Nakagawa Recommendation?

[Old Fashioned]

I'm interested in Nakagawa recommendations. I've been curious about trying a gyuto forged by him. I already have a Blue 2 from Tetsujin and a Blue 1 from Y. Tanaka.
Aside from the differences in the sharpeners, is there a discernible difference in Blue 1 and Blue 2 from Nakagawa? Just wondering what users have found to be differences/preferences. Thanks

 

[jedy617]

Theoretically, blue 1 should have a little more edge retention while blue 2 will be a bit tougher...but I don't think you would notice a huge difference. I've had nakagawas b1 and like it quite a bit, but I'm sure his blue 2 is great as well.

 

[jacobwilder5]

I can’t speak to his blue 1/2 but I imagine they’re quite good. The ginsan blade I had of his was top notch.

 

[gentiscid]

Nakagawa x Myojin damascus Blue 1

 

[Old Fashioned]

I can’t speak to his blue 1/2 but I imagine they’re quite good. The ginsan blade I had of his was top notch.

I thought about the ginsan too. I don’t have anything in that steel. How was the edge life with it?

 

[jedy617]

Nakagawa and yamatsuka are said to be the best in ginsan. Expect a little bit more than blue but not a ton. Like VG10 levels fyi.

 

[mpier]

Nakagawa x Myojin damascus Blue 1

+1 just absolutely love mine!

 

[shobudonnie]

You probably won’t be able to tell between a Tanaka blue 1 and nakagawa blue 1. Or a togashi blue 1. Or a yoshikazu ikeda blue 1. They all have the best blue 1 in the world, and cannot get any better than they are now

 

[A.Malcolm.ations]

There’s a beautiful blue 1 Damascus k tip that is incredibly nice I’d snag up if I was looking for another sakai knife rn. Great thin tip as well which can be a difficult to get on a sakai knife due to their lack of taper (typically)

 

[JoBone]

Nakagawa does an excellent job with his B1, not quite as good as Tanaka, but definitely top notch.

Saying that, I have received more positive feedback on his Ginsan, which he excels with.

 

[aecadiz]

I have had 3 Nakagawas in my brief knife history

B1 Damascus: Very nice, but I would say Y Tanaka (in the Konosuke FM version) is a tiny bit better. But honestly its almost splitting hairs.

According to Nakagawa ,u knife was sharpened by Mirohiro (one of his apretinces I would guess considering the knife was currently made)

As a side note I ended up selling this one because it would not fit my "style", if that makes any sense....

Shirogami 2 Honyaki: The migoto cutlery version, an absolut assassin. If you can get something like this, dont hesitate

Ginsan: Amazing all around knife, high carbon experience with the benefits of stainless. One of my favortite knives when I have long BBQs and dont want to worry about the knife

And yes, I will get more nakagawa knives once I get my collection to a decent number....

Cheers!

 

[shobudonnie]

Blue 1 done by the best craftsmen in Sakai are so close in heat treatment that it doesn’t matter who the blacksmith was. Yoshikazu Tanaka vs satoshi nakagawa is irrelevant.

But the sharpener does matter. The type of grind does matter. And depending on what you are planning to cut the most, you should prioritize your grind preferences.

What kind of cutting do you do the most? Detailed precision cuts? Rapid chopping where food release must be good? Non wedging? It’s a question of convex vs wide bevels vs lasers

 

[Old Fashioned]

It seems most only refer to Blue 1 , or AS, and don't mention Blue 2. Why is that?

 

[shobudonnie]

It seems most only refer to Blue 1 , or AS, and don't mention Blue 2. Why is that?

In my experience, blue 1 is what these Sakai blacksmiths do the best. When it comes to AS, I don’t look further than Denka. One could argue that their blue 1 is better than their AS. And when it comes to their blue 2, it falls very much behind their blue 1.

 

[ashy2classy]

Blue 1 is the only blue steel regularly offered by Sakai smiths. Sometimes AS and blue 2, but not nearly as often as blue 1.

 

[esoo]

The blue 2 I have, Kono MM is excellent in my use. As Ms Mori would've learned from Nakagawa/Shiraki, I'd assume that Nakagawa's is pretty good.

An example could be had for not that much: Hitohira Kikuchiyo Ren 210mm Gyuto Aogami 2 Ho Wood – Bernal Cutlery

A Nakagawa white 1 will be shipping to me very soon.

 

[EShin]

It seems most only refer to Blue 1 , or AS, and don't mention Blue 2. Why is that?

There’s quite a lot of knives in blue 2 being made in Sakai, but the more high end knives tend to be in blue 1, especially with Mr. Tanaka as well as Mr. Nakagawa who forge more knives in blue 1 than in blue 2. AS is much rarer as Mr. Tanaka is the only smith in Sakai who’s working with it, so those knives would catch some attention here.
The blue 2 of both is fantastic, probably my favorite steel together with AS from TF. Easier to sharpen than blue 1, although Mr. Nakagawa’s blue 1 is from my experience a little bit softer than Mr. Tanaka’s and thus nicer on the stones but edge retention and absolute sharpness is less. His silver 3 (ginsan) is outstanding too, as has been mentioned before.