Myojin vs Tanaka Yohei

[Mike1994]

Hey,

does anyone have a knife from Myojin and Tanaka Yohei and can compare them?

 

[timebard]

Two Sakai Blues: Konosuke MM and Takada no Hamono Suiboku Reviewed

When I started accumulating nice kitchen knives, I gravitated pretty quickly towards the Sanjo region and style in my early pickups. I ran through the standard shortlist (Mazaki, Wakui, Yoshikane, Masashi, Toyama, Watanabe) and then detoured towards Western makers for a while without really...

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[superworrier]

Takada (Yohei) is asymmetric and Myojin is symmetric. I prefer Myojin but my top 2 knives are the Takada dammy and the Tetsujin metal flow. My other Takada I did not like as much. Not sure if the non-dammy has a different grind or it’s natural variation. All 5 Myojins I’ve used have been stellar

 

[Mike1994]

Thank you very much. I will wait for a Myojin grind.

 

[Mike1994]

Takada (Yohei) is asymmetric and Myojin is symmetric. I prefer Myojin but my top 2 knives are the Takada dammy and the Tetsujin metal flow. My other Takada I did not like as much. Not sure if the non-dammy has a different grind or it’s natural variation. All 5 Myojins I’ve used have been stellar

Have you also tried the SG2 line?

 

[esoo]

Takada (Yohei) is asymmetric and Myojin is symmetric. I prefer Myojin but my top 2 knives are the Takada dammy and the Tetsujin metal flow. My other Takada I did not like as much. Not sure if the non-dammy has a different grind or it’s natural variation. All 5 Myojins I’ve used have been stellar

My Takada Ginsan is symmetric

 

[superworrier]

Have you also tried the SG2 line?

Yeah I've tried
Takada Suiboku blue 1
Takada Dammy blue 1

FM Blue 1 Kiritsuke gyuto
FM white 1
FM blue 1 (thick, Kaiju reject)
Myojin SG2
Tetsujin metal flow

SG2 line is kinda FM-ish but it's not as tall (the newer FMs are like 52-53mm for a 240)

 

[superworrier]

My Takada Ginsan is symmetric

Seems atypical but maybe they changed at some point? I know I heard they were symmetric before I bought either of mine, but mine were both asymmetric. This Ginsan here looks very clearly asymmetric Takada no Hamono - Ginsanko - Suiboku - 240mm Gyuto - Ho Wood Handle.
I just put a straight edge on mine and the right side is definitely way more convex than the back, which is nearly flat, and I remember the back side of the suiboku I had was flat as well.

 

[blokey]

I remember I read somewhere Yohei is closer to Reika than Suiboku, but can't be sure without having both on hand...

Edit: Found it

The Tanaka/Kikuchiyo Yohei Kasumi lines are not at all similar to the suiboku line. If anything its much closer to the slightly heavier and thicker Reika line. Based on my personal experience with a 240 reika, suiboku w1 & kikuchiyo yohei b2

FWIW I do think there was only 1 available at Miura, the stock doesnt seem to update instantly, unless someone else managed to luckily snag 1 as well?

Additionally, the JPY prices are cheaper than the USD prices on Miura, so if your credit card can accept foreign currencies with no surcharge, thats a better alternative.

Knife findings

I am less concerned by the price or the construction than the maker, about whom I have read very little. Can anyone offer a primer? @pjheff I have two knives from Adonis. The "White Sea" gyuto and the "Ame" petty. In short, I think they are fantastic and get the most use out of my collection...

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[tostadas]

My Myojin SG2 is symmetric. My previous Myojin Kono FM in the same size was more right biased.

 

[esoo]

Seems atypical but maybe they changed at some point? I know I heard they were symmetric before I bought either of mine, but mine were both asymmetric. This Ginsan here looks very clearly asymmetric Takada no Hamono - Ginsanko - Suiboku - 240mm Gyuto - Ho Wood Handle.
I just put a straight edge on mine and the right side is definitely way more convex than the back, which is nearly flat, and I remember the back side of the suiboku I had was flat as well.

I've got the Suiboku Ginsan 210 and had the Blue 1 Nakiri. Both were symmetric enough for me as a left hander

My FM nakiri is right handed biased (convex both sides but more on right) and it's Myojin ground. But my MMs are symmetric so it's what you get.

 

[superworrier]

Suiboku, ktip fm, fm, dammy takada

 

[Mike1994]

My Myojin SG2 is symmetric. My previous Myojin Kono FM in the same size was more right biased.

How would you compare both?

 

[superworrier]

My Takada dammy is the lighest and most laser-ish. The FMs and SG2 also are pretty laser-ish and light. Suiboku was in the same range, but less laser-ish and more food-release-y and substantial feeling while still being light and nimble. The Tetsujin is a little closer to a midweight, but still cuts well. I've heard the Tanaka Yohei and Reika are a bit more midweight-ish.Thick FM is the heaviest of course. All of these are good, but I would recommend FM for laser-ish, Tetsujin overall, and SG2 if you need stainless (given that all these others are full reactive). You probably won't be disappointed with any of them though.

 

[blokey]

My Takada dammy is the lighest and most laser-ish. The FMs and SG2 also are pretty laser-ish and light. Suiboku was in the same range, but less laser-ish and more food-release-y and substantial feeling while still being light and nimble. The Tetsujin is a little closer to a midweight, but still cuts well. I've heard the Tanaka Yohei and Reika are a bit more midweight-ish.Thick FM is the heaviest of course. All of these are good, but I would recommend FM for laser-ish, Tetsujin overall, and SG2 if you need stainless (given that all these others are full reactive). You probably won't be disappointed with any of them though.

How does the tip in Suiboku compare to FM? The Suiboku pic on CKC looks like it have really nice taper down to a much thinner tip, I find the tip on my B2 FM still bit thicker than my taste and looks like Suiboku is better in that regard.

 

[superworrier]

How does the tip in Suiboku compare to FM? The Suiboku pic on CKC looks like it have really nice taper down to a much thinner tip, I find the tip on my B2 FM still bit thicker than my taste and looks like Suiboku is better in that regard.

The tip on the Suiboku I had was very meh. The tip on the Dammy is very good. I think it may just be inconsistent so you may be rolling the dice there.

 

[blokey]

The tip on the Suiboku I had was very meh. The tip on the Dammy is very good. I think it may just be inconsistent so you may be rolling the dice there.

Got it, thank you!

 

[labor of love]

Takada (Yohei) is asymmetric and Myojin is symmetric. I prefer Myojin but my top 2 knives are the Takada dammy and the Tetsujin metal flow. My other Takada I did not like as much. Not sure if the non-dammy has a different grind or it’s natural variation. All 5 Myojins I’ve used have been stellar

So weird how much variation there is. Pretty sure I stated this before somewhere but my yohei wh1 was a meh cutter (amazing heat treat) both takadas I’ve used were a lot more exceptional with grind.

 

[superworrier]

So weird how much variation there is. Pretty sure I stated this before somewhere but my yohei wh1 was a meh cutter (amazing heat treat) both takadas I’ve used were a lot more exceptional with grind.

I've heard a complaint before from someone who bought one early when they were super cheap that the grinds were inconsistent. My first one I thought I maybe it just wasn't for me but now I'm wondering if it was just a dud. I felt comfortable buying the dammy to try because I knew it would be easy to re-sell if it was like the first one, but I ended up loving it.

 

[labor of love]

In fairness the price point was crazy low $300ish

 

[tostadas]

My Myojin SG2 is symmetric. My previous Myojin Kono FM in the same size was more right biased.

How would you compare both?

Despite the slightly different grind immediately behind the edge, overall the SG2 and Kono FM feel practically identical to me.

 

[mrmoves92]

Here are pictures of the spine and choil of my Kikuchiyo Yohei ginsan 240mm gyuto. The choil might look a bit thick, but the knife cuts really well and has surprisingly good food release for its thinness. I think that the grind is pretty even/symmetrical, and I haven’t had any issues with it as a lefty. I do wish that the tip was thinner though. In my (relatively inexperienced) opinion, I would call this knife a light mid weight knife. The approximate specs for this one is 225mmx46mm and 170g.

 

[iandustries]

Here are pictures of the spine and choil of my Kikuchiyo Yohei ginsan 240mm gyuto. The choil might look a bit thick, but the knife cuts really well and has surprisingly good food release for its thinness. I think that the grind is pretty even/symmetrical, and I haven’t had any issues with it as a lefty. I do wish that the tip was thinner though. In my (relatively inexperienced) opinion, I would call this knife a light mid weight knife. The approximate specs for this one is 225mmx46mm and 170g.

I m glad you're digging the knife I finally got my hands on a Suiboku ginsan, which that knife was supposed to be lol.

After cutting some meats with my 240 tetsujin, I would say it feels somewhat similar to my 210 FM, length aside.

 

[mrmoves92]

I m glad you're digging the knife I finally got my hands on a Suiboku ginsan, which that knife was supposed to be lol.

After cutting some meats with my 240 tetsujin, I would say it feels somewhat similar to my 210 FM, length aside.

Nice! I am glad that you got the Suiboku ginsan that you initially wanted.

 

[Mike1994]

If someone wants to sell their Tetsujin 240, I’ll take it

 

[blokey]

BTW Myojin recently posted couple post about his works with Kurosaki Yu, while not the fan of bling another SG2 line could be really interesting.

 

[umeboshi]

Potentially newb question here since I don’t have the finances myself to buy a lot of things, but is asymmetry really that big of a deal?

 

[esoo]

Potentially newb question here since I don’t have the finances myself to buy a lot of things, but is asymmetry really that big of a deal?

As a lefty yes. The left side will be near flat ground so will result in poor cutting performance

 

[umeboshi]

As a lefty yes. The left side will be near flat ground so will result in poor cutting performance

thank you for the reply. Is that something that can be alleviated by sharpening? I think I saw something by Jon Broida that talks about sharpening being able to help with those issues in one of these recent threads

 

[superworrier]

thank you for the reply. Is that something that can be alleviated by sharpening? I think I saw something by Jon Broida that talks about sharpening being able to help with those issues in one of these recent threads

No. It can help steering but you won’t be easily able to change the fundamental geometry on a true asymmetric knife (many cheaper ones have an asymmetric edge only, not grind). FWIW I don’t think poor cutting performance is a given but it definirltely won’t cut as intended