Uguisu
Member
As I’m sure there are many paths that lead to this forum, let me briefly chime in with my own experience.
My wife and I fell in love with Japan 35 years ago and 14 subsequent visits have only deepened our appreciation of the people, culture, artistic aesthetic, and natural beauty. Did I forget to mention the food? We having traveled all over but always return to the traditional ryokan experience of Kyoto. Our home is populated by modest collections of Zen scrolls, tea bowls, and baskets. For whatever reason, knives had escaped my radar.
When I retired two years ago, I took on the food provisioning and cooking duties for our household. While wandering down a narrow side street in Kyoto on our last trip we stumbled across a cute little boutique called “Made in Japan.” It had a bunch of lovely artisanal Japanese knick-knacks, among which was a Miyabi-black chef’s knife. I thought it looked purposeful and artistic at the same time and purchased it both as a souvenir and as a commemoration of my new culinary responsibilities.
When I got home I was surprised at how good it felt to use it for food preparation. But I also quickly realized that although it was very well made, it really didn't have the wabi-sabi aesthetic that we so admired.
As luck would have it, a little research led me to Sam at Bernal Cutlery right here in San Francisco. I walked out with a Hinoura River-Jump santoku on my first visit, and the rest, as they say, is history. Am I incorrect in noting how often the expression “rabbit-hole” appears on this site?
What immediately led me here was the need for custom handles for my last 2 purchases. I found Dave Martell on-line and he made me the most beautiful ironwood burl handles imaginable and posted them on this forum. I was proud to see pictures of my new knives on the internet but when I started looking around I could see that “newbie” doesn’t begin to describe my inexperience!
Oh well, one has to start somewhere!
At any rate, here is my collection. The criteria were primarily aesthetic, size variety, and availability.
Mutsumi Hinoura 187 mm Gyuto
Tsukasa Hinoura 180 mm "River-Jump" Santoku
Yoshikazu Ikeda Honyaki 165mm Santoku with Dave Martell handle
Yu Kurosaki 165 mm Santoku
Yoshimitsu Fugen 165 mm Tall Nakiri
Mutsumi Hinoura 150 mm Petty
Yoshikane 135 mm Petty
Shosui Takeda 75mm Kogatana with Dave Martell handle
My wife and I fell in love with Japan 35 years ago and 14 subsequent visits have only deepened our appreciation of the people, culture, artistic aesthetic, and natural beauty. Did I forget to mention the food? We having traveled all over but always return to the traditional ryokan experience of Kyoto. Our home is populated by modest collections of Zen scrolls, tea bowls, and baskets. For whatever reason, knives had escaped my radar.
When I retired two years ago, I took on the food provisioning and cooking duties for our household. While wandering down a narrow side street in Kyoto on our last trip we stumbled across a cute little boutique called “Made in Japan.” It had a bunch of lovely artisanal Japanese knick-knacks, among which was a Miyabi-black chef’s knife. I thought it looked purposeful and artistic at the same time and purchased it both as a souvenir and as a commemoration of my new culinary responsibilities.
When I got home I was surprised at how good it felt to use it for food preparation. But I also quickly realized that although it was very well made, it really didn't have the wabi-sabi aesthetic that we so admired.
As luck would have it, a little research led me to Sam at Bernal Cutlery right here in San Francisco. I walked out with a Hinoura River-Jump santoku on my first visit, and the rest, as they say, is history. Am I incorrect in noting how often the expression “rabbit-hole” appears on this site?
What immediately led me here was the need for custom handles for my last 2 purchases. I found Dave Martell on-line and he made me the most beautiful ironwood burl handles imaginable and posted them on this forum. I was proud to see pictures of my new knives on the internet but when I started looking around I could see that “newbie” doesn’t begin to describe my inexperience!
Oh well, one has to start somewhere!
At any rate, here is my collection. The criteria were primarily aesthetic, size variety, and availability.
Mutsumi Hinoura 187 mm Gyuto
Tsukasa Hinoura 180 mm "River-Jump" Santoku
Yoshikazu Ikeda Honyaki 165mm Santoku with Dave Martell handle
Yu Kurosaki 165 mm Santoku
Yoshimitsu Fugen 165 mm Tall Nakiri
Mutsumi Hinoura 150 mm Petty
Yoshikane 135 mm Petty
Shosui Takeda 75mm Kogatana with Dave Martell handle
