Anryu Kurouchi Damascus Petty 130mm

Master Blacksmith Katsushige Anryu has been making high-quality knives by hand for over 50 years. He is the fourth generation of bladesmiths following in the footsteps of his father, Katsutoshi Anryu. During this time he has received accolades and awards from several craftsmen’s guilds for his outstanding achievements and skills.

One of Anryu-san’s favorite steels is Shirogami #2, or White #2, high carbon steel. This is one of the most popular alloys used in the making of 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 a very low-contaminate steel that is 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.

Blacksmith: Anryu san

Location: Takefu Village, Echizen Japan

Construction: San Mai, Hammer Forged

Edge Steel: Shirogami #2 (White Paper #20

Cladding: Iron / Damascus

Edge Grind: Even

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