Tanaka Yoshikazu from JNS

[labor of love]

Lucas, it is not that impossible. It does not take a scientific measurements to feel that, for example, Tanaka white#1 is much faster to sharpen than for example white#2 Munetoshi Honyaki. There is definitely difference in hardness and also edge holding.

Tanaka wh1 seems pretty hard to me though.
Or atleast Yohei line is...I thought it was not full TF Maboroshi but very close...Munetoshi must be very hard stuff...

 

[Matus]

I must admit that I know little about different Y. Tanaka lines available from different vendors, so I guess there will be differences. The one from JNS feels ‘normal’ or as one could expect on stones. Honyaki Munetoshi feels very hard - makes me wonder how it can stay without microchipping - contrary to kurouchi Munetoshi (which is also harder than most)

 

[LucasFur]

Tanaka white#1 is much faster to sharpen than for example white#2 Munetoshi Honyaki. There is definitely difference in hardness and also edge holding.

So this means tanaka white 1 is better for sharpening than munetoshi white 2 Honyaki?
I know tanaka has an amazing reputation for high hardness. So is Tanaka’s HT “better than” even munetoshi’s Honyaki HT?
I’ll say right off the bat, I had a carter cutlery... and tanaka’s ht was way better. TF has mean even better HT (thoigh there are other issues)
So bad HT ... who has a “bad HT” ... we all want high hardness/ ease of sharpening / non-chippy ... who’s brittle/ smudgy and soft? ... Maybe “Laguiole” .

 

[M1k3]

Tojiro Shirogami. Well, inconsistent..

 

[JoBone]

Here a view of a B1 dammy with Mitimoto Nakazima San as the finisher.

 

[Hz_zzzzzz]

I didn't find my Munetoshi KU white 2 very hard to be honest. I mean it’s not soft, but I thinned it and a zkramer 52100 down to zero bevel and Munetoshi KU felt softer than zkramer 52100. Among white 2 steel knives I tried, I think Mazaki Ku is also a little harder than Munetoshi Ku but not by much. The Munetoshi honyaki might be a different story though. And my Kono FM white 1 feels harder than both Munetoshi and Mazaki.

However, I do feel Watanabe blue 2 harder than my Tanaka blue 1. Am I crazy? Everyone is saying Tanaka San is pushing it to the limit like HRC of 64 or 65 for blue 1. I have a abs style damascus knife that was tested to be 64.5. It feels harder than any of knives mentioned above including Tanaka blue 1.

 

[Jville]

I didn't find my Munetoshi KU white 2 very hard to be honest. I mean it’s not soft, but I thinned it and a zkramer 52100 down to zero bevel and Munetoshi KU felt softer than zkramer 52100. Among white 2 steel knives I tried, I think Mazaki Ku is also a little harder than Munetoshi Ku but not by much. The Munetoshi honyaki might be a different story though. And my Kono FM white 1 feels harder than both Munetoshi and Mazaki.

However, I do feel Watanabe blue 2 harder than my Tanaka blue 1. Am I crazy? Everyone is saying Tanaka San is pushing it to the limit like HRC of 64 or 65 for blue 1. However, I have a abs style damascus knife that was tested to be 64.5. It feels harder than any of knives mentioned above including Tanaka blue 1.

Definitely not crazy imo. I can't think of any blue #2 that seems harder or better edge retention then toyama. I have a tanaka blue #2 FM, and although it seems pretty hard and great edge retention. It does not seem to outlast toyama. I suspect the tanaka will feel better on the stones.

 

[Hz_zzzzzz]

Speaking of soft steel, I have a Shibazi Chinese cleaver in 4cr steel which is super soft. It’s even softer than CCK carbon steel by quite a bit. I was able to thin it to nearly zero bevel in ~20 minutes on shapton glass 500.

 

[labor of love]

Yeah I dunno about crazy high hardness from Tanaka but it does feel harder than other things of similar nature from sakai. I still keep going back to Ikeda because evidently he and I shared the same tastes for sharpeners so whatever.

 

[RockyBasel]

So it's possible they CAN do some wrong?

 

[Twigg]

Definitely not crazy imo. I can't think of any blue #2 that seems harder or better edge retention then toyama. I have a tanaka blue #2 FM, and although it seems pretty hard and great edge retention. It does not seem to outlast toyama. I suspect the tanaka will feel better on the stones.

Itsou Doi is great with Blue #2. I think it is every bit as good as what I experienced with Toyama.

 

[nwshull]

So it's possible they CAN do some wrong?

Tanaka's a Sakai smith. Grind, sharpening, handle fits, polishing are someone else's problem.

 

[Jville]

Itsou Doi is great with Blue #2. I think it is every bit as good as what I experienced with Toyama.

I cant argue that. I had one of his blue#2 for a little bit, and for the small time that i had the knife his blue #2 treatment seemed stellar!

 

[turnips]

The 160 petty is otw to me! They sure look great. (Had to order some nagura 2 get shipping )

How did this turn out?

 

[QCDawg]

How did this turn out?

It’s one of my favorites. And I looove mid to big petties. It has become my “go to“ raw meat portioning, silverskin removal etc. it’s better than the 160 KS petty, which is a legend for this work. It also rips shallots apart. The edge retention is weak...but if you blow on it... it comes right back

 

[shinyunggyun]

I finally got myself one of these blue #1 tanaka dammy 240mm gyuto from jns. This one is so far the best knife that I ever tried by yoshikazu tanaka. At the laserish level at least. I like it even better than my konosuke fujiyama fm.

 

[Checkpure]

Tanakas white 1 and blue steels are the best I’ve used so far. I can’t believe how long the edge retention is on my white 1 FMs.

 

[QCDawg]

I finally got myself one of these blue #1 tanaka dammy 240mm gyuto from jns. This one is so far the best knife that I ever tried by yoshikazu tanaka. At the laserish level at least. I like it even better than my konosuke fujiyama fm.

I hear it’s the same knife as the $1300 Mizuno dammy

 

[Jason183]

I have 270mm Y Tanaka white 1 Sujihiki from JNS, the only full reactive carbon knife I kept, very very sharp, have that concave wide bevelish grind, you won’t notice the shinogi line until you sharpen, cuts better than Yanagiba I’ve used for sashimi. so far still my best slicer, but it’s very easy to chip cause it’s so thin and hard behind the edge.

 

[RockyBasel]

I finally got myself one of these blue #1 tanaka dammy 240mm gyuto from jns. This one is so far the best knife that I ever tried by yoshikazu tanaka. At the laserish level at least. I like it even better than my konosuke fujiyama fm.

Now you are making me want to take the 270 JNS Tanaka off BST!

 

[Receiver52]

I also have the JNS Dammy, a Y Tanaka W1 and a Konosuke FM W1. The Blue 1 Dammy is my preference of the 3

 

[shinyunggyun]

Now you are making me want to take the 270 JNS Tanaka off BST!

You probably should. As far as thin, lightweight, sakai profile gyutos go, it really doesn't get much better than this.

 

[shinyunggyun]

I also have the JNS Dammy, a Y Tanaka W1 and a Konosuke FM W1. The Blue 1 Dammy is my preference of the 3

Is your tanaka white #1 the sakai OUL by any chance? I think we have the exact same setup.

 

[RockyBasel]

You probably should. As far as thin, lightweight, sakai profile gyutos go, it really doesn't get much better than this.

Taking it off BST - you are right

 

[Receiver52]

I finally got myself one of these blue #1 tanaka dammy 240mm gyuto from jns. This one is so far the best knife that I ever tried by yoshikazu tanaka. At the laserish level at least. I like it even better than my konosuke fujiyama fm.

Is your tanaka white #1 the sakai OUL by any chance? I think we have the exact same setup.

i got the W1 from JNS.

 

[DarKHarlequiN]

I cracked and took advantage of the last day of JNS’s store wide 20% reduction and ordered
TANAKA YOSHIKAZU GYUTO 270MM BLUE 1 DAMA

Praying there will be no issue with the cutting edge

 

[Checkpure]

I cracked and took advantage of the last day of JNS’s store wide 20% reduction and ordered
TANAKA YOSHIKAZU GYUTO 270MM BLUE 1 DAMA

Praying there will be no issue with the cutting edge

Yea that knife was the one to get imo. Going to love that.

 

[iandustries]

I cracked and took advantage of the last day of JNS’s store wide 20% reduction and ordered
TANAKA YOSHIKAZU GYUTO 270MM BLUE 1 DAMA

Praying there will be no issue with the cutting edge

nice. when was the sale?

any thoughts between the kiritsuke and gyuto? gyuto looks to be taller at the heel. but profile wise, any thoughts?

 

[iandustries]

FWIW i m mulling which Tanaka knife to get:

Tanaka Yohei
Tanaka Kyuzo
Takada Suiboku - White 2 or Blue 1 by Tanaka
JNS Damy
Something from Sakai Kikkumori

 

[Checkpure]

FWIW i m mulling which Tanaka knife to get:

Tanaka Yohei
Tanaka Kyuzo
Takada Suiboku - White 2 or Blue 1 by Tanaka
JNS Damy
Something from Sakai Kikkumori

Tanakas white 1, blue 2 and blue 1 are the best steels I’ve used.