THE "KS" PROFILE GYUTO CONTENDERS

I was inspired to make this post after seeing a Masamoto KS on B/S/T, selling for a considerable amount above retail. [Personally, I'm not a collector that is swayed into paying a premium for a knife's rarity—as there's always other knives I can find to fancy. To each they're own.]

The Masamoto KS is an immensely popular gyuto, with an almost cult-like following, that's sadly discontinued by Masamoto. I bought my 240 lefty KS from JCK—I was influenced by Salty's engrossing video review of it. My KS is a regular in my rotation, nimble, dependable, easy to sharpen—sleek and sexy as hell, like a Jaguar E-Type. The KS is a gyuto with a very distinct personality—my other knives with a lot of personality are the Kato and Kochi.

Now that the Masamoto KS has gone the way of the Dodo and Passenger pigeon, I'm curious about the performance of other gyutos using the KS profile. Specifically large production knives, sub-$500, not those made by custom makers (i.e. Bloodroot, Marko Tsourkan, etc.).

What are some good KS profile gyuto options currently out there? There are a handful of KS profiled, mass produced J-knives out there, Moritaka, Sakai Yusuke, Shibata, etc. Would love to hear impressions on any of those knives from KKF people that have used them—especially if you've also used a Masamoto KS.

Also, Koki from JCK mentioned that they're working with Mizuno Tanrenjo on a KS profile gyuto in Ao Hagane DX Blue Steel No.1 Clad and Honyaki White Steel No.2—which is 2–4 months from completion. Excited to see how these come out.


Here are some KS profile gyutos from various makers. Images sourced from the internet for educational and comparison purposes.


My 240 lefty Masamoto KS next to a 10 inch carbon ****Elephant Sabatier chef knife.

KS with Saya

Shot of KS, lefty D-handle

Jame’s Knives and stones Akebono is KS ish. Pretty thin at the edge and great tip. Moritaka KS is disappointing. I would like the Marko at some point, his interpretation is probably more to my liking than the real KS.

labor of love said:

Jame’s Knives and stones Akebono is KS ish. Pretty thin at the edge and great tip. Moritaka KS is disappointing. I would like the Marko at some point, his interpretation is probably more to my liking than the real KS.

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The Akebono appears like a taller, more tapered, riff on the KS—good looking handles. I've never held a Marko, but his knives look impeccable—would love to have one if I had the money. Saw a Marko in the case at JB Prince a while ago—gorgeous!

miz honyaki ks shape??? say it aint so!!??

panda said:

miz honyaki ks shape??? say it aint so!!??

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“Also, Koki from JCK mentioned that they're working with Mizuno Tanrenjo on a KS profile gyuto in Ao Hagane DX Blue Steel No.1 Clad and Honyaki White Steel No.2—which is 2–4 months from completion. Excited to see how these come out.”

I am the guilty person. I actually have the email still from Koki requesting for this knife to be made. I am a big fan of Mizuno knives and after buying a few Mizuno knives from Koki including the Mizuno Suminagashi, I inquired if Mizuno would be willing to do a custom knife for me. I am in constant communication with Koki via phone calls and this is what had transpired...a Mizuno honyaki with a KS profile. He did tell me that it will take about 3-4 months to finish and this was in November. I am waiting for it patiently and he told me that since I’m the one who requested it, I get the first dibs. 😀 I got tired of waiting for a Masamoto KS to surface up in BST and when it did come up for sale, it was north of $500. So this is the beginning of the Mizuno honyaki KS profile. Guilty as charged.

Panda, you may not have to wait too long for your Masamoto KS honyaki unicorn. This may replace our obsession for that Masamato KS. But then again, I’m pretty sure you will still be going after that unicorn.

I have the Shibata and the Doi. Love the profile both for aesthetics and practicality. The Shibata is a laser, very thin all the way back and up; the Doi has some serious mass, about half a pound, and a little distal taper but not very much until maybe 40mm from the tip. Feels like what people say about the Toyama and the Kato, though I don’t have those yet. Two great knives, to be sure.

Those who have the KS may have some better insight on this, but from what I hear the KS is like both - severe distal taper like the old forged carbon Sabatier. Also, the grind seems not to have been replicated yet, and all the copies are clad instead of monosteel. I’ll likely snap up the Mizuno when it comes out and have begun to hear some good things about Tsourkan’s “KS.”

panda said:

miz honyaki ks shape??? say it aint so!!??

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÷1

I believe the added length also contributed to the KS functionality...believe you'd have to go to a 270 Mizuno or have a custom maker build it to about 255 to get close to a 240 match.

The KS grind was hit or miss, pretty inconsistent. All the more reason not to pay a bunch of $ for a used one.

Andreu said:

“Also, Koki from JCK mentioned that they're working with Mizuno Tanrenjo on a KS profile gyuto in Ao Hagane DX Blue Steel No.1 Clad and Honyaki White Steel No.2—which is 2–4 months from completion. Excited to see how these come out.”

I am the guilty person. I actually have the email still from Koki requesting for this knife to be made. I am a big fan of Mizuno knives and after buying a few Mizuno knives from Koki including the Mizuno Suminagashi, I inquired if Mizuno would be willing to do a custom knife for me. I am in constant communication with Koki via phone calls and this is what had transpired...a Mizuno honyaki with a KS profile. He did tell me that it will take about 3-4 months to finish and this was in November. I am waiting for it patiently and he told me that since I’m the one who requested it, I get the first dibs. 😀 I got tired of waiting for a Masamoto KS to surface up in BST and when it did come up for sale, it was north of $500. So this is the beginning of the Mizuno honyaki KS profile. Guilty as charged.

Panda, you may not have to wait too long for your Masamoto KS honyaki unicorn. This may replace our obsession for that Masamato KS. But then again, I’m pretty sure you will still be going after that unicorn.

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Brilliant! Cheers for making the initial request. I hope you'll do a review of the knife when you get it. Koki also mentioned that he'd put in a request for a lefty grind with a pre-order—as well as choice of handles. I got my Masamoto KS back in 2014, after a fairly long wait for restocking—I had seriously considered getting a Sakai Yusuke, which I'd read positive things about. It'll be interesting to see if more makers decide to through a KS-esque knife into the ring.

I will try my best to do a review when I get it. But it might serve us better if you review it, too if you do decide to get it since you can compare it with your KS. I will keep you all posted.

Tell him to make multiple, there will be buyers

panda said:

Tell him to make multiple, there will be buyers

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After I made the the request, Koki had stated that Mizuno agreed to make it and it will be in multiple production. Once it’s made, it’s up for grabs in Koki’s site. Not sure how many will be made but it will be multiple. I can call him tonight and see if I can get more info in regards to the status of the delivery time and the quantity.

I have a KS and like it a lot but also like the Moritaka Ks. Of the others with the same profile I’ve tried I like the Moritaka the best. And zero grind issues. Nice consistant wide bevels, no overgrinds. Maybe I got lucky but a wide bevel AS steel with a KS profile. Has a nice taper. I use it all the time.

The Ikeda, Moritaka and Shibata versions interest me. Can’t comment on any of them though. Someday I may try acquiring these for a comparison.

Hoping this Mizuno turns out similar to the HS-3124. I expect price to be north of $1000 USD. Regardless, the KS value will continue to rise. Even those unfortunate enough to receive a shoddy KS are cuddling it to sleep.

To put price into perspective, dozens of Japanese makers have increased their prices in the last 2 years since the Masamoto has become unavailable. Read here for example. Shigefusa, Konosuke, Yoshiaki Fujiwara and most relevant being Mizuno are just a few. I remember witnessing a $250+ increase of Mizuno Tanrenjo honyaki knives last year. Many knives selling for north of $500 today are questionably worth it, but I believe the KS is an exception.

chinacats said:

÷1

I believe the added length also contributed to the KS functionality...believe you'd have to go to a 270 Mizuno or have a custom maker build it to about 255 to get close to a 240 match.

The KS grind was hit or miss, pretty inconsistent. All the more reason not to pay a bunch of $ for a used one.

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I agree that the length of the KS was also a contributing factor to it’s functionality and this is the same reason I requested that the Mizuno knife be made in a 240 cutting edge. So the overall blade length will be 255ish.

To clarify, the cutting edge will be 255mm?

I never knew about the Yusuke til today.. found this video. Is it only made in Swedish Stainless? Doesn’t look available at the moment.

[video]https://m.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=83&v=Q2OJgA1EHo8[/video]

fujiyama said:

To clarify, the cutting edge will be 255mm?

I never knew about the Yusuke til today.. found this video. Is it only made in Swedish Stainless? Doesn’t look available at the moment.

[video]https://m.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=83&v=Q2OJgA1EHo8[/video]

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I have not seen one available in a long time.

fujiyama said:

To clarify, the cutting edge will be 255mm?

I never knew about the Yusuke til today.. found this video. Is it only made in Swedish Stainless? Doesn’t look available at the moment.

[video]https://m.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=83&v=Q2OJgA1EHo8[/video]

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The Sakai Yusuke are available on EBay from a seller BluewayJapan. They come in White #2 as well.

Thank you. I had a look at Blueway earlier but the ones I found aren’t French profiled. Just curious if they’re discontinued.

fujiyama said:

To clarify, the cutting edge will be 255mm?

I never knew about the Yusuke til today.. found this video. Is it only made in Swedish Stainless? Doesn’t look available at the moment.

[video]https://m.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=83&v=Q2OJgA1EHo8[/video]

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No, sir. The cutting edge will be 240. The blade length (handle to tip) will be 255ish.

fujiyama said:

Thank you. I had a look at Blueway earlier but the ones I found aren’t French profiled. Just curious if they’re discontinued.

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I inquired about the french profile in October with Blueway and was told that this is no longer in production.

I had a feeling they were discontinued.

Andreu said:

No, sir. The cutting edge will be 240. The blade length (handle to tip) will be 255ish.

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Okay, thanks for clarifying. I’m slightly less interested now. :whistling:

fujiyama said:

I had a feeling they were discontinued.


Okay, thanks for clarifying. I’m slightly less interested now. :whistling:

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I wonder how slightly..🤔. Lol

That was my request to Koki. Will Mizuno follow it exactly, maybe. All I know for sure is that it will be longer than the regular Mizuno 240.

Mizuno honyakis generally run short ~230mm. The KS runs long at ~255mm. It’s hard to call it a 240 or a 270, it’s.. exactly in the middle. That’s appealing to me. You can find short 270s but they’re still ~260mm.

With an edge of 240 these be longer than the average 230mm Mizuno. I do admit it sounds like a cool knife, but I don’t think it will closely resemble a KS. It’s too short, so even if they nail the profile, grind and taper, it will be off proportion to the Masamoto. It won’t be a clone but it may be a great alternative.

I’d be hesitant to drop this kind of coin without seeing it out first.

Not saying they won’t produce a knife that I fall in love with, but my expectations have seriously dropped. That’s a good thing for my wallet and relationship. :angel2:

Yes, that is correct that the regular Mizuno honyakis runs short and the KS runs long (more like a short 270). However, I personally feel that my sweet spot is at 250 to 255. Not too long as a 270 and not too short as a 240. I understand your reservation on this matter, but I did not request the knife to be an exact replica of the KS. Otherwise, it won’t be much different than any other KS clones out there. My intention was to have a KS profile (since I favor a flatter profile) with a good distal taper and a height of 50mm at the heel. It was not my intention to have an exact copy of the KS including the dimension. I don’t know how the knife will turn out. I am just hoping for the best. As we all know, like with any knives out there, it just boils down to an individual preference. Some may love it, some may like it, or some may hate it. If you decide not to purchase one, I will PM you of my thoughts of the knife once I have it in hand and tried it. Cheers - Andreu

honestly id be happy with a 250-255 length regular miz honyaki. i got rid of mine because it was too short.
i will probably not get this new one, just hold out for my unicorn. pretty thrilled with original ks + custom watanabe combo i got now.

panda said:

honestly id be happy with a 250-255 length regular miz honyaki. i got rid of mine because it was too short.
i will probably not get this new one, just hold out for my unicorn. pretty thrilled with original ks + custom watanabe combo i got now.

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Custom Wat?

chinacats said:

Custom Wat?

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Was wondering that myself. Might just write that email instead

255 length thinner tip

Ok, I'm pretty new to the whole j-knife thing but explain to this novice why the KS profile is so coveted by some? Is it just that it's not as tall? Somewhat French-like in feel? Is it how it cuts?

panda said:

255 length thinner tip

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Sounds awesome...I feel like 10" makes a perfect gyuto length. Combined with a thinner tip I can see why your love it.

rickg17 said:

Ok, I'm pretty new to the whole j-knife thing but explain to this novice why the KS profile is so coveted by some? Is it just that it's not as tall? Somewhat French-like in feel? Is it how it cuts?

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Profile, profile, profile and length. Good distal taper with a thin tip... when it's ground well there are very few knives that feel as good...imo it rewards good technique.