Takamura Sujihiki Comparison: 270mm Hana, 270mm Uchigumo, and 270mm HSPS Pro (formerly Blazen)

I figured I'd do a comparison between three sujihikis that are similar: the Takamura 270mm Hana, 270mm Uchigumo, and 270mm HSPS Pro (formerly Blazen). I'm a fan of Takamura knives and since I've had all three of them I figured it may be helpful to have the info available. They are pictured from bottom to top below:



All three feature an R2 core steel (HRC 63-64) which are either Damascus clad (Hana and Uchigumo) or a vertically brushed stainless clad (HSPS Pro). I checked some stats and I was slightly surprised to see how similar they all are. I've included some observations with pictures and then a summary of the stats below.

270mm Hana
Some sources say the Hana is the top of the line from Takamura, if price is any indication then the answer is yes. Alternatively it is also said that the only difference between the Hana and Uchigumo are the handles, so it may be a matter of personal preference. The handle is an octagonal wa style with a metallic end cap which tapers to an oval at an integral bolster. It is also longer than its western handled counterparts. I am not aware of any other differences aside from the price and saya colour between the Hana and Uchigumo.







270mm Uchigumo
I have lusted after this knife for a long time. I also have the matching 240mm gyuto and 130mm petty, so it was literally the missing piece to the set. It recently became available and I bought it without hesitation. Funny story is that I basically gave up after waiting months and got the Hana since they're similar, and of course the Uchigumo was available about two weeks later. The included saya is black instead of a dark brown which comes with the Hana. I didn't get as many pictures because I sent it off to get rehandled, but if you see the pictures for the HSPS Pro below they are essentially the same with the exception of the blade cladding. One other thing which may be attributed to the different vendors is the Uchigumo didn't have the white Takamura logo on the box, but otherwise the box and everything else is the same.



270mm HSPS Pro
I'd consider this one the same as the Uchigumo but without Damascus cladding at a more affordable price, although with the current exchange rate that is now debatable lol. I also have the matching 240mm gyuto and 130mm petty, so have a companion HSPS Pro set to the Uchigumo set.



Of the three, this is the only one I've used because I only recently got the other two, and although I don't really use sujihikis that often I was impressed. You can see it in action in the video below. I can only imagine that the Hana and Uchigumo are just as good in use.
[video=youtube_share;AkTfAYlo4OY]http://youtu.be/AkTfAYlo4OY[/video]


STATS
Now it comes time to see how they measure up (no pun intended) against one another:
Hana / Uchigumo / HSPS Pro
Blade length: ~270mm / ~269mm / ~270mm
Blade height: ~39mm / ~38mm / ~39mm
Weight: 180g / 182g / 192g
Thickness Above Heel: 2.15mm / 2.7mm / 2.9mm
Thickness at Takamura Logo (dist. from heel): 2.05mm (~70mm) / 1.9mm (~78mm) / 1.95mm (~43mm, 1.90mm @ ~78mm)
Balance Point: IFO bolster / IFO bolster / IFO bolster
Price: $660USD / $725CAD / $360USD


CONCLUSIONS
All three are great knives, so I suppose it comes down to handle and aesthetic preference, as well as budget. If I wasn't able to get the Uchigumo rehandled I'd want the Hana, also because I like wa handles; but if budget is a constraining factor the HSPS Pro may be the way to go.

Thank you for the review!

Even the Takamuras at their site, last time I checked it, about a year ago, were stating that these three lines, are the same blade with different cladding and handles which is the reason for the price difference. Materials and labor hours.

This was my understanding as well, although I have to rely on the broken English from Google translate (the sujihiki is called sujibiki and honesuki is called bone plow).

tjangula said:

This was my understanding as well, although I have to rely on the broken English from Google translate (the sujihiki is called sujibiki and honesuki is called bone plow).

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This is kind of a who freakin' cares thing for a knife forum, but regarding sujihiki/sujibiki - that's not a weird translation, it's actually a linguistic thing called "rendaku" (連&#28609 or voicing.

Probably the most familiar example in English is something like sushi. When you combine the word sushi with the type, like nigiri or maki (nigiri sushi or maki sushi), it's pronounced nigiri zushi and maki zushi.

That is good to know, I had always wondered about "hiki vs biki" in a number of uses. I prefer to say sakimaru takobiki but have also seen takohiki; also have seen both with fuguhiki/fugubiki

Seems like the HSPS pro is the most robust huh? If these weren't 4x the price of the Artisan/Ikeda/Haruyuki I'd be super interested. Too bad.

I was surfing around on MTC and it seems like the Takamura are really high quality, quite impressed by the philosophy of production.

So will you be selling the Hana or end up buying the matching Hana gyuto/petty? :doublethumbsup:

Hana will have to go, although I wish I could keep them all , I had a Hana santoku and it was a great cutter

I know where the Hana is now.

2010ZR1 said:

I know where the Hana is now.

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That's the 240 Hana, great knife for a mid-size suji. I got the 270 Hana after giving up on ever finding the 270 Uchigumo, and of course within two weeks the Uchigumo became available, too late to return it as well plus a big hassle so will sell it at some point :doublebanghead:

between the pro and the uchigumo do you like one over the other? other than for purely aesthetic reasons, which would be understandable. but do you think they perform about the same?

spoiledbroth said:

Seems like the HSPS pro is the most robust huh? If these weren't 4x the price of the Artisan/Ikeda/Haruyuki I'd be super interested. Too bad.

I was surfing around on MTC and it seems like the Takamura are really high quality, quite impressed by the philosophy of production.

Click to expand...

spoiledbroth said:

between the pro and the uchigumo do you like one over the other? other than for purely aesthetic reasons, which would be understandable. but do you think they perform about the same?

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I'm a big fan of Takamura knives for stainless, MTC has a really good business relationship with them. I know they have had them come in to the StarChefs ICC in NYC and they have a them in a bunch of their videos in YouTube. When I ordered my HSPS a Pro Sujihiki in the Fall of 2014 I could have met them in person if I was in NYC.

One thing about the HSPS Pro being the most robust… because of how the tang is welded (more noticeable on the Hana and Uchigumo) the spine thickness at the heel on the HSPS Pro in particular isn't the best measurement because it almost bulges a bit. Aside from the weight I'd say they're all pretty much the same.

Since I've only had limited use with the HSPS Pro suji (Uchigumo and Hana are unused), the best performance comparison I can offer is between the R2 Migaki gyuto, HSPS Pro gyuto and Hana santoku (Hana and Uchigumo are the same blades AFAIK). The standard R2 is super thin and cuts as one would expect a 1.6mm San-Mai 210mm gyuto would, but may be delicate in a pro environment as a "main knife", but is also super affordable. The 240mm HSPS Pro gyuto is probably 2x as thick (I'll have to check) so has some weight and cuts well, although I do notice the extra thickness. The Hana santoku was an amazing cutter which didn't have the same drag problems as the ZK Damascus, I wished it was more than 165mm. I also found food release seemed a bit better with the Hana santoku versus the HSPS Pro gyuto. Not sure if that'd justify the extra cost for everyone, but I'm looking forward to my Uchigumo set when they come back from being rehandled by Dave Martell.