| Blacksmith | Shiro Kunimitsu |
|---|---|
| Made in | Omuta, Fukuoka, Japan |
About Shiro Kunimitsu
Based in Omuta, Fukuoka, this legendary blacksmithing family trace their sword-making roots back over 200 years. Today, the 5 heirs of the family tradition forge both traditional swords and high-quality kitchen knives! They are forged Warikomi-style, by splitting a piece of soft carbon steel and inserting a core of harder carbon steel.
When someone says they are after a 'workhorse' knife, this is what I think of. The blades are thicker, ground with a more robust bevel and a more rustic finish. For me, this is the perfect kitchen knife. Super sharp, but able to stand up to more heavy handed use. I'm also a sucker for the dark kurouchi finish.
Articles and videos
-
Yukihiro Sakai
Yukihiro Sakai-san was apprenticed under Nishida-san in Kumamoto, who strictly forge-weld steels in house. Sakai-san has learnt everything from Nishida-san and continues to do like his sensei. Sakai-san recently started his own workshop in Kumamoto making his own knives. Now he forge-welds everything in house, from hard carbon steel clad with soft steel. The Shirogami #1 steel used in these knives is forge-welded in house by Sakai-san. This is a very traditional steel that can achieve incredible sharpness and has great edge retention, a favourite of more traditional blacksmiths. -
Tsukasa Suzuki
Suzuki-san is a talented blacksmith from Yamagata prefecture. He started his blacksmithing journey at 18 and has been hard at work perfecting his craft for 40 years now! He uses techniques and knowledge learned directly from his father, and together they add important threads to the rich blacksmithing tapestry of Yamagata. Tsukasa Suzuki is known primarily for his hand-forged sickles, but he also makes some incredible kitchen knives. They're unlike anything we've ever seen before! These single-bevel versions of standard knife shapes take some getting used to, but they allow food to fall away from the blade effortlessly. They feature a gorgeous kurouchi finish and a nice toothy edge.
