Master Blacksmith Katsushige Anryu has recently retired and handed over his business to his apprentice Ikeda san. The knife you see here is made with Shirogami #2, or White #2, high carbon steel. This is one of the most popular alloys used to make quality handmade kitchen cutlery. White #2 is named from the paper it is wrapped in at the Hitachi factory that produces these famous alloys. It is very low-contaminate steel capable of taking an extremely fine edge but does not tend to have the edge retention of some other alloys. However, it is easy and fun to sharpen. The inner core of Shirogami #2 is clad with a multi-layer damascus soft iron outer layer. This is done in the san-mai fashion, whereby the cladding is applied to both blade faces but is not wrapped over the spine. The outer cladding is given a great-looking kurouchi finish.
The knife is on the long side of petty dimensions resulting in a blade with versatile characteristics. It can slice, chop, or cut almost any ingredient while still being small enough for fine work like garnishes and chiffonades. It comes with a lovely rosewood handle and black pakka wood ferrule.
Workshop: Anryu Hamono
Blacksmith: Ikeda san
Location: Takefu Village, Echizen Japan
Construction: San Mai, Hammer Forged
Edge Steel: Shirogami #2 (White Paper #20
Cladding: Iron / Damascus
Edge Grind: Even
HRC: 61
Handle: Rosewood Oval
Ferrule: Black Pakka Wood
Steel: White #2
Weight: 2.6 ounces / 74g
Blade Length: 130 mm
Overall Length: 260 mm
Thickness at Heel: 2.5 mm
Blade Height: 30mm