Murakami Fumio..anybody know him?

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HappyamateurDK

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Hi all.
About 3 month ago I got a Kiya branded Gyuto. A so called Kiya Umeji. It's made in takefu V1 carbon. And though it looks pretty humble, and fit&finnish ain't on konosuke level. It's become one I use a lot.

I know Kiya doesn't have any production. And sell others knives under there own brand.

But they write the knife is made by a Smith called Murakami Fumio, who is based in Tokyo.

Anyone of the experts in this great forum who knows the smith. And maybe knows some of his other work ?

Have a nice day 😊

images (5).jpeg
 
Murakami Fumio, age 76 is the second generation smith. His father was Murakami Umeji ,founder and a highly decorated smith and who's signature was 梅治 作。No idea if he does any work besides for Kiya.

thanks a lot for your reply. Nice to hear he’s not totally unknown. You say he’s father was a highly decorated smith? Du you have any idea of the general quality of Murakami Fumio’s work( the son ) is it descent stuff?

thanks a lot 😊
 
thanks a lot for your reply. Nice to hear he’s not totally unknown. You say he’s father was a highly decorated smith? Du you have any idea of the general quality of Murakami Fumio’s work( the son ) is it descent stuff?

thanks a lot 😊

No idea. Murakami Umeji received multiple craftsman awards in his time. I have never owned a Umeji knife. I have only seen them in the Kiya store in Nihonbashi, Tokyo. But Kiya has a remarkably long history (1792) and as far as I am aware they don't sell junk. Kiya's knives are also carried by some major department stores in Japan.
 
No idea. Murakami Umeji received multiple craftsman awards in his time. I have never owned a Umeji knife. I have only seen them in the Kiya store in Nihonbashi, Tokyo. But Kiya has a remarkably long history (1792) and as far as I am aware they don't sell junk. Kiya's knives are also carried by some major department stores in Japan.

Thanks. 😊

So far I really enjoy it. And nice with a bit of info about the maker. 👍
 
Hi all.
About 3 month ago I got a Kiya branded Gyuto. A so called Kiya Umeji. It's made in takefu V1 carbon. And though it looks pretty humble, and fit&finnish ain't on konosuke level. It's become one I use a lot.

I know Kiya doesn't have any production. And sell others knives under there own brand.

But they write the knife is made by a Smith called Murakami Fumio, who is based in Tokyo.

Anyone of the experts in this great forum who knows the smith. And maybe knows some of his other work ?

Have a nice day 😊

View attachment 134260


I also got an umeji gyuto. The 59-60hrc posted on the sites seem accurate. It does sharpen really easily and get really sharp. Reminds me of Wakui v2 but easier to sharpen from the lower hardness, but it gets similarly sharp. The higher carbon makes it feel more crispy too. Crispy yet softer... It's highly biased toward the right hand from the bevel sharpening. The grind is flat unfortunately, and not particularly thin behind the edge/ the bevel is kinda big.

Interesting knife, but more of a large petty/line knife
 
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