Sanjo Gyutos: Konosuke Sumiiro (Nihei) vs. Yoshikane

[Qioda]

Good Morning everyone,

I am currently in the market for a typical 240mm Sanjo Gyuto (or rather for one with distal taper) and wanted to ask for your experiences between Nihei with his Konosuke Sumiiro line and the typical, well renowned Yoshikane Nashiji line. As Nihei was an apprentice in Yoshikane, there are a lot similarities with these makers. The profile on both seems to be quite flat and both offer excellent SLD/SKD steel with a stainless cladding. As stainless knives with distal taper are quite rare, these have caught my attention.

Did you find any significant differences in the products of these makers, especially in terms of performance, grind and geometry?

 

[sumis]

comparing 245 sumiiro and 210 yoshi:

the sumiiro has less of a dead stop when rocking, while still having a very flat yoshi profile.

both offers a substantial thickness at the pinch while ghosting through produce.

i've used the nihei much more, so i wouldn't go further in comparison. but i'd say its an underrated knife that people are sleeping on (considering what it will cost you).

.

 

[dehory]

Comparing the one 240 Sumiiro and one 240 Yoshikane I owned, there was a slightly thicker grind on the Sumiiro which gave more of a solid cutting feel whereas the Yoshi definitely ghosted through everything but felt a touch fragile. Heel height, spine thickness, and distal taper were similar. Yoshi had a flatter profile.

Aesthetically, I much preferred my Sumiiro. The inky KU treatment is one of my favourites. The Yoshi nashiji looks pretty bland and generic in comparison.

 

[Qioda]

Cool that you guys have been happy with both the finish of the Sumiiro is probably the same nashiji as the Yoshi just with a dark ku over it, no? When the Ku fades with time, does look like the Yoshi?

 

[dehory]

sumis would be the better person to answer that question because he’s used his Sumiiro for much longer than I did, but the KU on mine looked robust and didn’t seem like it’d fade anytime soon.

 

[plantgainz]

I have two sumiros and 4 Yoshi's, very similar experience, imho some of the best cutters around. Both hard and extremely thin behind the edge, ghosting everything.
I find the finish very different and didn't use them much to see any change on Ku.

 

[WifeNotUnderstand]

I had this (and miss it..... thinking about repurchasing)

https://carbonknifeco.com/en-au/collections/nihei-knives/products/nihei-sld-nashiji-gyuto-240mm

felt like a more solid Yoshi with a convex grind - F&F was higher than Yoshi as well

I love Yoshikanes and this fit very well in the mix - you wont go wrong with either