Hitachi White #1 Steel and soft iron cladding, forged by Satoshi Nakagawa, one of Sakai City's busiest and most well regarded blacksmiths. Nakagawa-san rose to fame as the protégé of the great Kenichi Shiraki, and in more recent years has taken up the mantle of this esteemed blacksmithing workshop. Nakagawa-san has honed his skills to be able to work with a wide range of steels, profiles and constructions - and has earned his well deserved reputation for forging and heat treating top quality blades.
Grinding has been done with a great degree of finesse by the legendary Kawakita Hamono, one of the most sought after sharpening workshops in Sakai.
This Gyuto has a slightly different blade profile compared to Nakagawa-san's standard Gyuto template. It has the tip sitting about 2mm lower, and a marginally flatter edge profile overall. The idea is to give it an even more comfortable feel on the board and to allow better use of the tip with minimal adjustment of the users elbow or shoulder.
Kawakita-san's grind features a convexity that starts about halfway up the blade and seamlessly tapers towards edge. The outcome is a smooth performer that is very thin behind the edge yet has the adequate geometry to offer a degree of food separation and release. A well balanced Gyuto with the ideal dimensions suitable for being a great all rounder. A simple loose abrasive finish, paired with an Enju handle for a timeless aesthetic.
Nakagawa-san's White #1 core is very responsive on the stones, and can be easily sharpened to a refined edge that holds its bite very well.
Steel |
Shirogami #1 |
Cladding |
Iron |
Edge Length |
225mm |
Heel Height |
53mm |
Spine thickness at the Heel |
3mm |
Spine Thickness 10mm from the Tip |
1mm |
Weight |
200g |
Handle |
Octagonal Enju |