, I asked Ivan to recommend to me the stone that he thought best fitted my needs as a primarily edge sharpening stone with the option to dip into polishing later on, so this Ohira ended up coming with me home.

If you’re interested in learning, I can’t recommend visiting Komon Gallery if you happen to find yourself planning a visit to Kyoto and have a Sunday afternoon available. Do make sure to book in advance as it is only open to visitors with a reservation.

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Thanks for reading!

First post “post”-japan NKD and my first kiridashi!

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Rule #5

Morihei Kiridashi
Steel: Shirogami #2
Weight: 117
Edge length: 65mm
Full length: 233mm

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I’ve been looking to dabble in a little bit with polishing and to do that, frankly, it feels like a minefield in selecting where to begin. For me, having something more basic and straightforward like a Kiridashi feels like a good starting point for me to try see if I’d like to invest more time and effort into it.

Going back a few days, I was visiting Morihei on the last day of my Japan trip with the intent to swing by, have a little conversation about stones, steel and all sorts of stuff and perhaps find something else that piqued my interest. Truthfully my headspace was to head back to Tower Knives Tokyo at the Skytree and pick up a Shirogami #2 lefty-Kiridashi they had listed for 3200 JPY (BARGAIN), so when I walked into Morihei and saw they had a few visitors picking through the knives and pocket knives, I was happy to wait for a few moments before the staff member Hiroki-san showed me the kiridashis they had in stock. 

By a funny coincidence, the cabinet where all the Kiridashis were located was also right next to the Morihei office-entrance where, to my surprise, the president of Morihei, Oguro-san popped out when I was looking through the display. To say I was happy to see him was an understatement. 

Most people here have probably never visited Morihei or heard of Oguro-san, but the core of the matter is that he has been working with stones in different capacities for the last half century, took on polishing on  starting out with hand delivering stones in his early 20s and learned to polish on his off-time. A dive into Morihei and Oguro-san can be read here, thanks Tosho!. 

His older age comes with the fact that he can have some on and off days where he isn’t by the shop, so getting to have a proper one-on-one interaction with him was very nice. He speaks more english than you’d expect for an elder in Japan and is quick witted with some jokes and thoughts. When I mentioned to him that I had recently come into possession of a very nice and beginner friendly Ohira, he asked if I had pictures and commented that firstly, that's a very nice stone and secondly, I got it for a very nice price. 

After he helped me select a nice Kiridashi for me to take home, we had a lovely group conversation between myself, Oguro-san and Hiroki-san (the younger staff member I mentioned earlier that spoke excellent English). We touched on a variety of topics as I would have hoped to have done and by the end, as a gift, Oguro-san handed me a lovely Tenugui as a thank-you for visiting. 

I want to close this out with a simple request. Morihei is a store that has a rich history but it’s the definition of a small family business in how they operate. If you decide to visit, you’ll be able to find great steel, some leather and woodworking tools and even greater stones, but try to be respectful and patient with the staff. 

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Thanks guys, another NKD coming right up (tomorrow)

I swung by Hitohira earlier today and fell in love with this tiny Takeda kogatana, someone else will get to grab it down the line though!

Reposting for price drop!

Hello everyone,

I picked up this gyuto from Kawamura Hamono in Sakai back in December.

Originally purchased as B-stock, this knife has since been given a small polish by Cleancut in Stockholm and is looking better than when I bought it. As I need to create some space on the magnets, this one is freshly oiled up and ready to go,

Price is €250 €220+shipping

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Knife facts:
Sakai Kikumori Kikuzuki Kasumi Kiritsuke Gyuto 210mm W#2 

Length of the cutting edge : 194mm
Width at the heel: 41mm
Weight: 150g
Spine at the handle: 3,5mm
Spine at the heel: 3mm
Spine in the middle: 2,5mm
Spine 1 cm from the tip: 2mm

Blacksmith: Yoshikazu Tanaka
Sharpener: Unknown

Knife URL
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Hello everyone,

I picked up this gyuto from Kawamura Hamono in Sakai back in December.

Originally purchased as B-stock, this knife has since been given a small polish by Cleancut in Stockholm and is looking better than when I bought it. As I need to create some space on the magnets, this one is freshly oiled up and ready to go,

Price is €250+shipping

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Knife facts:
Sakai Kikumori Kikuzuki Kasumi Kiritsuke Gyuto 210mm W#2 

Length of the cutting edge : 194mm
Width at the heel: 41mm
Weight: 150g
Spine at the handle: 3,5mm
Spine at the heel: 3mm
Spine in the middle: 2,5mm
Spine 1 cm from the tip: 2mm

Blacksmith: Yoshikazu Tanaka
Sharpener: Unknown / Secret

Knife URL

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Hello TCKBST!

After not using this one anywhere near the amount it deserves and some quick reflection yesterday, I'm selling my honesuki. Pork is cheaper in Sweden and I haven't been breaking down as much fowl, if any that I expected.

Purchased this in Osaka in December of 2025
Selling it for €135 + shipping

Basic knife facts:

Name: Hatsukokoro Kumokage Blue2 Kurouchi Damascus Honesuki
Steel: Aogami #2
Blade lenght: 152mm
Heel height: 46
Weight: around 153g (my scale is out of batteries)

Hello people!

I recently tried out a cleaver and decided it was not for me.
Given that this was purchased for cheap, I am willing to give it away for free if you cover postage.

I am based in Stockholm, Sweden and will ship from here. Feel free to reach out in a DM for a shipping quote! If you happen to be local or know someone local, I'd be willing to meet up as well.

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Rule #5

Cleaver
Steel: 5Cr15Mov
Weight: 294g
Edge length: 202mm
Heel height: 81mm
Width at handle/heel/middle/1cm from tip: 2,1mm

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Thanks for reading!

BRT (big rectangle time)

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Rule #5

Cleaver
Steel: 5Cr15Mov
Weight: 294g
Edge length: 202mm
Heel height: 81mm
Width at handle/heel/middle/1cm from tip: 2,1mm

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Picking up this knife was a decision based exclusively in curiosity. I haven’t really used a lot of rectangles prior to picking up my Nakiris (Maboroshi and Ren respectively) and I’ve never really 100% meshed with either. Given cleavers are, while related, a whole different beast, I figured why not give it a shot at a low entry cost!

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Lookswise, they really put every cent into this knife that I paid for. That just happens to mean it doesn’t have a lot going. 

The blade itself is kind of what you think it is at face value. Pressed steel with some cheap KU painted over the top part of the blade with a fair amount of streakiness / opacity.

The handle is probably the most refined part of the construction with deeper grooves that would be very helpful when used in a busy kitchen with wet hands. There’s some well defined texture on the handle beyond the deeper grooves that I enjoyed a fair bit.

The balance of the knife leans HEAVILY towards the blade and the edge here OOTB was surprisingly decent.

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Performance wise, I think I can summarize it with “Jack of all trades, master of none”. I had fun using this knife but in terms of how it meshes with me personally, it lands at a 4/10 satisfaction rating in how I think it performs and how I feel using it. 

It excelled on vegetables and fruits, really going into thin slices on an apple after my first impression and then doing fairly well on some onions. Carrots and sweet potatoes wasn’t too much of a difficult task either, probably because of the additional weight carrying some of the cutting action to make up for the thickness of the grind. 

I did not really appreciate how it performed on raw protein for portioning, feeling more like a blunter tool than a slicing tool in that aspect. It’s something that a sharpening session could possibly address but I didn’t look further into it.

In summary; I had a fun time using this knife but I almost immediately felt disconnected from it. It’s just not my comfort zone and I don’t think it outperforms my other knives at some specific tasks. As an overall performer, it can tackle a variety of different areas decently, so as a “one-stop-shop” it can probably suit most peoples kitchens, but for now it’s a no for me.

I want to put some emphasis on that I did not enjoy -this- cleaver and I don’t think I’ll hold this opinion for -all- cleavers, I’d be open to revisiting this profile later on and as recently as this week I asked Ashi if they were selling cleavers again (they’re not), so if I stumble across a different one down the road, I might dip back into this pond again. 

For now, I'm heading back to Japan in less than a month, so I'm excited at looking for some other knives in non-cleaver profiles :)

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Thanks for reading! 

A Takada in a trenchcoat!

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Rule #5

Hitohira Kikuchiyo Yohei Petty 150mm
Steel: Ginsan
Weight 84g
Edge length: 136mm
Heel height: 28,4mm
Width at handle: 2,4mm
Width at heel: 2,3mm
Width at middle: 1,7mm
Width 1cm from tip: 0,9mm

Blacksmith: Satoshi Nakagawa
Sharpener: Mitsuaki Takada

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I missed posting about this knife when I picked it up and it’s been with me for a little while, so I figured I’d jump straight to my thoughts on it’s performance. 

This knife came to me through the generosity of the community and them trusting that I’d be a responsible owner, everything since then for the last couple of months has been great.

Trading away my Takada No Hamono Gyuto was a difficult but correct call but having this one join my kitchen shortly after was a nice surprise.

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This is about as classic as it gets when you think about Hitohira Yohei pieces. The kasumi finish resting near the spine of the blade then fading away to show the aggressively clear transition between the cladding and the core steel. It feels and looks very much like three distinct textures.

The handle is, as you would expect with Hitohira, a lovely Taihei Ebony handle with blond ferrule. I have this pairing on a fair amount of my knives at the moment and I think it’s a beautiful setup that works with almost any knife. The ebony has a swirly knot on one side which playfully adds some depth and color. The ferrule has some chocolatey caramel streakiness to break up the otherwise almost transparently blond horn.

Coming in at 84g, it's a balance skewed towards the handle as you would expect. 

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This knife, as with most of my favorite knives, fall for the same trap and critique: I love it, I wish it was longer. 

Takada's work is in general fantastic. While Gyutos are the showy pieces we all see and love, I have a soft spot for his petty knives and I imagine how one of his sujihikis would perform. Using this more thoroughly has been a great exercise in reminding myself how nice it is to have an exceedingly sharp petty that is also stainless. 

Across the last month or two I have used this in a number of different preparations, whether it be portioning chicken breasts, trimming silverskin off of and portioning pork tenderloins, finely mincing some soft, stemless herbs and basic breakfast prep along with a multitude of fruits and vegetables. My favorite use for this is without a shadow of a doubt when I am messing about and prepping proteins for stir frys or trimming. The one hurdle it faced was some firm wedging on an apple I was looking to bisect. 

In summary; I love this petty. The combination of Nakagawas Ginsan and Takadas sharpening makes for an exceedingly fine pairing and, while I have my own thoughts about wanting it to eat a Super Mario Mushroom and gain some extra lenght, I think that this’ll fall into the category of “forever knives” for me along with my Vintage Kyuzo. 

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Thanks for reading!
Next up, cleaver thoughts. 

My second swedish meetup and my first western stainless!

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Rule #5

Isasmedjan Gyuto
Steel: 14c28 Sandviken
Weight 150g
Edge length: 205mm
Heel height: 50,2mm
Width at handle: 2,3mm
Width at heel: 2,3mm
Width at middle: 2,2mm
Width 1cm from tip: 0,8mm

Creator: Isasmedjan

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As mentioned in my new knife day post, this knife came to me by the generosity of likeminded knife nerds who were cleaning out their cabinets, so instead of getting into the acquisition, I’ll jump straight into the other stuff.

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I feel like I have grown so accustomed to Sakai measurements (measuring from the handle instead of the heel), so I need to remind myself quite often that this is not a true 210mm, even if it misses the mark by just a smidge!

This knife was originally sold with a different finish, then the first owner wanted to mix things up and added his own, highly polished surface. I have a preference for the original look but the photography of catching reflections in this has been immensely satisfying. There are a couple of deeper scratches that are tricky to catch on a picture, but generally it’s a big shiny mirror. 

While this Gyuto is overall quite thin, the tapering towards the tip in the second half feels quite drastic. The fine tip ended up being one of my favorite pieces about the knife.

Coming in at 150g, it's on the lighter side for what I use and it's fairly close to a 50/50 balance between the handle and the blade. 

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There are two pieces of information that steers my overall impression when I’m using this knife. The fine tip and the finish. The thin tip is probably my favorite part of the knife and it makes a lot of detail work seamless, where as the mirror polish adds some additional stickage that I am not fond of.

For leeks, it wedged real hard when I was portioning it prior to making a small dice, this happened to be my first use of the knife, thankfully the first impression didn’t tell the full story.

For bell peppers, this knife did very well, making a fine dice while cutting from the skin of the peppers. 

For onions, this knife does occasionally get caught on horizontal cuts which I’ve mostly seen with my mirror finish knives, other than that there’s no issue with the rest of the task. 

For mushrooms, the squeakiness of the knife becomes quite clear when facing a handful of button mushrooms. Aside from making some extra noise and being slightly stickier than preferred, they were sliced as well as one can hope.

On potatoes, the knife performs well across the board except for one category, food release. It doesn’t get to the point where I need to peel medium diced potato cubes off of the knife, however it’s proving itself to be among my stickiest knives. 

On carrots, it’s been a mixed bag. The first carrot I tried, I noticed it struggled to make thicker batons, and when I made thinner/shorter julienne cuts earlier tonight, it performed quite smoothly. My favorite carrot performance was when I made a fine dice while prepping a bolognese last week.

On protein, it works quite well, mostly cooked pork and chicken since getting this and I don’t have any massive complaints. There’s a blunt-spot closer to the heel which I noticed earlier tonight but I'll put that on general sharpness, not the grind. 

In summary; I’m really not a fan of the mirror polish, outside of that, it performs very well. I need to remind myself of the intended purpose from time to time, a stainless, medium sized precision cutter that I can use for making fine brunoise, thin julienne and similar smaller prep where I might find a 240-270mm knife a bit more unwieldy.

My plan is to put this in a head-to-head comparison after my Japan trip in July so I can compare it against two other knives and see which one will stick around for the long run. 

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Thanks for reading!

p.s. I'm having trouble with imgur, so no videos this week while I figure out how I want to do video uploads for these posts. Hopefully something I can address for my cleaver post in the future.

p.p.s. some scammers have started to use some of my pictures in scam attempts on BST so I'll start tossing knife pictures up with watermarks.

First big rectangle! 

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Rule #5

Cleaver
Steel: 5Cr15Mov
Weight: 294g
Edge length: 202mm
Heel height: 81mm
Width at handle/heel/middle/1cm from tip: 2,1mm

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I have and continue to try more knives in peoples favorite profile (gyuto), but I also want to see if chuka bochos or chinese chef knives could be something for me.

This pickup doesn’t come with a flowery story about how I came to pick it up. This is a $10 (including shipping) knife that I bought from a budget website that sources their products from Asia, which is easily revealed when you notice that they put everything into this basic knife without any extra effort, as is the idea when you pay so little but still get something usable.

The kurouchi (lol) has been lackadaisically smeared on top, streaky and inconsistent in thickness. There’s scratches along the knife that are easy to spot and the spine is as unpolished with dings and bumps as you can see. All that to say, this cleaver did excellent on a quick paper test and feels quite comfortable with a pinch grip. 

The one objective I have with this knife is to answer the question “do I like cleavers”. Cleaver pricing has slowly snuck up from being super-affordable to being just affordable, so this is a way for me to tip into the profile without spending €150+ on a knife I have no idea about. If I like it, a different cleaver might be put on my list for my Japan trip this July.

I have another cook or two before I finish up my work with the Isasmedjan 210mm, then Ill put this rectangle to use!

Thanks for reading!