Tonight I was again at the physical shop of Japansemessen.nl . I was there to exchange my Masakage Kosihi 170 mm bunka for a 210 mm Koishi gyuto. This Masakage Koishi line has such a nice distal taper that I felt I required a gyuto to make optimal use of it for onions and alike. (I am thinking of getting a Kurosaki Bunka knife instead if I want a bunka. This has a very similar profile and grind to the Masakage Koishi - they both come from the same stable - but the Kurosaki is just a tiny little thicker at the tip.)
Anyway, this is my new Masakage Kosihi 210 mm gyuto (not my own pic):
The reason for posting this message is that I saw two very beautiful knives (apart from the Koishi's). Too beautiful for me to buy them (my kitchen knives actually get used), but interesting nevertheless. The first one is a Takamura Uchigumo Suminagashi Santoku:
The picture doesn't really do justice to the damascus. This damascus is some of the most beautiful I've every seen. It is also clearly on top of the core steel. And where there isn't damascus, the knife is polished extremely well. But you pay for this quite heftily. And if you've seen the knife irl, you definitely will have a hurdle to overcome when you want to use it. To me it seems more like something to show off.
All of the Takamura R2 knives are really very thin. For example, this Mikagi gyuto is about the thinnest knives (together with a Carter) I've ever seen. And this one is fairly priced, so it should be a good user. It may be not fully hand made (it looks like it was made from steel plates), but nevertheless it should be a great performer.
I've also heard great things about the Takamura Hana line (which are supposed to be even thinner), but these were not available.
And finally a very special knife by Konosuke. It's got special polished flower-like figures in the damascus. These figures may wear off with time or even rust (I don't know). but this knife surely look very beautiful.
I've bought none of these knives, but just wanted to show you how beautiful some J-knives can be!
Anyway, this is my new Masakage Kosihi 210 mm gyuto (not my own pic):
The reason for posting this message is that I saw two very beautiful knives (apart from the Koishi's). Too beautiful for me to buy them (my kitchen knives actually get used), but interesting nevertheless. The first one is a Takamura Uchigumo Suminagashi Santoku:
The picture doesn't really do justice to the damascus. This damascus is some of the most beautiful I've every seen. It is also clearly on top of the core steel. And where there isn't damascus, the knife is polished extremely well. But you pay for this quite heftily. And if you've seen the knife irl, you definitely will have a hurdle to overcome when you want to use it. To me it seems more like something to show off.
All of the Takamura R2 knives are really very thin. For example, this Mikagi gyuto is about the thinnest knives (together with a Carter) I've ever seen. And this one is fairly priced, so it should be a good user. It may be not fully hand made (it looks like it was made from steel plates), but nevertheless it should be a great performer.
I've also heard great things about the Takamura Hana line (which are supposed to be even thinner), but these were not available.
And finally a very special knife by Konosuke. It's got special polished flower-like figures in the damascus. These figures may wear off with time or even rust (I don't know). but this knife surely look very beautiful.
I've bought none of these knives, but just wanted to show you how beautiful some J-knives can be!
).
