Takada no Hamono vs. Ashi?

[Southpaw]

Noting the following from the OP: "I understand someone at Takada used to work at Ashi so there probably are similarities."

Takada is Mitsuaki Takada (a person) who worked at Ashi for 15ish years, then started his own shop, Takada no Hamono, in 2018. So, there are going to be a lot of similarities. Both are known for light and thin knives that cut very well.

Takada might have some help, but I think he does most of the work himself. He's a grinder/finisher, often working on blanks forged by Y Tanaka and Nagagawa, who worked for a long time under Shiraki, until he retired.

I really love both Ashi and Takada, and have knives from both, and have visited/met both For pure value, yes, I'd go with Ashi. I think Takada offers something a bit more special in terms of his grinds and finishes. Last month I picked up one of the taller blue 2 240 Gyutos from Bernal (~50mm at the heel), but haven't used it yet. Even for a typically undersized Sakai gyuto (it's in the low 230s in length), it's super light at 141 grams. Hopefully it doesn't feel too delicate/fragile. I concur with Cliff that I find my Yoshikane SKD a bit delicate and needs to be used with care (still love it! Man, that blade can cut!).

I would love to get an Ashi that I knew was a Takada. I have his work from Konosuke and Hitohira and then a bunch of Takada no Hamono. His Stuff is special it just feels different as soon as u pick it up.

 

[toddnmd]

I would love to get an Ashi that I knew was a Takada.

I imagine he worked on many of the knives produced by Ashi before he went off on his own.
After visiting different makers in Japan, I think it's unlikely that one person does all the work on a single knife, at least at the hamono that are putting out significant numbers. I saw lots of batches of ~30-50 knives in bins going through the many steps of the production process.
I imagine it's quite different at Takada because it's a smaller shop and he does all or the vast majority of the work with his own hands.

 

[Choppin]

I imagine he worked on many of the knives produced by Ashi before he went off on his own.
After visiting different makers in Japan, I think it's unlikely that one person does all the work on a single knife, at least at the hamono that are putting out significant numbers. I saw lots of batches of ~30-50 knives in bins going through the many steps of the production process.
I imagine it's quite different at Takada because it's a smaller shop and he does all or the vast majority of the work with his own hands.

Google Maps shows the inside of Ashi building, it’s pretty cool.

Ashi Cutlery Works
+81 72-229-4920

Ashi Cutlery Works · 14 Namimatsucho, Sakai Ward, Sakai, Osaka 590-0912, Japan

★★★★★ · Manufacturer

maps.app.goo.gl

You can get a sense of the size of the place, machinery and number of people working there. Despite a lot of the work being done by hand it’s definitely no mom & pops shop.