Japanese carbon steel kitchen knives

Joined
Jul 6, 2001
Messages
3
Hello everybody!
newbie from Finland writinig...

I'm lookin for a good place to buy japanese style kitchen knives. (via internet, preferably european site)

Also, it would be nice to hear some recommendations on good quality brands.
 
If you're interested in the pix of Japanese hocho (in Japanese style) in the site below, I'll help you to get more info, and / or place an order. They're written in Japanese, but a pic is worth thousand words.

http://www3.inforyoma.or.jp/tosahamono/nedan.syurui.htm

specs under pix are blade length, price (Japanese yen, about 1/120 USD) for carbon steel (Ao gami 2), and stainless steel (Gin gami 3) from left to right.

top: vegetable hocho (kitchen knife) of western Japan style
second: vegetable hocho (kitchen knife) of eastern Japan style
third: sashimi hocho
fourth: deba hocho, all purpose kitchen knife with beefy blade
fifth: funayuki bocho, middle of sashimi and deba
bottom: custom order hocho

and this page is for pro's knives for various fish cooking

http://www3.inforyoma.or.jp/tosahamono/nedan.syurui2.htm

top: takobiki hocho for octopus
second: fugubiki hocho for globefish
third: mioroshi, a kind of small size deba for general purpose
fourth: mukimi bocho for radish
fifth: unagi bocho for eel
sixth: katsuo bocho for bonito
bottom: suika bocho for watermelon

Only "suika bocho" is v-ground, all the rest are single side ground.
Lefty models cost 50% plus right hand models.

Hope you enjoy those pixx.
 
The knives on the site Wrong Friend linked us to look very good. I don't have any experience with them though. I do have a small set of Murray Carter kitchen knives, and I'm crazy about them. The take a great edge, and keep it. It's pretty hard to even roll the edge on them, despite the acute bevel. If you are worried about shipping charges, I know Murray told me that he can ship knives to the U.S. for less than he can ship them within Japan. It may be the same for Europe.

I'll say this about Murray Carter also. He is Canadian, and not Japanese, or even of Asian descent. He has been, basically, adopted into a Japanese family that have been cutlers for I think 14 or 15 generations. He has been trained the same way they would have trained one of their own sons. He is also a American Bladesmith Society Master Smith, which is no simple feat. If you order his kitchen knives, order his hand forged stuff, and not the Muteki line. The Muteki knives are made out of commercially available bar stock. Both lines have high carbon centers layered between stainless steel. They should both cut equally well, but I prefer the look and feel of the hand forged stuff.

When you get your kitchen knives, please come back and tell us what you got and how they are performing for you.

Paul
 
Murray Carter's knives sound really interesting but his website seems to be down...
 
Just wanted to say hello to a fellow Finn.
There are about 10 other Finns that participate discussion here. I'll give you hint if you live in Helsinki area: Helsingissä oli ainakin kuukausi sitten yksi japanilainen taottu hiiliteräksinen keittiöveitsisetti Annankadun japanilaisessa kaupassa (Annankatu 20 tai jotain sinnepäin). Hinta oli vähän alle 5000 mk. Settiin kuului 4 tai 5 veistä.
 
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