Late last night I got home and wanted to play with my new knives and do a little compare/contrast with the Yoshikane vs my other 240s, particularly the Kochi/Wakui. I poured another beer and touched up all the contenders on a coticule before the contest started, then went to town on some mirepoix/trinity prep for an upcoming crawfish pie. I don't have many measurements, but I figured this post will be helpful for future searchers...or maybe make things worse, in which case the more eloquent folks on the forum will set them straight.
The contenders:
Yoshikane SKD
Kochi V2
Munetoshi shirogami #2
Unshu Yukimitsu shirogami #1
Kyohei Shindo aogami #2
Yoshi:
Kochi:
Munetoshi:
Unshu Yukimitsu:
Shindo:
Initial handling thoughts:
The Kochi (240x52) is definitely my most comfortable knife. The blade height, rounded everything, perfect finger/knuckle room for a pinch grip, top tier handle, distinct kurouchi...everything just clicks. Balance point about 60 mm forward of ferrule top.
When I picked up the Munetoshi (245x52) I finally figured out why I always reach for it over the objectively nicer/more comfortable Kochi. It has a solid heft to it that I really enjoy and clicks with something in my brain. I don't have adrug kitchen scale so weight is unkown, but it's the heaviest of my 240s. Balance point ~50-55 mm from top of ferrule.
Yoshikane (240x49) not quite as refined f&f as the Kochi but close. Pleasantly surprised with heel height but it shrinks down to 45 mm very quickly. It certainly has a flat spot but isn't quite as hard a stop as some others have mentioned. Maybe Yoshi has started to soften it a tad?
Unshu Yukimitsu (230x51) lightest, thinnest, and liveliest of the bunch. Ebony handle puts the balance right at my pinch and it feels super nimble.
Big carrots fine dice:
Yoshi and Wakui were extremely close, but slight edge goes to Yoshi on noiseless cutting at the expense of food release. Both very pleasant.
Unshu Yukimitsu had the best initial bite but suffers from a touch of stiction. Technique matters more here, sometimes it would go through silently and cleaner than peers, but other times it'd want to get suctioned in. Less forgiving than Yoshi but slightly higher ceiling I'd say. Superior tip for draw cuts. I suspect the relative lack of shoulders and convexity contribute to that suction tendency.
Munetoshi...the big girl certainly changed things up. Not as lasery and quiet as the previous 3 but by far the best food release and the weight did all the work whereas I had to actively push/guide the light Unshu Yukimitsu.
Shindo: a nice blend of everything, was mostly used as a control; I focused more on the bigger knives.
Winner: Yoshikane
Green pepper:
All knives did very well here; the fresh coti edge really let everything drop through the pepper skin. Once again the Yoshi and Kochi were neck and neck, but the ergonomics and blade height of the Kochi pulled ahead here. I noticed the poor food release of the Yoshi and shorter blade height let pepper strips crawl up the side as I was working my through and they didn't want to fall off. Mildly annoying, less of an issue on Kochi.
Unshu Yukimitsu was supreme here, effortlessly fell through the pepper, adequate food release, tall height for most of the knife let's food fall off before it gets on my nerves.
I only had 1 pepper so didn't get much use with the Munetoshi or Shindo, though the Shindo was extremely competitive in bite department.
Winner: Unshu Yukimitsu
Yellow onyo:
By this point I was starting to really focus on the differences between Yoshi and Kochi. They performed very similarly in all previous tests and here they both cleaved a large onyo in half beautifully. Extremely smooth and genuinely pleasant to use, made me wish I had more onions to dice. The Yoshi pulled slightly ahead here; horizontal cuts were buttery smooth.
Unshu Yukimitsu is once again in its element with soft stuff. The wicked thin tip and general thin profile of the blade let it slide through the onion without any disturbance. I felt a bit of stiction on the horizontal cuts but on the following vertical cuts the onion sat in place "like a naughty school boy" whereas the thicker-spined 240s tended to push a bit on vertical cuts.
Winner: Unshu Yukimitsu with a very close second by Yoshi and Kochi a hair behind in 3rd.
Overall every one of these knives kick ass. I find it particularly interesting that the Yoshi slightly out-cut the Kochi in most cases, yet I'd likely pick the Kochi to keep between the two since it is so perfectly comfortable in-hand. I also prefer the Kochi profile. I've been having fun with curvy knives lately but was pleasantly surprised at how comfortable the flat spot of the Yoshi felt. The Munetoshi has done this exact meal many a time, so I didn't use it as much towards the end as it is a known quantity and the others took more attention. The Shindo happily kept pace with all contenders and continues to be an absurd value for cutting ability.
The contenders:
Yoshikane SKD
Kochi V2
Munetoshi shirogami #2
Unshu Yukimitsu shirogami #1
Kyohei Shindo aogami #2
Yoshi:
Kochi:
Munetoshi:
Unshu Yukimitsu:
Shindo:
Initial handling thoughts:
The Kochi (240x52) is definitely my most comfortable knife. The blade height, rounded everything, perfect finger/knuckle room for a pinch grip, top tier handle, distinct kurouchi...everything just clicks. Balance point about 60 mm forward of ferrule top.
When I picked up the Munetoshi (245x52) I finally figured out why I always reach for it over the objectively nicer/more comfortable Kochi. It has a solid heft to it that I really enjoy and clicks with something in my brain. I don't have a
Yoshikane (240x49) not quite as refined f&f as the Kochi but close. Pleasantly surprised with heel height but it shrinks down to 45 mm very quickly. It certainly has a flat spot but isn't quite as hard a stop as some others have mentioned. Maybe Yoshi has started to soften it a tad?
Unshu Yukimitsu (230x51) lightest, thinnest, and liveliest of the bunch. Ebony handle puts the balance right at my pinch and it feels super nimble.
Big carrots fine dice:
Yoshi and Wakui were extremely close, but slight edge goes to Yoshi on noiseless cutting at the expense of food release. Both very pleasant.
Unshu Yukimitsu had the best initial bite but suffers from a touch of stiction. Technique matters more here, sometimes it would go through silently and cleaner than peers, but other times it'd want to get suctioned in. Less forgiving than Yoshi but slightly higher ceiling I'd say. Superior tip for draw cuts. I suspect the relative lack of shoulders and convexity contribute to that suction tendency.
Munetoshi...the big girl certainly changed things up. Not as lasery and quiet as the previous 3 but by far the best food release and the weight did all the work whereas I had to actively push/guide the light Unshu Yukimitsu.
Shindo: a nice blend of everything, was mostly used as a control; I focused more on the bigger knives.
Winner: Yoshikane
Green pepper:
All knives did very well here; the fresh coti edge really let everything drop through the pepper skin. Once again the Yoshi and Kochi were neck and neck, but the ergonomics and blade height of the Kochi pulled ahead here. I noticed the poor food release of the Yoshi and shorter blade height let pepper strips crawl up the side as I was working my through and they didn't want to fall off. Mildly annoying, less of an issue on Kochi.
Unshu Yukimitsu was supreme here, effortlessly fell through the pepper, adequate food release, tall height for most of the knife let's food fall off before it gets on my nerves.
I only had 1 pepper so didn't get much use with the Munetoshi or Shindo, though the Shindo was extremely competitive in bite department.
Winner: Unshu Yukimitsu
Yellow onyo:
By this point I was starting to really focus on the differences between Yoshi and Kochi. They performed very similarly in all previous tests and here they both cleaved a large onyo in half beautifully. Extremely smooth and genuinely pleasant to use, made me wish I had more onions to dice. The Yoshi pulled slightly ahead here; horizontal cuts were buttery smooth.
Unshu Yukimitsu is once again in its element with soft stuff. The wicked thin tip and general thin profile of the blade let it slide through the onion without any disturbance. I felt a bit of stiction on the horizontal cuts but on the following vertical cuts the onion sat in place "like a naughty school boy" whereas the thicker-spined 240s tended to push a bit on vertical cuts.
Winner: Unshu Yukimitsu with a very close second by Yoshi and Kochi a hair behind in 3rd.
Overall every one of these knives kick ass. I find it particularly interesting that the Yoshi slightly out-cut the Kochi in most cases, yet I'd likely pick the Kochi to keep between the two since it is so perfectly comfortable in-hand. I also prefer the Kochi profile. I've been having fun with curvy knives lately but was pleasantly surprised at how comfortable the flat spot of the Yoshi felt. The Munetoshi has done this exact meal many a time, so I didn't use it as much towards the end as it is a known quantity and the others took more attention. The Shindo happily kept pace with all contenders and continues to be an absurd value for cutting ability.
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