Ken Kageura

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Godslayer

Godslayer

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Has anyone heard of him? He's the smith behing Masakage Kujira, Google revealed very little.
 
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影浦　賢

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http://www.pref.kochi.lg.jp/soshiki/151301/h14kageura-index.html


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I'm pretty sure this is who you're looking for.
 
I just picked one of his knifes up on the forums, in part because I was curious being able to find so little out about him. A 150mm that is so damn tall they still call it a chef's knife instead of a petty. So far looks like an odd, but beautiful, knife.
 
I never heard of him either. One day while surfing a Canadian site and looking through the Masakage line I decided to try one out. I think the Kujira are made for the Canadian seller and are not always available. There is not much to be found in English about him.

I know some members here ordered from the same place and the knives were not in the best condition when they arrived. Dont know if its the manufacturers QC or the sellers.

here is a pic of my 240 next to Takeda.

tal.jpg
 
ecrphoto said:
I just picked one of his knifes up on the forums, in part because I was curious being able to find so little out about him. A 150mm that is so damn tall they still call it a chef's knife instead of a petty. So far looks like an odd, but beautiful, knife.
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I was very tempted by that one but have absolutely no funds right now. 150mm gyutos are very intriguing to me. There are tall petty options out there, but not many 150mm length knives specifically labelled gyuto. I'm not even sure when I would reach for it, I assume it's ideal as a board petty. I'd be interested in your thoughts as there's not much out there on them.

sergeysus said:
I never heard of him either. One day while surfing a Canadian site and looking through the Masakage line I decided to try one out. I think the Kujira are made for the Canadian seller and are not always available. There is not much to be found in English about him.

I know some members here ordered from the same place and the knives were not in the best condition when they arrived. Dont know if its the manufacturers QC or the sellers.

here is a pic of my 240 next to Takeda.
Click to expand...

From googling I saw another vendor we don't like to name had them at one point, but they look completely different, maybe different cladding? Anyway love the story on the knives and the subtle damascus cladding, a lot of damascus is far too loud for me. It must look super cool from different light angles. Also love how the choil shapes differ and are kind of rustic looking.
 
I think you are referring to Ken Kageura, not Kijiwara. They are two different blacksmith. I own knives from both blacksmith. Ken Kageura for the most part is retired and had no apprentice. He was an excellent blacksmith who made his own Damascus out of recycled antique irons from axes to ship parts. He often used blue #2 steel. I was fortunate to pick up two of his gyutos before he retired. His knives are truly a work of art with incredible craftsmanship. I think there is a bio of him in the documentary, "spring hammer" and also in the book "The knife nerd guide to Japanese Knives," by Kevin Kent. If you get a chance to pick up one of his knives, I would recommend you do. I believe you cannot find any new knives from him or his shop anymore.
 

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I’ve got a Kujira 210 gyuto by Kageura, it’s quite pretty. The grind near the edge was quite convex and pretty wedgy and splitty when I got it; spent some hours thinning it and now I really like it. Kept it over an Ikeda honyaki and prefer it to the TF Maboroshi, the steel compares favorably to both. It’s my only Damascus knife although there wasn’t a plain option; I like how it isn’t shiny and obnoxious.
 
It is very understated and from a distance it does not look like a Damascus blade. I like that in his work.
 
These knives were always in stock at vender sites and always heavily discounted to move the inventory. I had one or two, I believe I got a 150 gyuto on trade once and it was one of the worst knives I’ve owned. When selling these used years ago, you couldn’t give them away. Funny how perceptions change over the years.
 
1000$ for a 160 gyuto of an unknown smith that's some nerve. That's more than top japanese smiths or any western maker with very good track record. This is shameless. Oh and perceptions don't change over time. A bad knife stays a bad knife. It's just money hungry marketing trying to sell a story to gullible people.
 
I would disagree they are bad knives. I have used them on and off the past few years. I can see and understand why some who owned one would not like them. I can and do respect their opinion. I do however feel uncomfortable with someone who would disrespect a man's lifework of 61 years dedicated to one craft without every having the opportunity to have owned one. The irony is that known smiths become known because of marketing. Some are better and some not so much. In the end, those that appreciate the knives beyond their function do so because of the craftsmanship it took to bring out the beauty in the steel. I don't necessarily buy into the idea that a lesser known smith's work is less valuable because people do not know of their work. I love my Shigafusa and respect the craftsmanship and honesty that went into creating it every time I use it. I appreciate Kageura san's work for the same reasons.
 
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I owned two actually (195 santoku & 150mm gyuto) .. and handled several when the Ottawa knifewear shop opened up.
Grind was ok, not to the level that i (we) expect now days. Symmetry was good though, choil was always left rough. but you bought the knife for:
A) its amazing damascus that has a variety of colours in it naturally
B) the huge blade profile (among the tallest blades out there at that time aside from takeda)
C) it really was a very good heat treat. and he didnt use a blast furnace to heat his metal, he used a electo-induction.

I do consider a 240mm gyuto one of my biggest "Missed out on" of my current collection. - what drove me nuts is the people at knifewear were saying he was retiring from Oct 2013 (when i bought my first knife from them) -- in 2017 they were still bringing in new blades from him AND STILL saying "hes retiring." Admittedly the last 2 years have gotten pretty scarce.

-L
 
GorillaGrunt said:
I’ve got a Kujira 210 gyuto by Kageura, it’s quite pretty. The grind near the edge was quite convex and pretty wedgy and splitty when I got it; spent some hours thinning it and now I really like it. Kept it over an Ikeda honyaki and prefer it to the TF Maboroshi, the steel compares favorably to both. It’s my only Damascus knife although there wasn’t a plain option; I like how it isn’t shiny and obnoxious.
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I th
LucasFur said:
I owned two actually (195 santoku & 150mm gyuto) .. and handled several when the Ottawa knifewear shop opened up.
Grind was ok, not to the level that i (we) expect now days. Symmetry was good though, choil was always left rough. but you bought the knife for:
A) its amazing damascus that has a variety of colours in it naturally
B) the huge blade profile (among the tallest blades out there at that time aside from takeda)
C) it really was a very good heat treat. and he didnt use a blast furnace to heat his metal, he used a electo-induction.

I do consider a 240mm gyuto one of my biggest "Missed out on" of my current collection. - what drove me nuts is the people at knifewear were saying he was retiring from Oct 2013 (when i bought my first knife from them) -- in 2017 they were still bringing in new blades from him AND STILL saying "hes retiring." Admittedly the last 2 years have gotten pretty scarce.

-L
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I have been looking into getting one but all were sold out at knifewares. Then I found a guy who wanted to thin out his knife collection and I got a 240 gyuto off of him last week. I really love it. These knives are not for those who do not love a tall blade. I don't think you could buy one new right now anywhere. Perhaps if you requested to buy one, there may be some good offers as according to one of posters on this thread, "you could not give them away," a few years ago. It just would not be me.
 
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From what I remember 4 or 5 years ago with mine were. The steel was blue 2 I believe with a cladding made from a whole bunch of different scrap metal he accumulated, I remember old railroad spikes and ties and some military scrap as well. The result was a cool almost iridium hue. These were also 2 to 3 times the cost of a normal masakage knife at the time, so they were mostly a curiosity. Mine had a spine and Choil that looked like it was finished with a rough metal file and it had handle joint that looked like it was repaired. The performance was not like the knives I liked at the time, very thick and wedgy through product. I could have kept the 150 gyuto as that was a cool little knife for small tasks, but I got a 120 tall petty from Shawn Fernandez which I still have. The bigger gyuto I had was defective and had a hump in the blade profile which produced a visible gap between the edge and the cutting board. When they were discontinued they were massively marked down and even then sat around for quite a while. There were also a few threads about them in the old forms. They never were a popular blade back when and that’s why I thought it was odd that they’re being hyped now.
 
Chicagohawkie said:
From what I remember 4 or 5 years ago with mine were. The steel was blue 2 I believe with a cladding made from a whole bunch of different scrap metal he accumulated, I remember old railroad spikes and ties and some military scrap as well. The result was a cool almost iridium hue. These were also 2 to 3 times the cost of a normal masakage knife at the time, so they were mostly a curiosity. Mine had a spine and Choil that looked like it was finished with a rough metal file and it had handle joint that looked like it was repaired. The performance was not like the knives I liked at the time, very thick and wedgy through product. I could have kept the 150 gyuto as that was a cool little knife for small tasks, but I got a 120 tall petty from Shawn Fernandez which I still have. The bigger gyuto I had was defective and had a hump in the blade profile which produced a visible gap between the edge and the cutting board. When they were discontinued they were massively marked down and even then sat around for quite a while. There were also a few threads about them in the old forms. They never were a popular blade back when and that’s why I thought it was odd that they’re being hyped now.
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I don't think they are being hyped. Just wanted give a little respect to a craftsman who dedicated 61 years making kitchen knives without taking shortcuts. He could have made them faster or copy the profiles of best selling knives. His knives are a little thicker and much taller. They are not the laser slicer people want in their japanese knives but rather a rustic and tough kitchen tool with a sense of understated beauty. If I were to have only one knife to own, it would not be a Kageura, however if it were to be my 10th knife, I would prefer this one to over the other 6-7 knives that have very similar characteristics in the way it cuts. I own 5 Denka and all are beautiful and amazing but perform almost identical in how they cut. It seems owners of knives want all of their knives to become some version of the ideal knife they envision. I am guilty of this. In this pursuit, they may miss the beauty that lie in a knife that does not fit that mold. I am starting find that in some of the knives of my past. There is a difference between a poorly made knife and a knife that does not fit that mold. Just an opinion.
 
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Yeah, my thought after using it for a while was that it was too much to pay for a project knife, no matter how pretty. Then when I actually did the project I decided that *now* it cuts like a $500 knife, and as mentioned above the steel is pretty darn good so (shrug)
 
GorillaGrunt said:
Yeah, my thought after using it for a while was that it was too much to pay for a project knife, no matter how pretty. Then when I actually did the project I decided that *now* it cuts like a $500 knife, and as mentioned above the steel is pretty darn good so (shrug)
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How did you change the grind?
 
This thread is becoming really funky to follow. This guy Henry comes out of nowhere and trying so hard to push this masakage smith to the market. Then all pitch in to say that he made weird looking gyutos out of all sort of scrap sheet. That people used to give away for free since no one would buy (ROLF). And then this guy comes out of nowhere again and writes these loong texts about how great this guy's work is and how he wants to pay his respects. Ok we got that from the first posting. Now I think you are trying too hard and that makes this even stranger to read. Did you buy some stock out of this guy and try to oversell it?
 
Codered said:
This thread is becoming really funky to follow. This guy Henry comes out of nowhere and trying so hard to push this masakage smith to the market. Then all pitch in to say that he made weird looking gyutos out of all sort of scrap sheet. That people used to give away for free since no one would buy (ROLF). And then this guy comes out of nowhere again and writes these loong texts about how great this guy's work is and how he wants to pay his respects. Ok we got that from the first posting. Now I think you are trying too hard and that makes this even stranger to read. Did you buy some stock out of this guy and try to oversell it?
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No...I have two knives from him and am not selling them. I guess I did come out of nowhere as I only joined a couple weeks ago. Just trying to have a conversation.
 
Henry,

What other knives have you used that you are comparing against?
 
MAS4T0 said:
Henry,

What other knives have you used that you are comparing against?
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FT Denka, Shigafusa Ku, Tekada AS, Masakage Zero, Masakage Koishi, RiverJump.
They all seem to have a different quality of their own. I am just starting to appreciate their uniqueness of late. Before, I used my Denka as standard and would not use my other blades. Now I often go back and enjoy the non-Denkness of my other blades. I don't know if I am making any sense but I enjoy the different qualities of each of my knives. Otherwise I would only use my Denka, as I was previously guilty of and miss out on the beauty of my other knives.
 
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Henry said:
FT Denka, Shigafusa Ku, Tekada AS, Masakage Zero, Masakage Koishi, RiverJump.
They all seem to have a different quality of their own. I am just starting to appreciate their uniqueness of late. Before, I used my Denka as standard and would not use my other blades. Now I often go back and enjoy the non-Denkness of my other blades. I don't know if I am making any sense but I enjoy the different qualities of each of my knives. Otherwise I would only use my Denka, as I was previously guilty of and miss out on the beauty of my other knives.
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How is the S-Grind of the Kujira performs? it is slightly thicker behind the edge right but that S-Grind should help with food release.
 
zizirex said:
How is the S-Grind of the Kujira performs? it is slightly thicker behind the edge right but that S-Grind should help with food release.
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Yes it is a little thicker behind the edge. The s-grind is very subtle and does help a little with food release. It definitely cuts different than my other knives. I can't explain it cuts like a thin blade but with a lot of heft behind it. There is a lot of steel in the blade. It is tall and thick at the spine but somehow feels thin at the start of the cut until the rest of the steel come across. I can see why some people do not like the way this feels but I am starting to appreciate it.
 
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