Seeking a kiritsuke gyuto in Japan

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Garj

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I'm travelling to Japan next week, and while I'm there I'm scheming to acquire a nice new knife, something like a double bevel kiritsuke or a gyuto. Last time I was there I picked up a santoku at Tsukiji Masamoto (stamped V), which has really become my go-to knife a lot of the time, but I was wondering if anyone has any advice on other places to visit rather than just going back there. I'll be in Osaka, Kyoto, Kanazawa and Tokyo, but I should mention that I'm travelling with wife and 1 year old, so my capacity for questing off all day for a tasty blade will be a little limited. Best fill out the questionnaire:


LOCATION
The UK normally, but Japan for the purposes of this thread.


KNIFE TYPE
Double bevel kiritsuke, or flattish gyuto, maybe a kama usuba as well if I can stretch to it

Right handed

Japanese handle

270mm on the kiritsuke

Carbon

30000 yen, might stretch to 40000 for a couple of knives or something particularly nice


KNIFE USE
Home

General purpose, I have various unitaskers like a deba, yanagi, boning knife, cleaver etc so I won't be using it for anything too specialised or abusive

Replacing a 270mm stainless western-handled gyuto which will be relegated to rougher tasks

Pinch grip

Push cutting mostly, occasional rocking

I'm after something with a decent size (larger than my santoku) but with a flatter profile than my gyuto to better suit my cutting method. Carbon steel and a Japanese handle is a must. It would be good for it to look nice, but most Japanese knives are pretty attractive anyway and I like most of the traditional finishes. F&F isn't the be all and end all, I'm only a home cook so an unrounded spine isn't the end of the world if it means I can get a better knife for my money


KNIFE MAINTENANCE
I have a smallish cherry chopping board (actually a flooring sample) which I use most of the time, but have a 600x400 end grain cherry board on the way (though stuck in shipping hell)

I have stones, but I need to find the time to put them to more use. Perfectly happy to do my own maintenance
 
I can think of a few convenient shops when traveling with your wife and child. These are close to tourist attractions that you will likely be visiting anyway.

Tokyo:
  1. The knife shops around the old Tsukiji Market if you are going there anyway.
  2. The Kiya shop in Tokyo Midtown in Roppongi. Kiya is a beautiful, high end knife shop and Tokyo Midtown has lots of great shops and food for the family.
Kyoto:
  1. Aritsugu Cutlery shop is in Nishiji Market, which you will surely visit. They speak English, but cash only.
  2. Shigeharu is a 600 year old knife and tool maker a few blocks south of Nijo castle. The current blacksmith is the 20 something generation in the family. He also makes traditional Kyoto style scissors and gardening and woodworking tools.
Osaka:
  1. Tower knives is a nice looking shop run by a Canadian and tailored to foreigners buying Japanese style knives. I haven't been but there is a video on Youtube describing it.
  2. The Osaka kitchen district (Sennichimae Doguyasuji) is a near Dontanburi and has a couple of good cutlery shops as well as all the cool kitchen supplies.
I've never seen any knife shops in Kanazawa but I love the fish market and adjoining restaurants, including the Kaiten Sushi.

Enjoy!
 
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Thanks for the advice, lots of stuff to check out there. We're staying pretty near to Dontonburi so I will definitely be able to get to Sennichimae Doguyasuji. I should say that my poor mother is being dragged along and will have infant deposited on her from time to time, so I'll have a little freedom to run off for moderate stretches (I may be able to go to Sakai, for example, though I read that it's mostly workshops that don't really do walk-ins so that may not be the best use of my time). Tsukiji may have to be one of those jaunts as we went there and peered around the fish market a couple of years ago. I'm prepared to do a little journeying to help my money stretch further, rather than go to anywhere that's too targeted at the tourist market, but I hardly speak a word of Japanese so that would come with its own challenges.

I didn't mention in the questionnaire that I do very much like the look of nashiji finishes and white ferrules, but those are hardly my top priority.
 
I’d say it could be hard to find a knife that fulfills your criteria, carbon steel+double bevel+kirituke+270mm+wa-handle.

This combination is not a traditional style (double bevel is the problem), so shops in Tsukiji most likely don't have one in stock. Kiya doesn't have this style as well.

Brief search on the internet:

Nenohi has double bevel kiritukes in 270mm but it looks stainless and pricy. http://www.nenohi.jp/product.php?id=87

Sugimoto does not have kiritukes.

Tukiji Aritsugu has kiritukes in your price range, but they are single bevel. http://www.aritsugu.jp/shopping/shop/products/list.php?category_id=59

Masamoto does not have kiritukes.

Masahisa has single bevel Kiritukes (might have double bevel as well?). http://www.tsukiji-masahisa.jp/shop/products/list.php?category_id=23

They would have items not on their web sites so there might be some chance you find what you want, but given you don't have much time, it could be risky to shop around Tokyo looking for this profile. Most likely you need a custom-made order.

Tsubaya at Kappabashi in Tokyo has more variety of knives, but still I could not find one that exactly match your request. What I could find was something like this (but 240mm and too expensive): https://tsubaya.co.jp/?pid=132600470

Jikko has one that matches the profile, but it’s crazy expensive: https://www.jikko.jp/fs/jikko/9323
Ichimonji has one in 240mm, but still expensive https://www.ichimonji.co.jp/products/detail.php?product_id=603
Those brands have shops in Osaka.

If you are ok with single bevel or give up carbon steel, you would have more options.
 
Sukenari, Kitaoka, Moritaka, and Takeda also make 270 mm kiritsuke knives with Wa handle.
 
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Tsubaya carries some of Kitaoka and Takeda knives, but unfortunately I couldn't find their kiritukes. As far as I know Tubaya is only the shop in Tokyo carrying those brands (besides OEMs?).

I don't know if there are shops carry Moritaka or Sukenari in Tokyo or Osaka. Moritaka is actually very hard to get in Japan. Their web shop always indicates a half year waiting time.

Another chance is tower knives in Tokyo and Osaka. They are a bit fancy(?) than the old tsukiji knife shops, so might have something.
 
I can also recommend Ashi Hamono as they make monosteel kiritsuke-shaped gyuto with wa handle in stainless and carbon. They are in Sakai, just outside of Osaka. These are affordable and within your range.

Here's a video of a user cutting with one (and other knives)


I also know kagekiyo makes them too. I don't know who would stock it though. If you can find Baba Hamono, maybe they sell direct or there are shops that stock it. These are probably outside your range.
 
refcast said:
I can also recommend Ashi Hamono as they make monosteel kiritsuke-shaped gyuto with wa handle in stainless and carbon. They are in Sakai, just outside of Osaka. These are affordable and within your range.

Here's a video of a user cutting with one (and other knives)


I also know kagekiyo makes them too. I don't know who would stock it though. If you can find Baba Hamono, maybe they sell direct or there are shops that stock it. These are probably outside your range.
Click to expand...


Feeling like it's better to contact them in advance and check if they have one in stock. Ashi is known to be good at making custom models (they are an OEM maker) and they don't have kiritukes on their own web site, which means the one on the video can be a custom made for a particular shop/person. Their standard wa-handle should have black ferrules, while the kirituke has a whiter one.

My understanding is that Kirituke Gyuto is not so common in Japanese domestic market. Expecting local shops to have them in stock is very risky IMO.
 
Thank you all for the advice, I hadn't thought that getting a k-tip gyuto would have been a big challenge, but it makes sense if they're on of those things that's more for the Western market. I think making a custom order is very much against the spirit of going to buy a knife 'in the flesh' while I'm actually there and in Japan, if I wanted to do that I could do it from the UK, so if I can't find one then it'll be a normal gyuto. Any thoughts on who makes one with a very flat profile? The Ashi Hamono looks very much like the kind of thing I'm after though, and they have them in stock with some of their distributors. Any advice about trying to visit or contact them? I'll definitely go to Tower and Sennichimae in Osaka, while Tsubaya, Kiya and Tsukiji will have to be if I don't have any success in Osaka. It does look like I'll have to put the budget towards just the one knife (the exchange rate is awful at the moment), if I have to do 240 then that's an option, and if I want an usuba it'll have to be a small one and more of an impulse buy if I see something I like the look of.
 
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