Something very special !

Kitchen Knife Forums

Help Support Kitchen Knife Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

maxim

Founding Member
Joined
Feb 28, 2011
Messages
2,090
Reaction score
479
I think i will be only one and the first one, outside the Japan to offer these :D

IMG_1015.jpg
 
Glad for the comments. Thought I was the only one not getting the shadowy kanji without a link.:biggrin:
 
Jon's influence all over this post... Stop the teasing plz!! :wink:
 
I did not get them yet, thats why teasing :biggrin: But will like to share my excitement !!
Will have some news on thise this or next week
 
I would like to order one.
s.
 
These are very special knives and was announce first to my email subscribers !!

These are made by Iizukas son Yosihide maker of Shigefusa knives.
They are made exact as Shigefusa knives, same steel, same process and same care, just bit cheaper and finish is maybe bit better.
I think, i am the first one ever to offer these for sale outside Japan and i got only very limited stock ( waiting time on this is same as Shigefusa knives ) !!!

Usuba 195 mm SOLD
Wa Gyuto 270mm SOLD
Deba 135mm SOLD
Funayuki 175mm SOLD
Yanagi 210mm SOLD

UPDATE: Unfortunately they are all already SOLD :(
I will try to get more but it will take some time ! (Pictures will come later when knives arrives :)
 
You got one of each, Maksim??

Then you told us they were more polished, yet cheaper Shigs??

How does that compute!!? :lol2:
 
Always late to the party, I would have went for that usuba... Hopefully next go around I'll see the notice in time.
 
They are not Shigs. But made of same person that makes Shigs.
I got what i can get. If there was more believe me i will be all over them :D
 
Good to see non-domestic support of Tokifuza-san's youngest son, Maxim. Few take the time it takes to build a business contact with these great smiths and I'm not surprised to see they sold so fast, there are however a couple of points I would like to address which frankly doesn't make any sense. I do not mean to insult or give critique, rather that Shigefusa should be shown the respect they deserve. Reading this thread you make it sound like Tokifuza-san's sons have reached the same skill if not even greater just as they leave their apprentice role and start on their own path, this is not the case.

Tokifuza-san has developed an extremely effective polishing method (as everyone should know of Shigefusa, so cheap for what you get) that is very similar to the traditional polish of Katana. He didn't just stumble on those techniques however as he has apprenticed both under a sword maker and a sword polisher, this along with very clever solutions to save time on the traditional polish is how Shigefusa came to be.

This is why I have such a hard time imagining any blade in the world untouched by a sword polisher (not a cheap service) to be polished better than a Shigefusa, their standard is out of this world and you have to study a blade for a long time to even notice where the traditional and this swifter method differ.

I hope you do not take offense to this post Maxim, but his sons have a lot of experience to acquire before they can be put in the leagues of their father. The knives may be stunning and a dedicated user might not notice the difference, but that difference will always be there if you understand what I'm aiming at. Especially considering their choice of steel and how sensitive it is when being laminated to iron.

Perhaps you could use "shigefusa style polish" since they're so renowned for their finish?

Regards
Hal
 
This is why I have such a hard time imagining any blade in the world untouched by a sword polisher (not a cheap service) to be polished better than a Shigefusa, their standard is out of this world and you have to study a blade for a long time to even notice where the traditional and this swifter method differ.

Are you referring specifically to the kitaeji Shigefusa knives? I only ask because when I received my kasumi Shigefusa gyuto, I couldn't quite understand what made the finish special. Perhaps it's a different sense of taste or (what some might call) a lack of knowledge, but it didn't seem very special to me in any particular way.

For example, the finish on the Gesshin Hide special edition gyutos looks much more interesting/special than the finish on Shigefusa kasumi gyutos.
 
Good to see non-domestic support of Tokifuza-san's youngest son, Maxim. Few take the time it takes to build a business contact with these great smiths and I'm not surprised to see they sold so fast, there are however a couple of points I would like to address which frankly doesn't make any sense. I do not mean to insult or give critique, rather that Shigefusa should be shown the respect they deserve. Reading this thread you make it sound like Tokifuza-san's sons have reached the same skill if not even greater just as they leave their apprentice role and start on their own path, this is not the case.

Tokifuza-san has developed an extremely effective polishing method (as everyone should know of Shigefusa, so cheap for what you get) that is very similar to the traditional polish of Katana. He didn't just stumble on those techniques however as he has apprenticed both under a sword maker and a sword polisher, this along with very clever solutions to save time on the traditional polish is how Shigefusa came to be.

This is why I have such a hard time imagining any blade in the world untouched by a sword polisher (not a cheap service) to be polished better than a Shigefusa, their standard is out of this world and you have to study a blade for a long time to even notice where the traditional and this swifter method differ.

I hope you do not take offense to this post Maxim, but his sons have a lot of experience to acquire before they can be put in the leagues of their father. The knives may be stunning and a dedicated user might not notice the difference, but that difference will always be there if you understand what I'm aiming at. Especially considering their choice of steel and how sensitive it is when being laminated to iron.

Perhaps you could use "shigefusa style polish" since they're so renowned for their finish?

Regards
Hal


If you are referring to me, I was using the word 'polished' as a metaphorical adjective. Like a 'polished singer' or a 'polished presentation'.

I don't think anyone believes they are buying Tokifusa knife...but everyone wants to be ahead of the curve and buy a Murray Carter when they were $100, Bill Burke said he used to make hunters for $80, and Will Catcheside is giving his work away right now. The crazy demand is that everyone knows a deal when they see one! Tokifusa made, it isn't. But his son, who works in his shop, can't be too terrible!
 
For example, the finish on the Gesshin Hide special edition gyutos looks much more interesting/special than the finish on Shigefusa kasumi gyutos.

I have both a hon-kasumi Hide gyuto (the "misty" finish) and a kasumi Shigefusa. While I agree that the Hide is more interesting, the finish (and fit) of the Shigefusa that I received is flawless, and therefore special too. Just so smooth and uniform and nice. If Maxim says the finish on these is as good or better than that of Shigefusa, they must be pretty spectacular. I would certainly like to see one.
 
I guess I developed a bias so that when I look at Japanese knives, I'm impressed by kasumi finishes. When I see a "regular" matte finish, I have a tough time figuring out what makes one so much more special than another if lots of them are even, smooth, etc...
 
IMG_1013.jpgIMG_1014.jpg



pictures can communicate just so much...I will report upon receipt.
 
I didn't know you really got one Seth!

Can't wait for more pics and to hear your first impressions.

Congrats.
 
@BurkeCutlery, oh no it wasn't directed at you, the reply was intended for Maxim. It's treating a quite vague subject that needs to be ironed out for us westerners though so it might just be useful to others here. :)

@heirkb, Ah! That means you haven't yet found out what really makes Shigefusa stand out among; the polish. The word "polish" together with traditional Japanese cutlery doesn't actually suggest the actual finish on the blade, that is a common misconception.
What is actually referred to is what we westerners would rather call the grind. The profile of the blade, if every line on the blade is logical and organic. Every surface absolutely flat in order to present a completely blind reflection with no scratches seen from any direction, the ura or back in thread-back condition (Ito-ura). The list goes on and on as to what makes Shigefusa so very special.
 
Wellcome to KKF :)
When i say it is (Maybe) Bit finer it doesn't mean that it is better.
Compering Sword polishing with Shigefusa polish i very bad example, there is nothing about Shigefusa knives that compeers with Sword polishing.
Very different techniques are used when Shigefusa knives is polished. And it is not similar at all with polishing Katana.
We have very different view of what is good kitchen knife or polish here then in Japan.
Some of us prefer mirror polish, in many cases it is more finer polished then Shigefusa, but will you say its better ???

I think that Iizukas san's son's deserve as much respect for Shigefusa knives as they father. And they own work is as good to they father in my eyes !

Note: I do not talk about skills, i still think that Iizuka san skills is one of the best in Japan for Kitchen knives, and you do not see all his skills in Shigefusa knives !!





Good to see non-domestic support of Tokifuza-san's youngest son, Maxim. Few take the time it takes to build a business contact with these great smiths and I'm not surprised to see they sold so fast, there are however a couple of points I would like to address which frankly doesn't make any sense. I do not mean to insult or give critique, rather that Shigefusa should be shown the respect they deserve. Reading this thread you make it sound like Tokifuza-san's sons have reached the same skill if not even greater just as they leave their apprentice role and start on their own path, this is not the case.

Tokifuza-san has developed an extremely effective polishing method (as everyone should know of Shigefusa, so cheap for what you get) that is very similar to the traditional polish of Katana. He didn't just stumble on those techniques however as he has apprenticed both under a sword maker and a sword polisher, this along with very clever solutions to save time on the traditional polish is how Shigefusa came to be.

This is why I have such a hard time imagining any blade in the world untouched by a sword polisher (not a cheap service) to be polished better than a Shigefusa, their standard is out of this world and you have to study a blade for a long time to even notice where the traditional and this swifter method differ.

I hope you do not take offense to this post Maxim, but his sons have a lot of experience to acquire before they can be put in the leagues of their father. The knives may be stunning and a dedicated user might not notice the difference, but that difference will always be there if you understand what I'm aiming at. Especially considering their choice of steel and how sensitive it is when being laminated to iron.

Perhaps you could use "shigefusa style polish" since they're so renowned for their finish?

Regards
Hal
 
I didn't know you really got one Seth!

Can't wait for more pics and to hear your first impressions.

Congrats.

It was a joke until I saw that Maksim had. I've been looking at small yanagibas for a while. I have also bought several other knives from Maksim and I trust his perception and judgement. In my culture (Pennsylvania) the teacher is a failure if the student doesn't surpass the teacher.
 
Maxim, I hate to say this but Shigefusa's polishing is built on emulating the traditional polish on traditional swords. Part of why I know that is because I'm a sword polisher myself and their method is actually very close to the traditional method albeit cut down on the most time-consuming stages since realistically it would be giving away their crafts if they went with full Hadori along with the expensive stones needed and so on. Shigefusa has quite literally taken a modern route to the traditional method, they are indeed different techniques but it isn't too hard to see the path he took when he found his own methods as they all originate from what you needed to do at the polishing stage.

Anyhow Maxim, yes the reflection might be "brighter on other brands" but the true accuracy of the blade's surfaces won't be there since Shigefusa is the only maker I know of in "that" league that does the foundation work on stones. As long as every surface and line on the mirror-finished knife is logical and organic I would indeed put it together with Shigefusa granted that they have the same metallurgical quality and science in their blades (carbide refining)

To this day Shigefusa is the only brand that for me doesn't require any correction due to improper grinding to present the shinogi as sharp and flawless, producing clouds/kumo in the jigane and scratches on the hagane, most if not all of these kinds of errors has been done at the grinding stage so regardless of how finished a knife was upon delivery, it would have go to straight back down to the grinding stone in order to correct the mistakes the power-grinders produced.
This is especially true for sword-style kitchen cutlery as the point where the kissaki and boshi meets the shinogi is often improper and not logical.

One thing is for sure though, we both love what the Izuka family delivers. :)
Sorry for having gone off-topic, I really appreciated the discussion though.

Regards
Hal

Wellcome to KKF :)
When i say it is (Maybe) Bit finer it doesn't mean that it is better.
Compering Sword polishing with Shigefusa polish i very bad example, there is nothing about Shigefusa knives that compeers with Sword polishing.
Very different techniques are used when Shigefusa knives is polished. And it is not similar at all with polishing Katana.
We have very different view of what is good kitchen knife or polish here then in Japan.
Some of us prefer mirror polish, in many cases it is more finer polished then Shigefusa, but will you say its better ???

I think that Iizukas san's son's deserve as much respect for Shigefusa knives as they father. And they own work is as good to they father in my eyes !

Note: I do not talk about skills, i still think that Iizuka san skills is one of the best in Japan for Kitchen knives, and you do not see all his skills in Shigefusa knives !!
 
Iizuka san was apprenticed under Mr. Munenori Nagashima that was sword maker in Niigata before WW2 but after that he made Chisels and Plane blades. So Iizuka san actually never made a sword.
After that he was apprenticed of Iwasaki san where he made some razors and tools. He never been apprenticed of Sword polisher ! But i know that Iwasaki san have.

When i visited Shigefusa we looked at they stone collection and what they use, it differ a lot from sword polishers :)
But still they process is very unique and time consuming.
 
Hmm, in that case I will have to apologize! It seems that I have confused Iwasaki-san with Izuka-san.

You are very correct, the shop, the stones, even the tools Shigefusa uses isn't what a sword polisher uses. I meant it more that in the end the result isn't far away from what a traditional polish produces - the way they go differs greatly.

Speaking of Iwasaki-san, he is also almost exceedingly good at finishing his knives. The Ito-ura on his Kuri-kogatana is just ridiculous! :)
 
So All Yosihide knives are her all look very good and finish is exact like on Shigefusa.
Here is some pics :D

IMGP1466.jpg

IMGP1467.jpg

IMGP1469.jpg

IMGP1470.jpg

IMGP1471.JPG

IMGP1472.jpg

IMGP1473.jpg

IMGP1476.jpg

IMGP1477.jpg

IMGP1479.jpg

IMGP1481.jpg

IMGP1482.jpg

IMGP1483.jpg

IMGP1484.jpg

IMGP1489.jpg

I forgot to take picture of small Deba :( have to wait til tomorrow
 

Latest posts

Back
Top