Need help narrowing down a list of five 210mm Gyutos

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JasonZ10

JasonZ10

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Hey, I've done several hours of research over the past week and narrowed down my selection to five 210mm gyutos. I'm trying to spend around $250 CAD or under. Would also like to get a relatively cheap stone fixer for my king 1k/6k if anyone has a recommendation for that.

Here are the knives (and steel type and prices shipped to my house) that I've narrowed it down to:
Sakai Yusuke White #2 - $268
Ikazuchi Stainless Clad Blue - $268
Gesshin Uraku White #2 - $225
Tanaka Blue #2 - $250
Masakage Yuki White #2 - $237

I basically just need help understanding the less obvious differences (Stuff that isn't dimensions, handle and steel type) between these knives (or possibly other suggestions if anyone has ideas). I'm leaning towards the Sakai Yusuke and the Ikazuchi. I've filled out the survey in case anyone wants to go through it and give me a more personalized suggestion but I'd be very appreciative if anyone could just help me differentiate between my choices.

Location: West-Coast Canada

Knife Type:
210mm Gyuto
Right handed
Prefer Wa handle but no strong preference
Prefer carbon steel

Knife Use:
Probably only home use. May bring it to work if I'm still working in kitchens when I upgrade.
Cutting more boneless meats, onions, potatoes, tomatoes and chopping light greens (Herbs, scallions, lettuces, etc.) than anything, but still a bit of everything else.
Had a Wusthof Ikon 8" but returned it. Using a Fibrox for now.
Pinch Grip
Mostly push cutting/slicing/drawing - I'm generally pretty gentle/slow with my cutting.
Want something that holds a sharp edge for a relatively long time. I'm okay with spending an hour or two on the stone every few months. Something maneuverable and precise.
Aesthetics aren't important. I like the look of a super plain knife with a wa handle and some engraved kanji more than anything but looks wont sway me.
Would like a not absurdly short (height) blade. Anything above 40mm at heel is probably fine.
Would prefer something that comes very sharp out of the box but i'm fine with giving it a quick touch up if needed.

Knife Maintenance:
I have a couple end grain blocks and synthetic cutting boards.
I have a king 1k/6k stone
I plan on upgrading the stone sometime, and I need a stone fixer.

Thanks!
 
Nothing wrong with any of those choices (as long as you meant Tanaka ss clad blue. The blue mono (?) is said to be very reactive)

My choices would be the Ikazuchi or the Tanaka clad blue. The Gengetsu from JKI certainly merits a look as well.
 
daveb said:
Nothing wrong with any of those choices (as long as you meant Tanaka ss clad blue. The blue mono (?) is said to be very reactive)

My choices would be the Ikazuchi or the Tanaka clad blue. The Gengetsu from JKI certainly merits a look as well.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the response! Is there much of a difference between a stainless clad blue blade and a blue mono aside from extra maintenance on the mono carbon steel in exchange for some patina? Everyone who talks about carbon steel blades raves about how long the edge is held and how easy they are to sharpen, but I haven't been able to find as many opinions on stainless clad.
 
have you factored shipping in that price list? Also, importing fees might apply too especially for goods coming from the states.
 
Shipping from JKI to Canada adds like 30 or 40$ to the price and takes a while.
 
StonedEdge said:
If you want an almost lazer go with the Ikazuchi
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure I'm either going with the Ikazuchi or the Sakai Yusuke. They end up costing the exact same (Other than the free Saya with the Ikazuchi) and are very similar in dimensions so I'm trying to figure out the minor differences, and if mono white #2 steel or stainless clad blue would be better for me.

valgard said:
have you factored shipping in that price list? Also, importing fees might apply too especially for goods coming from the states.
Click to expand...

StonedEdge said:
Shipping from JKI to Canada adds like 30 or 40$ to the price and takes a while.
Click to expand...

Shipping, taxes and currency conversion are included in all of the prices I listed. The only thing missing is potential import fees but they apply on all of the knives I listed. I'd like to order something from a Canadian retailer but the selection is so limited, nothing really caught my eye within my price range from Knifewear/tosho/paul's, but if anyone has any suggestions or could direct me to another Canadian retailer I'd love to hear them.
 
Yea, unless you wanna call every jknife shop in the country you're better off shopping online and buying from foreign vendors as the Canadian offerings are indeed very limited. FWIW maintenance will be very similar between the Sakai and the Ikazuchi. The blue steel on the Ikazuchi will retain its sharpness a little longer than the white steel on the Sakai. Also a saya for your gyuto doesn't seem important until you have to take it somewhere with you, then it's worth its in gold!
 
"I'm trying to figure out the minor differences, and if mono white #2 steel or stainless clad blue would be better for me."

I might have a bit of personal imput; as someone that is newer to J knives, and who purchased a clad blue and mono white at the same time. I'd say if you are worried at all about maintenance go for the clad. On the other hand, there is something so pure and beautiful about an all carbon blade (and patina) though! Blue might hold the edge longer but white will arguably get sharper, and feel more fun on stones... can't go wrong really
 
StonedEdge said:
Yea, unless you wanna call every jknife shop in the country you're better off shopping online and buying from foreign vendors as the Canadian offerings are indeed very limited. FWIW maintenance will be very similar between the Sakai and the Ikazuchi. The blue steel on the Ikazuchi will retain its sharpness a little longer than the white steel on the Sakai. Also a saya for your gyuto doesn't seem important until you have to take it somewhere with you, then it's worth its in gold!
Click to expand...

The Saya is just a big plus because I don't really have anywhere to mount a magnetic strip in my current kitchen. Would rather have a nice saya than a little felt sleeve for the knife, but obviously its not a selling point for me. Thanks for all of your help/input!

Nomsdotcom said:
"I'm trying to figure out the minor differences, and if mono white #2 steel or stainless clad blue would be better for me."

I might have a bit of personal imput; as someone that is newer to J knives, and who purchased a clad blue and mono white at the same time. I'd say if you are worried at all about maintenance go for the clad. On the other hand, there is something so pure and beautiful about an all carbon blade (and patina) though! Blue might hold the edge longer but white will arguably get sharper, and feel more fun on stones... can't go wrong really
Click to expand...

Yeah the beauty of a mono-carbon knife is definitely making me lean towards the Sakai. Just trying to figure out what other tiny differences there are between the two knives. If they're completely equal aside from the type of steel I think I'll pick up the Sakai, but still want to learn more about the nuances of each knife.
 
I've only used the tanaka bl2 stainless clad from your list but it is a knife I would highly recommend. It's one of my favorites in my bag of heiji ss, Tanaka ginsan, shiro kamo r2, and kochi stainless clad carbon that has survived my past buying and selling. I have used the full carbon bl2 from Tanaka and while I liked it a lot it is very reactive so I sold it for the stainless clad.
 
Can anyone comment on the fit and finish of Ikazuchi vs Sakai Yusuke? From what I've seen the Ikazuchis look impeccably put together
 
StonedEdge said:
Can anyone comment on the fit and finish of Ikazuchi vs Sakai Yusuke? From what I've seen the Ikazuchis look impeccably put together
Click to expand...

F&F they are pretty much six of one and half a dozen of the other. I prefer Sakai Yusuke but it is just a personal 'in the hand' thing.
 
I've got the Sakai Yusuke in a 270 and the Tanaka B2 in a 240 kurouchi. The Sakai is very thin, laserish, while the Tanaka is more robust. Food release is better on the Tanaka as you'd expect. Tanaka sharpens easily, haven't had to sharpen the Sakai but I expect it to sharpen easily also. My preference is for the Tanaka but that's because I prefer a heftier knife, YMMV. Is a 210 going to be too short? Particularly if you may be using it professionally? I take your point regarding the beauty of monosteels but Tanaka's ku is equally beautiful, to me anyway.

I don't have any experience with the other knives on your list other than to say that any knife with the word "gesshin" in it gets good reviews.
 
StonedEdge said:
Not sure I understand the first part of that
Click to expand...

I think he was just making an analogy to say they've got the same quality F&F it just comes down to personal preference. From my reading, both of the knives have insanely great F&F for the price.

OliverNuther said:
I've got the Sakai Yusuke in a 270 and the Tanaka B2 in a 240 kurouchi. The Sakai is very thin, laserish, while the Tanaka is more robust. Food release is better on the Tanaka as you'd expect. Tanaka sharpens easily, haven't had to sharpen the Sakai but I expect it to sharpen easily also. My preference is for the Tanaka but that's because I prefer a heftier knife, YMMV. Is a 210 going to be too short? Particularly if you may be using it professionally? I take your point regarding the beauty of monosteels but Tanaka's ku is equally beautiful, to me anyway.

I don't have any experience with the other knives on your list other than to say that any knife with the word "gesshin" in it gets good reviews. Haven't people reported some issues with some of the Masakages?
Click to expand...

I currently use an 8" at home and a 10" at work (both Western style) and I prefer the 8" for nearly everything, so I think a 210mm is probably a good fit for me. Is there any benefit to the full carbon clad steel that they use in the Tanaka kurouchi over mono carbon or ss clad carbon? Thanks for sharing your knowledge!
 
You may want to consider who you want your vendor to be as part of the calculas. The Ikazuchi from JKI will come beautifully wrapped (Unless Jon is wrapping) and more importantly will have the best edge on it the knife is likely to ever see. Don't know the retailer for the Sakai but there are those that will send out a sub-par knife on occasion and can be difficult to deal with on returns if sometching is wonky. Just sayin.[emoji41]

Note: If retailer is Knives and Stones then this should not be a concern.
 
I bought 2 Sakai Yusuke from Blueway Japan, and the service was excellent. That was a few years ago, but I assume nothing has changed in that regard.

The White 2 Yusuke is a fantastic steel for a new user. Sharpens very easily and the thin grind helps make maintenance very straight forward. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it. :doublethumbsup:
 
Mute-on said:
I bought 2 Sakai Yusuke from Blueway Japan, and the service was excellent. That was a few years ago, but I assume nothing has changed in that regard.

The White 2 Yusuke is a fantastic steel for a new user. Sharpens very easily and the thin grind helps make maintenance very straight forward. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it. :doublethumbsup:
Click to expand...

I completely agree about the SY White steel. Easy to get scary sharp and excellent edge retention. Also worth mentioning is that Sakai Yusuke produces some amazing stainless too. Their stainless is one of the few that I sharpen as high as carbon knives. Again, easy to sharpen and great edge retention.
 
I wouldn't worry about the reactivity of mono white as it is nothing like iron cladding. Iron cladding, or at least some of it, will cause staining and will spot orange/brown very easily and some of it does not take well to patina. My Tanaka was insanely reactive and didn't like to patina. Mono carbon, well the good stuff, will take a nice patina quickly and settle way down. Even my SK-4 blades don't cause staining on red onions unless it is fresh off the stones and that only lasts for one onion.
 
StonedEdge said:
1/6 or 6/12...I get it. I'm a bit slow this afternoon
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I've only heard it used from British Sportscasters... I knew watching formula 1 and the EPL was good for something... also purely from a literally point of view, it'd be 6 or 1/2 of twelve not one sixth.
 
Not such a big deal. I often use terms while completely forgetting that the nature of the forum is International and what is colloquial to me might make no sense to others. Based on the user's location it is entirely possible he/she is proficient in English but English isn't his/her mother tongue. I speak 4 and about a half languages and most of the time I hardly understand myself. :)
 
JasonZ10 said:
I think he was just making an analogy to say they've got the same quality F&F it just comes down to personal preference. From my reading, both of the knives have insanely great F&F for the price.



I currently use an 8" at home and a 10" at work (both Western style) and I prefer the 8" for nearly everything, so I think a 210mm is probably a good fit for me. Is there any benefit to the full carbon clad steel that they use in the Tanaka kurouchi over mono carbon or ss clad carbon? Thanks for sharing your knowledge!
Click to expand...

Kurouchi finish and SS cladding will limit reactivity and patination will only occur on the exposed cutting edge whereas the whole blade of the SY will be reactive and will patinate. As has been stated however, reactivity is not a problem with them. Mine is certainly not.

Ignore my reference to problems with the Masakages. I deleted it from my original post because I realised later I was thinking of Moritakas. I haven't heard of any issues with Masakage.
 
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