Hitohira Togashi thread

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I had read that the standard Hitohira san mai models are forged and sharpened by Togashi? Is this the case?
 
Ya know I’m not sure, I was pretty surprised when they started even mentioning who the sharpener was.

Either way the finishes are superb. Great packages all around.
 
I had read that the standard Hitohira san mai models are forged and sharpened by Togashi? Is this the case?
I thought it was his son that was the sharpener on basic Togashi. but could be wrong. But the sharpener is key to the distinction - as noted by @Gregmega, yohei ones are thin. Then there is Kambei, etc. mine are all sharpened by Tosa. The Tosa ones are a bit beefier, and the tosa Honyaki tends to be quite heavy
 
Anyone know if you can go to the Hitohira shop to buy knives? Or any big shops in Japan? Surprisingly the Hitoria website does not mention Japanese retail partners. Cannot wait to be able to travel again, hopefully this rumor that Japan will open to visitors come April turns out to be true.
 
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I hope so too - was in Japan last October, best trip of my life! Kyoto and Tokyo - sadly my knife passion had not been discovered then. I still got a couple of Saji - Nakiri snd Santuko
 
I hope so too - was in Japan last October, best trip of my life! Kyoto and Tokyo - sadly my knife passion had not been discovered then. I still got a couple of Saji - Nakiri snd Santuko

I was in Tokyo around the same time. Sadly haven't gone back to Kyoto for a few years now, cannot wait to go back. The whole knife scene still seems relatively private in Japan, like the whisky scene some years ago. Now everything whisky is much more commercialized and cater more to tourists.
 
Also a question - is Hitohira like a holdings company, a brand? Like how LVMH owns a bunch of other brands? What is Hitohira exactly? Is it a blacksmith?
 
Also a question - is Hitohira like a holdings company, a brand? Like how LVMH owns a bunch of other brands? What is Hitohira exactly? Is it a blacksmith?
Hitohira is essentially a company that farms out our work to the various disciplines in the industry throughout Japan to their specs -an important factor to remember is that for centuries, these disciplines are handled by specialists in each step of the process, which is why you’ll see a certain smith forging for so many different brands. Hitohira has the vision for their product and it’s literally ‘forged’ into reality by all the artisans. This is a fairly redundant simplification of the process as there’s so many other examples that could be given, but in a nutshell....
 
Hitohira Blue 2 iron clad Ku: 255g. heavy and thick but not unwieldy and less wedgy than you might think. The upswept shinogi helps with tipwork and the profile is a lot like Shigehiro, kind of bullet shaped. Definitely not a laser but more versatile than just a big ol’ whammer.
 
Hitohira Blue 2 iron clad Ku: 255g. heavy and thick but not unwieldy and less wedgy than you might think. The upswept shinogi helps with tipwork and the profile is a lot like Shigehiro, kind of bullet shaped. Definitely not a laser but more versatile than just a big ol’ whammer.

Do you have a pic, and is the bladesmith Togashi?
 
Yep, forged by Kenji and sharpened by his son Kenya. For comparison here it is next to a Hitohira Tanaka Kyuzo; you can see the difference in the shape of the bevel and point.

image.jpg
image.jpg
 
From my experience there's still room for improvements in Kenji's son's sharpening.

I think you may be right as there is a premium placed on specific sharpeners - I got mine because they were Togashi-Tosa combination - and I like their style, which tends to be a bit beefier in weight, as pointed out earlier in this thread, the Yohei sharpened ones tend to be light - gorgeous and desirable nonetheless
 
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From my experience there's still room for improvements in Kenji's son's sharpening.
Are you referring to the grind or the actual sharpening of the edge?
Kenji's son is grinding the blade, not doing the final sharpening.

Hitohira ship there knives unsharpened to protect the edge in transit.
The retailer or customer is responsible to sharpen edge.

This is from Hitohira website:
"-Please be aware that we do not have a full edge on the blade to protect it during the shipping process, you can sharpen the knife so that the edge will be sharper once you have received the product."

https://hitohira-japan.com/pages/about-us
 
Are you referring to the grind or the actual sharpening of the edge?
Kenji's son is grinding the blade, not doing the final sharpening.

Hitohira ship there knives unsharpened to protect the edge in transit.
The retailer or customer is responsible to sharpen edge.

This is from Hitohira website:
"-Please be aware that we do not have a full edge on the blade to protect it during the shipping process, you can sharpen the knife so that the edge will be sharper once you have received the product."

https://hitohira-japan.com/pages/about-us
Yeah I'm referring to the sharpening of the wide bevels. Good to know that Hitohira ships them unsharpened.
 
Finally got my Togashi... fit and finish is pretty spectacular. Kind of want to buy another one just for display.
 
Hitohira Blue 2 iron clad Ku: 255g. heavy and thick but not unwieldy and less wedgy than you might think. The upswept shinogi helps with tipwork and the profile is a lot like Shigehiro, kind of bullet shaped. Definitely not a laser but more versatile than just a big ol’ whammer.
I would be curious as to how it compares to a KU Watanabe. The dimensions and grind look pretty similar. .
 
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Oooof I was very close to purchasing one of those instead of the regular profile iron clad. Sounds awesome!
 
Stainless clad white 1 ktip! It's simply gorgeous, worth every dollar. The feel in the hand is incredible too, weighty but not heavy. The grind on the spine, edge of the spine, and the slight brush/grain on the cladding are all wonderfully done. Strong, angular shinogi line.

Some good photos for those interested: Hitohira Togashi White #1 Stainless Clad Kiritsuke Gyuto 210mm Taihei Makassar Ebony Handle (Saya)
Very nice. Def on another level.

Have a peak at this:
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EC67821F-DD97-4B23-839E-32692AD1ECCC.jpeg
4263FBD2-FF16-466B-92AB-F8451EBBEDE3.jpeg
0D6BB967-06AF-4344-863A-F869857EB2CC.jpeg
4E2C8F3C-5197-4A83-A254-8FE94C032DBC.jpeg
 
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