Yu Kurosaki Knives

[Towerguy]

I would appreciate views on his Raijin line of knives and/or other lines.

 

[ModRQC]

Had a Fujin AS. Nice sharp cutter OOTB. Too lightweight for my preferences, but such a natural profile. Fine finish for price. Generally a concave grind that might prove difficult to maintain with basic sharpening skills, or even with some experience - but you'd want not to mess it up too much because it participates to a nice food release.

You probably also need to understand that his knives in general, but somehow especially the Raijin, have taken a noticeable bump in prices, where I rather find you have a lot of better alternatives. Scratch that, let's be more neutral: you have a LOT of at least equal alternatives.

 

[Michi]

I had a Fujin santoku in VG-10. Good knife, very light, perfect finish. Very thin behind the edge, definitely in laser territory. Hellishly sharp, too.

 

[inferno]

i have 3 ss/r2 hammered, the old style. and then 1 black ss/as old style with the deeper hammer pattern. both types are good. not lasers, dont feel flimsy.

 

[IsoJ]

I had Raijin 240 gyuto. A real good knife, outperformed some of my other knives in the same pricerange. Concave grind and seriously thin behind the edge. Edge retention in home kitchen use is more than good. For my taste it was a little too light(190gr with ebony handle).

 

[Brian Weekley]

I was attracted to the fujin series in VG10 and pretty much picked up his whole set. I fell in love with the utility of his bunka to the point where one has a place in my permanent knife block. It’s light, easy to sharpen and at the time relatively inexpensive ... and has a great tip. I added a second on my boat and have recommended it to several friends as the perfect start to Japanese style knives for a home kitchen.

 

[JayS20]

Have a Raijin Nakiri. Pretty thin, light but not too light, overall quite nice. I really like it as a stainless Nakiri. Pattern is also lovely imo. The steel feels a bit glassy on the board and thanks to the thin geometry, feels a bit delicate. Never had a problem with chipping though but nicked the heel barely visible.

 

[Matt Jacobs]

I had a sizuku R2 bunka. Amazing grind, fit and finish. Could not get it to stop micro chipping so I sold it. I would try another but probably only in super blue.

 

[Cliff]

I have the basic Kurouchi AS Gyuto. It's on the light side for me, but I love the profile and the edge holding is great. Prices are still great for that line.

 

[Dull_Apex]

Had a Fujin AS. Nice sharp cutter OOTB. Too lightweight for my preferences, but such a natural profile. Fine finish for price. Generally a concave grind that might prove difficult to maintain with basic sharpening skills, or even with some experience - but you'd want not to mess it up too much because it participates to a nice food release.

You probably also need to understand that his knives in general, but somehow especially the Raijin, have taken a noticeable bump in prices, where I rather find you have a lot of better alternatives. Scratch that, let's be more neutral: you have a LOT of at least equal alternatives.

Let's be honest though, his knives aren't purchased for their performance but for aesthetics. I don't mean that negatively - he's found a good niche in the market.

My personal favourite look is the Fujin AS line.

 

[Nemo]

I have Shizuku R2 and the Migaki version of the AS. FWIW, I tend to favour performance over aesthetics. Both have good grinds with decent tradeoffs between thinness and food release. Shizuku has concave wide bevels, AS has convex wide bevels. Both are fairly thin with a little taper (most of the taper is near the heel). Shizuku has a flatter profile, AS is more curved. Shizuku sharpens like most PM knives - easy to get decently sharp but the full deburring required for ultimate sharpness is tedious.

 

[drsmp]

Have KNS Shizuku AS (house brand) mid weight and Fujin AS more of a laser - both great knives. Had a Shizuku R2 240 gyuto also a great knife only sold it beacause I got a Yoshikane Black Damy for my stainless 240. I really like the Kurosakis , don’t think there’s many knives at their price that beats both their looks and performance

 

[GorillaGrunt]

Got a Raijin 240 suji, slightly long and tall which I like, light and thin but tapered instead of like a Sakai laser, significantly concave bevels, no flat spot but a continuous curve. It’s very polished looking and does cut pretty darn effortlessly. The steel is not remarkable but no better or worse than R2, SRS13, etc., I.e. good high hardness stainless. I have some pics up in a thread listed for sale but I like having it around more every time I use it.

 

[JoBone]

I had a sizuku R2 bunka. Amazing grind, fit and finish...... I would try another but probably only in super blue.

I may be wrong, but I believe he made his last batch of the AS Shizuku recently and will only offer R2 going forward. If you want one, I think now is the time.

 

[josemartinlopez]

Have Yu Kurosaki prices increased since about 12 months ago and have people's opinions changed? Asking because I bought a set of Shizuku R2 and Fujin AS to try around that time. The normal Shizuku R2 240 gyuto was selling for less than US$300, and I recall some people had critical comments about Kurosaki and Takefu makers in general. Razorsharp in Singapore also told me they stopped selling Kurosaki in favor of Shiro Kamo, and they said it was because the hammered patterns made Kurosaki knives hard to clean (just repeating what they said).

Also, can anyone describe the difference between the Senko and Shizuku R2 lines, and the Fujin and Shizuku AS lines?

I was specifically looking for R2 knives to start with and these were good knives, though I like some other stainless Japanese knives more. I'm not particularly drawn to the aesthetic, though the desertwood Western Shizuku were beautiful and I wish I found more than just the petty. The versions with @JoBone handles are also beautiful.

 

[M1k3]

Have Yu Kurosaki prices increased since about 12 months ago and have people's opinions changed? Asking because I bought a set of Shizuku R2 and Fujin AS to try around that time. The normal Shizuku R2 240 gyuto was selling for less than US$300, and I recall some people had critical comments about Kurosaki and Takefu makers in general. Razorsharp in Singapore also told me they stopped selling Kurosaki in favor of Shiro Kamo, and they said it was because the hammered patterns made Kurosaki knives hard to clean (just repeating what they said).

Also, can anyone describe the difference between the Senko and Shizuku R2 lines, and the Fujin and Shizuku AS lines?

I was specifically looking for R2 knives to start with and these were good knives, though I like some other stainless Japanese knives more. I'm not particularly drawn to the aesthetic, though the desertwood Western Shizuku were beautiful and I wish I found more than just the petty. The versions with @JoBone handles are also beautiful.

 

[zizirex]

Just go buy his brother's 1000 times better and much worth it. Yu's knife is overhyped like crazy and mostly he's not even the one who's made it.

 

[josemartinlopez]

I also have a set of Makoto (also nice) but like Raicho No Ren or even Suisin Inox Honyaki more for that stainless laser profile (though at higher price points).

 

[zizirex]

His VG10 series is more middleweight than laser but yeah, if you're looking for R2, I think there are a lot maker who is much worth it.
All of His lines are mostly different in his hammered pattern.

 

[Jason183]

Don’t owned any Yu kurosaki knives, but by looking at their grinds, Senko(higher bevel and thinner spines) should be more laserish than Shizuku.

 

[big_adventure]

I have a Raijin petty and a Senko bunka.

Both knives are thin, with concave grinds and high bevels. Food release is good for the relative thinness, neither feel at all fragile, both are good cutters, both refuse to get dull - edge retention is extremely good on both. On the petty, this isn't surprising as it never touches the board, but I have been pleasantly surprised by the bunka. I've sharpened it once, and it didn't really need it. It was more that I wanted to test how it felt on the stones as much as anything else.

As for whether they are worth the money... there are certainly many other options around the same price point for which arguments could be made. You are of course paying some for the finish and the aesthetics. Maintaining the smooth concave grind would be a challenge, I imagine, without power tools. Given the spectacular edge retention I've experienced, it probably won't be a big deal for a long time for a home cook, but in a pro/heavy-use environment where thinning will be a "sooner rather than later" thing, that aspect will come up - either the sharpener has the tools and the skills to maintain the concavity, or thinning will flatten the grind. Whether or not that's a positive... not a question I can answer.

 

[Michi]

I've owned one Kurosaki knife, a 165 mm Fujin Santoku in VG-10. It was extremely well made, with perfect F&F, and tending towards the laser end of the spectrum (very thin behind the edge). No problems with cleaning.

I sold it not because there was anything wrong with the knife, but because I worked out that I'm not a Santoku kind of guy. Personally, I wouldn't hesitate to buy another Kurosaki (based on that single data point).

 

[Cliff]

I have a regular AS gyuto, and I love it. It is thin and feels a little fragile, but it holds its edge forever and performs beautifully. Mine is just the regular Kurouchi, and it was quite affordable, under $300 for a 270. I'm not drawn to the flashy finishes.

 

[Cliff]

... I recall some people had critical comments about Kurosaki and Takefu makers in general. Razorsharp in Singapore also told me they stopped selling Kurosaki in favor of Shiro Kamo, and they said it was because the hammered patterns made Kurosaki knives hard to clean (just repeating what they said)....

I suspect that the Takefu knives are more similar than different. That iron-clad Kamo is a great, great deal. So one choice would be iron-clad vs. stainless for AS. I think, e.g. Sukenari, Moritaka, and T-F, take AS to higher hardness. I think most of those are thicker than Kurosaki, too.