Hatsukokoro Yoake impressions?

[gentiscid]

Anyone has this one here? Looks like a prototype almost
https://miuraknives.com/japanese-kn...japanese-knife-hatsukokoro.html#/36-size-24cm

Not a prototype at all. Yoake has aggressive distal taper. Check Home Butcher for a better price with a better handle. You might need to do adjustements to it.

 

[gentiscid]

Mine

 

[Yoshi]

That's a massive spine!

 

[itzjustchris1]

Mine

Did you polish the spine and choil on yours?

 

[gentiscid]

Did you polish the spine and choil on yours?

I did not, but @tostadas did a nice touch up on it for me!

 

[Auskid]

Chefs edge told me this maker is from Sakai. You would think it is from Sanjo, we have all been fooled.

 

[gentiscid]

Chefs edge told me this maker is from Sakai. You would think it is from Sanjo, we have all been fooled.

Lol you just exposed them for telling u a “secret”.

And Hatsukokoro or other vendors/retailers, never said the Yoake/Komorebi/Yorokobi were made in Sanjo region. They do have Sanjo style but any experienced smith can adapt to those features of tapering and longer blades than Sakai blades. Don’t the western makers do it as well?

 

[samkim111]

So I found a great deal in the sates and mine is on the way too. I will also share my thoughts once I use it.

thoughts?

 

[ModRQC]

Mine is best defined by a poor fit, good feel in hand, and so-so performance. I seem to gather that while the two first points are relatively consistent in general, one might get much luckier with the third.

 

[JoBone]

Chefs edge told me this maker is from Sakai. You would think it is from Sanjo, we have all been fooled.

Hatsukokoro doesn’t disclose either the blacksmith nor the region. Some dealers state Sanjo and other state Sakai.

 

[dAtron]

thoughts?

Apologies just saw this. Mine has poor fit as well, it is slightly concave towards the right side and not an easy fix. Haven't used it in quite a few months. The taper is decent, Goes from 7mm to 1.5mm. Wedges through taller denser products as expected. Also the flat spot on the heel is a bit weird. If you're in the market for a workhorse and find a cheap deal for it, I would say get it. It will power through anything. But expect it to need some work out of the box

 

[pcs-abc]

Does anyone here have experience with the "updated version" vs. previous iterations? I'm guessing the updates are some extra attention to spine/choil. Homebutcher also has different handles (ebony on previous, wenge on update).

Any other changes?

 

[refcast]

@blokey

Steel is well balanced, straight forward to abrade, not glassy when sharpened on a jnat, well just a tiny hint of it. Harder than shiraki white 2, which is harder than Ashi white 2. . . Harder than zakuri blue 1. Not as hard as okubo blue 2. Not as hard as hide blue 1. Reminds me of a good white steel in butteriness. Good steel.