Masamoto KS and Mizuno Tanrenjo

[Loam]

Just wanted to share with you some of my thoughts. I am owner of a couple of Masamoto KS kataba knives, a 180 mm deba and a 300 mm yanagiba, both bought from Korin six years ago. I always wondered who might be the blacksmith behind these blades. He must be someone really experienced, since Masamoto sells also the honyaki version of that line. From Reddit, I discovered that few years ago there was a three years long shortage of Masamoto KS gyuto, and the Masamoto Sohonten itself explained that the lack of materials and the illness of craftsmen were all over the place. I recently had the opportunity to look more closely to Mizuno Tanrenjo knives, specially kataba knives, and realized that my KS knives and Mizuno ones share a lot of similarities. The profiles are nearly identical, the steels used seem the same and even the sharpening scratches patterns on the blade share the same angle on both sides. The current only left Mizuno Tanrenjo blacksmith is Jun Mizuno, which took the surname from his wife, Nanako Mizuno, who, as far as I know, recently lost his father Yasuyuki Mizuno (4th Mizuno Tanrenjo generation). I don't know exactly when Yasuyuki passed away, I'm wondering if that year coincides with the starting of shortage of KS line for Masamoto.

 

[Lurkernomore]

Masamoto single bevel blades aren’t forged in Sakai, they are ground in Sakai though. The sharpeners are different from mizuno as well. Masamoto KS (and AS/ honyaki and so on) grinds are on a way higher level compared to most if not all mizuno offerings. What’s the same is the kido hairline finish and the stone slurry bokashi, which is the traditional Sakai finish.

I don’t think mizuno is involved with Masamoto at all. The ks gyuto may always have been from sanjo, seki, or takefu. I don’t know. It’s not a typical Sakai product, that’s for sure.

 

[Jovidah]

Or maybe they buy at the same OEM?