Konosuke Fujiyama; A History

[wind88]

Kono fuji will soon become unaffordable after this great post

 

[Timthebeaver]

I remember when the only Konosuke you could buy was a stainless layzor, the poor man's Tad/SIH

 

[khashy]

I enjoyed reading this and learned things I didn’t know previously - thank you for making my commute back home (with a banging headache) enjoyable.

Section about Togo Reigo/Reigou/Reigu steel is a little overly dramatic but I love it, really do love it.

I know you’ve been working on this for years and I take my hat off to you sir.

Also I don’t think anyone has mentioned it yet but Jesus dude you have an absolutely incredible collection!

Though shalt be dubbed the Kono-lord hence forth

 

[Omega]

You must really like Konosuke knives..

Haha yeah. Even as I've used quite a few more knives, they've stayed one of my favorites.

@Chicagohawkie

Interesting interpretation. A good basic introduction for sure, but no mention of the single bevels from the early days throughout to the later days. I would have liked to have heard more about the disappearance of the original white lines in late 2014. When they were reintroduced in late 2015 they were nothing like the original. That was a defining point for me in konos evolution.

Single bevels were definitely outside my wheel house- I own a few, and they are fantastic, but I had no interest in collecting as obsessively, and trying to derive the iterative changes.

And which original white lines? The White 2 monosteel? Or the White 2 laser-style honyaki? Or the white-steel, san mai gyuto, with the lower and different looking cladding line?

 

[Omega]

I enjoyed reading this and learned things I didn’t know previously - thank you for making my commute back home (with a banging headache) enjoyable.

Section about Togo Reigo/Reigou/Reigu steel is a little overly dramatic but I love it, really do love it.

I know you’ve been working on this for years and I take my hat off to you sir.

Also I don’t think anyone has mentioned it yet but Jesus dude you have an absolutely incredible collection!

Though shalt be dubbed the Kono-lord hence forth

Haha thank you man!

I can understand what you mean about the Togo Reigo section- I'll admit, I wrote and re-wrote that section several times trying to get it to feel... right.

Because on the one, I don't mean to say the steel alone represents this unattainable, never-before-seen-again performance. But.. its not as plain-Jane as some people have chocked it up to be. And the historical significance of it isn't trivial.
And too- how much it meant to Morihiro himself.. Both with respect to being allowed to really experiment again, and to try to innovate.. but also in helping bring back his drive.
That said, I'll be a tad biased.. as I love his work, and was very worried it was just going to disappear.

Hehe, and thank you! Many years worth of searching and collecting there.. I'll try to be a little better about taking and showing pictures now

 

[LucasFur]

WOW what a piece! Thank you Omega! Kono-lord.
I had no idea you would have gone this far after purchasing your first fujiyama all those years ago.

 

[McMan]

Awesome and impressive. Thanks for taking the time to compile this--the pictures really help add context and detail, too.
Posts like this are one of the reasons KKF can be such a cool place!--detail, free sharing of knowledge, enthusiasm... Very cool!

 

[daddy yo yo]

Wow! Just wow...

 

[HRC_64]

Great post OP....Encyclopaedic run-down of Konsuke knives over the years...Wow indeed.

 

[Bert2368]

OK, Omega, get my teeth against the curb and kick me in the back of the head...

I will now get rid of all my knives except one old butter knife with sentimental value. Because, I can't afford the best and don't want to "settle".

 

[nevin]

Thank you for spending the effort in writing this, I enjoy reading every bit of it.

 

[Itsjun]

Really enjoy the information.
Even thou i don't own one kono but have a fuji made by Tanaka.

 

[bahamaroot]

Absolutely amazing and captivating post Omega! Thanks for taking the time and sharing what your research has revealed.

Interesting interpretation. A good basic introduction for sure, but no mention of the single bevels from the early days throughout to the later days. I would have liked to have heard more about the disappearance of the original white lines in late 2014. When they were reintroduced in late 2015 they were nothing like the original. That was a defining point for me in konos evolution.

Can't you ever just give credit where credit is do?

 

[labor of love]

I have no interest in Fujiyamas yet the history is quite fascinating. I’m sure you answered dozens if not hundreds of questions from forum members with this thread.

 

[GorillaGrunt]

Wow. This is a great article. I didn’t have a particular drive to own one - now that the mystique is explained, I do! Especially Togo Reigo.

 

[krx927]

Great post indeed! A lot of thing clarified now.

 

[iamdacow]

I just want to say thanks for the effort you put into researching and writing up these posts, very interesting and informative. Read every word of it and am now considering a Fujiyama as my next knife purchase .

 

[Mucho Bocho]

Who did the grind and finish work on the sanmai Ginsan series circa 2015?

 

[ivnj]

Thank you Omega, this is by far the best post on kkf I‘ve read, definitely helped answered a lot of our questions on the fuji’s

 

[Barashka]

This is excellent info, thank you.

 

[Simme]

This was such a great read, thank you for your hard work Omega

 

[Luftmensch]

Also I don’t think anyone has mentioned it yet but Jesus dude you have an absolutely incredible collection!

Almost goes without saying.... So don't say it

No, good point. @Omega how many have you held onto?

Though shalt be dubbed the Kono-lord hence forth

Really? Come on... we can do better than that!

How about the "Kono Alpha and @Omega"

 

[Omega]

Thanks again to everyone for the kind words! Glad all the hard work that went into this article has been helpful to so many!

Who did the grind and finish work on the sanmai Ginsan series circa 2015?

I'll start off by saying I've only owned two Ginsan knives by Konosuke, ever.. And only one that was pre-MM.
So at current, I can only say confidently that /some/ of the pre-2018 Ginsan Fujiyama were finished by Morihiro. Some were not. I'll come back with a comment if I can verify somethings. Sorry to be a tad vague.

@Omega how many have you held onto?

Ahh! I suppose I didn't address this well-

So, with only two exceptions- The Konosuke White 2 laser-style Honyaki, and the 2nd B2 Fujiyama from 2016, that had numbers and pictures..
I still currently own every other knife listed.
The Konosuke White 2 Honyaki is my whale. And the 2nd B2 Fujiyama only passed through my hands briefly, and I took advantage of having access to it.
All pictures and measurements taken (except for two FMs) were done in the same night. The Blue Super 240 kasumi, and Blue Super 270 damascus were done a few weeks after the initial bulk of knives were gone through.

So uhh... there are a loooot of knife boxes on my shelves.

I'll try to get a big group shot here at some point.

 

[Luftmensch]

So, with only two exceptions- The Konosuke White 2 laser-style Honyaki, and the 2nd B2 Fujiyama from 2016, that had numbers and pictures..
I still currently own every other knife listed.

Going by the table (27)... that makes 25 konosukes and counting! Aaahhh... aahh.... ah! (count von count style)

So uhh... there are a loooot of knife boxes on my shelves.

Hehe... you need a display wall and grade them by year to show the evolution!

 

[BrianT]

Very interesting post. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Froztitanz]

Simply one of the best posts on kkf I've seen. Phenomenal write-up and detailed breakdown. Thank you for sharing.

 

[CoteRotie]

Just got time to read this, wow! Thanks for all the time and effort you put in to this.

The poor sharpening/asymmetry on that Blue #1 KU made me cringe, seems like you would have to really try to mess up the grind that much.

 

[Omega]

Thanks so much again to everyone who is reading and enjoying this! Really happy all the effort has been of service!

@CoteRotie yeah dude, I feel you.. I believe the original owner responsible was... TRYING to be extreme in his thinning? But I don't know for sure. I've seen work the individual has done sense, and its quite good.
...buuuuut... that B1KU was definitely not one of his better tries.

Not even sure how much work would be needed to be done to fix it.. the angle is just so obtuse now.
If nothing else, I can use it as a polishing-test-slave. Tanaka's cladding can have such interesting characteristics to it.

Why?
I definitely don't know for sure.
But I've seen some people bring out amazing qualities with the right technique.
...at least I don't have to worry about "ruining" it by being aggressive on stones now.

 

[jonnachang]

Great job Omega! It’s a lot of work to get all this information together. Thank you!

 

[nakneker]

Simply awesome. I don’t know how much time you put into this but I certainly thank you for doing it. Konosuke Fujiyama and all things related can get confusing, for me, this is intriguing and very interesting. 5 stars, one of the best posts I’ve come across.