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Introducing the Takayuki Syousin Byakko / Hienn
http://www.knivesandstones.com/syousin-byakko-hienn/
Knives and Stones is proud to introduce the Takayuki Syousin Byakko and Hienn: a refined version of the existing Sakai Takayuki Byakko (白虎
and Hienn (飛燕, the Syousin way.
For those who are not familiar with the Byakko and Hienn, they are the two premium kasumi Yanagiba lines from Sakai Takayuki: Byakko is forged by Kenji Togashi in White 1 and the Hienn is by Itsuo Doi in Blue 2 Steel. They are classified premium blades for a reason: forged by two highly regarded bladesmith, both are part of the elite Dento-Kougeishi group and the blades come with ebony handle and black painted saya.
The standard Byakko has three profiles (standard yanagiba, kiritsuke shape yanagiba and sakimaru takobiki shape) to choose from in various length and come with a non-mirror polished blade with ebony double horn handle; the Hienn comes with a mirror-polished blade and ebony handle but has only one very specific model to choose from: the 300mm kiritsuke shape yanagiba. You can check them out here:
the Sakai Takayuki Byakko by Master Kenji Togashi
the Sakai Takayuki Hienn by Master Itsuo Doi.
The Syousin way
While the standard Byakko and Hienn are considered by many as great knives already, there are a few aspects that I think it could be further improved.
The main reason behind the emerge of the Syousin version, was because while I started K&S and got a shipment of Hienn, I had to reject a great portion of them due to various of small issues such as less than ideal blade finish, some blades had wrapping that were a bit too much than my liking. Don't get me wrong, they are still great blades just that I think they are more suitable for the Japanese chefs who are less strict on some of these F&F issues than us here (most of the problems will go away with a few sessions of proper sharpening, and warp fixing is rather easy in Japan). The reason behind such issue, is that Aoki hamono is one of the leading traditional knife manufacturer in Japan in terms of market share, so their product have to meet the demand of the domestic market first before addressing our needs. I think this as a market discrepancy issue.
To fix this, I worked closely with Aoki hamono in order to meet the strictest demand from guys like us. Below is what we have achieved:
We asked for Master Hirosugu Tosa, who we consider is one of the best sharpening and mirror polishing craftsmen at Aoki hamono after the retirement of Master Yukinori Oda last year, to oversee the sharpening of both the Byakko and Hienn. We specifically asked extra fine details need to be applied to all the Syousin blades. And what we have achieved is a straight blade with super even Ura and blade road, accomplished by the exceptional mirror polishing (Tosa-san recons his best skill is mirror polishing). One example would be the kanji engraving, we asked the blade to be polished after the kanji engraving not before. It means the blade has to travel one more time back to Tosa-san after he finishes most of the sharpening work. The added extra step resulted in the Syousin Byakko and Hienn now has the perfectly polished kanji like the following pic, which is normally only seen in high-end honyaki knives (at least for Sakai region):
We also replaced the standard handles with our K&S semi-custom ebony black horn ferrule with silver nickel spacer handle ensuring superb quality top to bottom.
Byakko specific
The Syousin Byakko
Hienn specific
The Syousin Hienn
Accessories
One more thing: the useful underlay
OK, this is something pretty cool. Orignally the boxes are shipped to me with some sort of blue damping material. I thought maybe I can replace it with something more interesting and useful. So I replace it with this:
A oversized magnetic leather strop. It is made of sheep skin and may need a bit of sanding if you prefer. Mount it on a piece of scarp MDF, you will have probably the cheapest and largest leather strop in the world.
Price:
from $500 (240mm Hienn, available soon) to $660 (330mm Hienn) shipped to North America / West Europe / Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwai / New Zealand via DHL.
Cheaper for AU buyers, slightly more expensive for other countries.
You can find them here: http://www.knivesandstones.com/syousin-byakko-hienn/
Oh yeah, although I believe the Syousin versions represent a better F&F and better as a overall package. I still think the regular version are a great product with very very competitive pricing, so I still carry the standard version, just to let you have the freedom to choose what you prefer, I love them both, and I am sure my price is the best around, Rakuten included
http://www.knivesandstones.com/syousin-byakko-hienn/
Knives and Stones is proud to introduce the Takayuki Syousin Byakko and Hienn: a refined version of the existing Sakai Takayuki Byakko (白虎
and Hienn (飛燕, the Syousin way. For those who are not familiar with the Byakko and Hienn, they are the two premium kasumi Yanagiba lines from Sakai Takayuki: Byakko is forged by Kenji Togashi in White 1 and the Hienn is by Itsuo Doi in Blue 2 Steel. They are classified premium blades for a reason: forged by two highly regarded bladesmith, both are part of the elite Dento-Kougeishi group and the blades come with ebony handle and black painted saya.
The standard Byakko has three profiles (standard yanagiba, kiritsuke shape yanagiba and sakimaru takobiki shape) to choose from in various length and come with a non-mirror polished blade with ebony double horn handle; the Hienn comes with a mirror-polished blade and ebony handle but has only one very specific model to choose from: the 300mm kiritsuke shape yanagiba. You can check them out here:
the Sakai Takayuki Byakko by Master Kenji Togashi
the Sakai Takayuki Hienn by Master Itsuo Doi.
The Syousin way
While the standard Byakko and Hienn are considered by many as great knives already, there are a few aspects that I think it could be further improved.
The main reason behind the emerge of the Syousin version, was because while I started K&S and got a shipment of Hienn, I had to reject a great portion of them due to various of small issues such as less than ideal blade finish, some blades had wrapping that were a bit too much than my liking. Don't get me wrong, they are still great blades just that I think they are more suitable for the Japanese chefs who are less strict on some of these F&F issues than us here (most of the problems will go away with a few sessions of proper sharpening, and warp fixing is rather easy in Japan). The reason behind such issue, is that Aoki hamono is one of the leading traditional knife manufacturer in Japan in terms of market share, so their product have to meet the demand of the domestic market first before addressing our needs. I think this as a market discrepancy issue.
To fix this, I worked closely with Aoki hamono in order to meet the strictest demand from guys like us. Below is what we have achieved:
We asked for Master Hirosugu Tosa, who we consider is one of the best sharpening and mirror polishing craftsmen at Aoki hamono after the retirement of Master Yukinori Oda last year, to oversee the sharpening of both the Byakko and Hienn. We specifically asked extra fine details need to be applied to all the Syousin blades. And what we have achieved is a straight blade with super even Ura and blade road, accomplished by the exceptional mirror polishing (Tosa-san recons his best skill is mirror polishing). One example would be the kanji engraving, we asked the blade to be polished after the kanji engraving not before. It means the blade has to travel one more time back to Tosa-san after he finishes most of the sharpening work. The added extra step resulted in the Syousin Byakko and Hienn now has the perfectly polished kanji like the following pic, which is normally only seen in high-end honyaki knives (at least for Sakai region):
We also replaced the standard handles with our K&S semi-custom ebony black horn ferrule with silver nickel spacer handle ensuring superb quality top to bottom.
Byakko specific
- For the Byakko, now every blade comes with mirror polishing,
- currently has regular yanagi shape in 270,300,330mm
- Sakimaru Takohiki has two versions, a regular, thinner version, and a wider heavier version very similar to Keijiro Doi's profile (I have a Suisin hayate Keijiro Doi Tako, I absolutely love the look and feel of it so I asked for something similar). Extra wide version will be available soon.
The Syousin Byakko
Hienn specific
- standard version only has the 300mm Kirisuke shaped yanagiba, I have added regular shaped yanagi into the mix. Available from 240 to 330mm, all forged by Master Itsuo Doi.
The Syousin Hienn
Accessories
- All come with a cool ho-wood black painted saya
- Both of the Byakko and Hienn are shipped with a nicely wooden presentation box,
- elegant black knife pouch, similar to the Sakura
- Comes with a free 20ml tsubaki oil in spray bottle, kinda handly
One more thing: the useful underlay
OK, this is something pretty cool. Orignally the boxes are shipped to me with some sort of blue damping material. I thought maybe I can replace it with something more interesting and useful. So I replace it with this:
A oversized magnetic leather strop. It is made of sheep skin and may need a bit of sanding if you prefer. Mount it on a piece of scarp MDF, you will have probably the cheapest and largest leather strop in the world.
Price:
from $500 (240mm Hienn, available soon) to $660 (330mm Hienn) shipped to North America / West Europe / Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwai / New Zealand via DHL.
Cheaper for AU buyers, slightly more expensive for other countries.
You can find them here: http://www.knivesandstones.com/syousin-byakko-hienn/
Oh yeah, although I believe the Syousin versions represent a better F&F and better as a overall package. I still think the regular version are a great product with very very competitive pricing, so I still carry the standard version, just to let you have the freedom to choose what you prefer, I love them both, and I am sure my price is the best around, Rakuten included
