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Dictum.com are listing kasumi and kitaeji series Shigefusa Santokus and Usubas and they don't say out of stock. I realise that, if they are legit, they will probably be out of stock very soon, now that I've mentioned it here, but are they? I would be skeptical of most places saying they have stock, but it's also the fact that it is a fairly general online store carrying something so niche and specific. Obviously that could be why they have stock, because the sort of people that buy them wouldn't think to look there. Then again, maybe you all know them and use them regularly, it's crap being a noob, I know nothing.
 
The better question is, should you be getting any Shigefusa, santoku or usuba in the first place.
Dictum has offered Shigs for years, they've just never been on the radar here much because they're in Germany, and what they offer is mostly the smaller sizes and less popular models.
 
The better question is, should you be getting any Shigefusa, santoku or usuba in the first place.
Dictum has offered Shigs for years, they've just never been on the radar here much because they're in Germany, and what they offer is mostly the smaller sizes and less popular models.
What does this even mean or have to do with anything?
 
What does this even mean or have to do with anything?
It probably means since he admitted to being a noob, getting an usuba is probably not the right choice. It’s uses are very limited. And a santoku is a Santoku. That and all shigs are iron clad which can be difficult to maintain. Perhaps getting something else is a wiser choice.
 
Yes, I'm a noob and definitely not worthy of any Shigefusa products. Either way, I'm likely to go for carbon steel products. It's a bit more maintenance, but with most things I like to go in at the deep end. The benefits seem to be worth the extra maintenance. To be fair, I wasn't looking for a Usuba, I was looking for a Nakiri and given that I'm left handed, the Usuba would have been pretty useless to me. I am fairly ambidextrous, but I'd certainly prefer to use my left hand.
 
It probably means since he admitted to being a noob, getting an usuba is probably not the right choice. It’s uses are very limited. And a santoku is a Santoku. That and all shigs are iron clad which can be difficult to maintain. Perhaps getting something else is a wiser choice.
They don’t sell usubas on Dictum, they’re Nakiris. German sites do that all the time.
Santoku are perfect knives for newbies so I dunno if you’re worried about carbon steel knives or what? Doesn’t take long to get used to, I guess a Shigefusa would be a crazy beginner knife, but that’s what Dictum sells. They are home use Shigefusa knives!
 
Judging by the Dictum pictures the "Usuba" looks like nakiri.

Edit, Southpaw was faster 👌
 
Yes, I'm a noob and definitely not worthy of any Shigefusa products. Either way, I'm likely to go for carbon steel products. It's a bit more maintenance, but with most things I like to go in at the deep end. The benefits seem to be worth the extra maintenance. To be fair, I wasn't looking for a Usuba, I was looking for a Nakiri and given that I'm left handed, the Usuba would have been pretty useless to me. I am fairly ambidextrous, but I'd certainly prefer to use my left hand.
Read my response. Those are santoku and Nakiri knives listed on dictum, they’re home use knives.

sorry people were snobby. If ur ready for carbon steel it’s not that hard to use, and is easy to sharpen
 
What does this even mean or have to do with anything?
I don't know what part you're referring to.
If it's the first part... the OP just started a thread earlier on advice for his first set of stones and is clearly at the start of his knife journey. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I think most of us would agree that a single bevel usuba wouldn't be the best place to start.
Neither do I see a ton of wisdom in getting a top-end Shigefusa to practise your sharpening on...

Even santokus are pretty divisive at best here; some people love them, plenty of people see no point in them. Is a Shig Kitaeji really the most sensible thing to try to find out if santokus are for you?

On less popular models I meant that most of people on this forum prefer longer blades... Gyutos, sujihikis, whatever. At dictum I've only ever really seen nakiri, usubua, santoku and at best a 180 gyuto, nothing longer.
 
Read my response. Those are santoku and Nakiri knives listed on dictum, they’re home use knives.

sorry people were snobby. If ur ready for carbon steel it’s not that hard to use, and is easy to sharpen
It's not being snobby, it's being sensible. This forum often has the tendency of sending new people straight down to the deep end without any sense of moderation or questioning whether the OP could make do with less, or whether it really makes sense.
It's the knife equivalent of an old lady asking what car to buy to get some groceries and a helpful car forum telling her that both a Maserati and a Ferrari are good options, but the flavor of the month is that shopping is best done in a Bentley.
 
Be aware that for Dictum, what they call kasumi is not full kasumi on the whole blade, but kurouchi + kasumi on the bevels.

I bought a Shig santoku from them in early December and the transaction was fantastic. The blade didn't gel with me which is why I'm selling mine, but I would buy from Dictum again.
 
It's not being snobby, it's being sensible. This forum often has the tendency of sending new people straight down to the deep end without any sense of moderation or questioning whether the OP could make do with less, or whether it really makes sense.
It's the knife equivalent of an old lady asking what car to buy to get some groceries and a helpful car forum telling her that both a Maserati and a Ferrari are good options, but the flavor of the month is that shopping is best done in a Bentley.
Of course I don't think it makes sense for me to get a Shigefusa. It probably doesn't make sense for any home user to spend that kind of money on a knife. I don't want one because it makes sense, I want one because I like it, which is going to be the same for anyone who buys a Maserati or a Ferrari.
 
those black shigefusas are not uncommon and they pop up quite often in different shops.

the problem with them is that the people that get them don't think they are any good compared to other nakiris and santokus.
 
Hey suit yourself... why buy something that makes sense when you can just buy something that looks good. It just wouldn't exactly be my recommendation for someone coming off a Victorinox Chef knife, still learning how to sharpen, preferring a left-handed knife with low reactivity.
But I guess there's always room on B/S/T for more Shigs.
 
Read my response. Those are santoku and Nakiri knives listed on dictum, they’re home use knives.

sorry people were snobby. If ur ready for carbon steel it’s not that hard to use, and is easy to sharpen
To be honest, the reason I was interested is because it looked like the Nakiris I had seen elsewhere. I had to go and check the difference between a Usuba and a Nakiri, which is when I found out that the Usuba are single bevel. Being a leftie, if it had been a Usuba, it wouldn't have been a good choice whether or not I was experienced. Part of my reason for wanting carbon is that they are easier to sharpen. I don't see the point in learning to sharpen on something more difficult, then moving to something easier. I appreciate the argument that I wouldn't want to mess up an expensive knife, but from what others have said, it's easy to correct any issues once more experience is gained.
 
Hey suit yourself... why buy something that makes sense when you can just buy something that looks good. But I guess there's always room on B/S/T for more Shigs.

It just wouldn't be my recommendation for someone coming off a Victorinox Chef knife, still learning how to sharpen, preferring a left-handed knife with low reactivity.
To be fair, I may end up not liking it, but I wouldn't find out without trying it. Either way, since they are not available on Dictum and I haven't seen them in stock elsewhere, I probably won't be starting with a Shig.

I wouldn't really say it's a looks thing, it's more of an everyone loving Shigs thing. I actually like the looks of Shun Premier, Yaxell Super Gou and a lot of the Chinese knives. I think most of the high end knives look a bit rustic and ordinary in comparison. Sorry, I'm new, my tastes need time to develop. The thing is everyone seems to rate Shigs highly, which is what makes me think that is the one to get. It's like reading reviews on Amazon, I don't tend to buy the things that everyone hates.

There is obviously the possibility that people here appreciate Shigs, because they have the experience and understanding to have that appreciation and I may not like it, because I don't have that. It may take years of me using quality knives to appreciate a Shig, but I won't know that without trying one.
 
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there are other makers that make better santokus and nakiris. there are many threads about nakiris, just read them through and see what would work best for you.

and as with all handmade stuff, its not always possible to get what you want, because its out of stock. and it wont be back until 1 year or so.

i would suggest you read up on what type of knife you want. read all the threads. spend at least a week on this. then select 3 brands/models you want. then go hunt for 1 of those.
 
You would not believe the amount of Nakiri threads I've read. Admittedly, I didn't spend a week reading them and I have also started a which Nakiri should I buy thread, which has yielded many of the recommendations that I had read in the previous threads. I'm currently down to a shortlist of 10 that I'm trying to choose between, none of which were recommended, but all of which are in stock in one place or another and some of which may have been mentioned on previous Nakiri threads, but I'm not sure it's the same one.

Part of the difficulty I'm having is that I see a Nakiri made by Kato, for example and, because I know nothing, I don't know if it's the Mr. Kato that others have mentioned approvingly or another Mr. Kato that makes OK knives, but nothing great. It may be the same Mr. Kato, but the wrong Nakiri, because he makes some good ones and others that are just OK. I'm at the point now where I'm thinking I should just pick one at random and see what I think about it when I get it. That was the main appeal of the Shigefusa, because I have only seen good things said about his knives and everyone seems to like everything he does. I realise that is probably not the case universally, it's just the impression that I get from what I've read. When I compare that to TF who many people praise, there are also many that mention the awful F&F and speak disparagingly.
 
You would not believe the amount of Nakiri threads I've read. Admittedly, I didn't spend a week reading them and I have also started a which Nakiri should I buy thread, which has yielded many of the recommendations that I had read in the previous threads. I'm currently down to a shortlist of 10 that I'm trying to choose between, none of which were recommended, but all of which are in stock in one place or another and some of which may have been mentioned on previous Nakiri threads, but I'm not sure it's the same one.

Part of the difficulty I'm having is that I see a Nakiri made by Kato, for example and, because I know nothing, I don't know if it's the Mr. Kato that others have mentioned approvingly or another Mr. Kato that makes OK knives, but nothing great. It may be the same Mr. Kato, but the wrong Nakiri, because he makes some good ones and others that are just OK. I'm at the point now where I'm thinking I should just pick one at random and see what I think about it when I get it. That was the main appeal of the Shigefusa, because I have only seen good things said about his knives and everyone seems to like everything he does. I realise that is probably not the case universally, it's just the impression that I get from what I've read. When I compare that to TF who many people praise, there are also many that mention the awful F&F and speak disparagingly.

Hello there - I believe the amount of nakiri threads you read, as I probably read them all at some point too :D
I hope you took some of them with a grain of salt :p

Kiyoshi Kato = the expensive one with high status (on the forum at least)
Hiroshi Kato = founder of Takefu Village
Yoshimi Kato = the guy who makes large amounts of fairly decent knives that look cool (to some)

From what I see, the allure of Shigefusa comes from how the knives are made - all by hand and finished on stones. The nakiris are very thick, so some nakiri cut well, some cut like a brick.

A good TF will be one of the best cutting knives you can buy, but getting a good one and tuning it is the difficult part. Many feel they're not worth it. Despite loving mine, I mostly agree with that. I also plan to buy another one.
 
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Most of the Kato's I saw listed were Yoshimi, although I thought one was listed as Hiroshi.

The thing that has impressed me most about what I've been seeing about Shigefusa is how the F&F is always top notch. That kind of attention to detail shows a level of pride in their craftsmanship and their products. That said, I doubt I'd be much of a fan of a thick blade on a Nakiri, but, to be honest, it's too early for me to know what I would or wouldn't be a fan of.

I guess I should be wary of people wanting to trade a TF then. It seems that is less likely to happen, if it's a good one.
 
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